EF-2 tornado paves 7.5-mile destructive path from Stanly County into Anson County

ANSON COUNTY, N.C. — The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-2 tornado was tracked from Burnsville in Anson County to Cottonville in Stanly County. The tornado on Thursday traveled 7.5 miles and was 200 yards wide with winds up to 120 mph.

The NWS surveyed the damage in Anson and Stanly counties Friday after a strong line of storms packing heavy rain and strong winds moved through the Carolinas the day before.

In Anson County, the tornado destroyed a chicken farm in Polkton.

“It sounded like a truck had (driven) into the side of my shop,” Anson County resident John Atwater told Channel 9. “I never heard a train sound, but I felt and heard what I thought was a truck. I thought it had missed the intersection behind us. So, I sit tight and stayed put, and in less than two minutes, it was over.”

Shortly after the storm blew threw, Channel 9 photographer Joey Williams located parts of the building hundreds of feet away wrapped around poles and trees.

The worst of the damage happened at about 1:30 p.m. northeast of Burnsville, the NWS stated.

A brick home was shifted off its foundation and outside walls were blown out. More than half of the roof was ripped apart.

A homeowner in Norwood in Stanly County, along Hardy Road said she grabbed her dog and ran into an interior room before realizing the front porch and part of her roof were gone.

“Actually, our front porch is all the way back,” Belinda McIntyre said. “Way back in the woods. Just picked it up, set it down. But all the buildings are just totally destroyed.”

“I knew something was happening because it was so loud,” McIntyre said. “It wasn’t a train sound or anything like that. I could hear the tin.”

“We’ve been working so hard to get fixed to retire and now we’re just going to have to start over. It’s just material. I’ve got to remind myself, it’s just material.”

The tornado tied a record for the strongest in Anson County, which was also an EF-2 in April 2020.

(WATCH BELOW: Storm damages buildings in Stanly County)

Storm damages buildings in Stanly County

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