Suspected tornado causes severe damage in North Carolina
North Carolina homeowners insurance companies may be busy in the coming weeks after a strong storm damaged dozens of properties in the western part of the state.
Officials from the National Weather Service were in North Carolina to determine if the storm which damaged at least 60 buildings and injured more than a dozen people this week was a tornado, The Associated Press reported.
Most of the damage was in Rutherford and Burke counties. Officials said tree damage left roughly 1,000 people without electricity.
One woman told a local television station that the winds were powerful enough that the roof of her neighbor's home ended up in her yard.
"It felt like the whole house was shaking, and all at once you could hear stuff just breaking apart and tearing up. It was frightening," resident Mary Jane Hollifield told WCNC-TV.
Meteorologists say if the storm did spawn a tornado, that would be very unusual. Severe weather experts from the Weather Channel said that there were only 15 tornadoes on record in Rutherford and Burke counties combined, with none of them occurring between October and April.
Related Home Insurance Articles:
- Homes destroyed by Nevada wildfire May 23, 2012
- Researchers hope to better understand tornado damage May 22, 2012
- Total costs from Minneapolis tornado reach $80 million May 21, 2012
- Analysis shows more than $2B of insurance claims from Joplin tornado May 18, 2012
- Recovery continues for Michigan tornado victims May 17, 2012
