A tornado touched down this morning in Columbus County in North Carolina, near the town of Riegelwood. At least seven people were killed including two children.
The Wilmington Star ran an article on the disaster.
Here is a link to the article.
Here is a quote from the article:
Kip Godwin, chairman of the Columbus County Board of Commissioners, said he heard a story from an emergency worker about a child found in a ditch, still alive, who was taken to a local hospital. “I don’t think these folks had very much warning,†he said.
Here is another example of a tragedy that almost certainly could have been avoided.
Tornado watch number 863 was issued at midnight EST, valid until 7 a.m. EST for the area.
The tornado touched down at 6:37 a.m. EST according to initial storm reports.
The NWS WIlmington issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Columbus County at 6:21 a.m. EST, over 15 minutes before touchdown.
Then, the NWS Wilmington issued the following tornado warning some eight minutes before the tornado touched down.
WFUS52 KILM 161129
TORILM
NCC047-161215-
/O.NEW.KILM.TO.W.0016.061116T1128Z-061116T1215Z/
BULLETIN – EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
629 AM EST THU NOV 16 2006
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR…
EASTERN COLUMBUS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
* UNTIL 715 AM EST
* AT 628 AM EST…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF FREEMAN…OR ABOUT 20 MILES EAST OF WHITEVILLE…
MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH.
* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR…
FREEMAN BY 640 AM…
GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. SEEK
SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR
ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND
ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES…EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE…LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
IF YOU OBSERVED SEVERE WEATHER OR WEATHER RELATED DAMAGE…REPORT IT
TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK THEM TO RELAY THE
REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN WILMINGTON
NC.
A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 AM THURSDAY MORNING FOR
SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.
LAT…LON 3421 7845 3422 7830 3436 7822 3437 7840
Here is the NWS Storm Assessment from this afternoon. It definitely was a strong tornado. They were not able to finalize an F rating and will return to the area tomorrow.
NOUS42 KILM 162348
PNSILM
NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-172000-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
648 PM EST THU NOV 16 2006
…STORM SURVEY DISCOVERED TORNADO DAMAGE AT RIEGELWOOD NC…
A LINE OF POWERFUL THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A STRONG COLD
FRONT MOVED THROUGH THE CAROLINAS EARLY THIS MORNING.
A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY TEAM WENT TO EASTERN
COLUMBUS COUNTY NEAR RIEGELWOOD TO SURVEY TORNADO DAMAGE. THE STORM
SURVEY TEAM DID DETERMINE THAT A STRONG TORNADO AFFECTED THE AREA
BUT HAD NOT YET DETERMINED THE INTENSITY. THE STORM SURVEY TEAM WILL
RETURN TO THE SCENE AGAIN ON FRIDAY TO INVESTIGATE FURTHER AND REACH
AN INTENSITY DETERMINATION. ANOTHER STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
A TORNADO WARNING HAD BEEN ISSUED FOR EASTERN COLUMBUS COUNTY AT 629
AM…PRIOR TO THAT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR THE
SAME AREA AT 621 AM…AND NOAA WEATHER RADIOS IN THE AREA
AUTOMATICALLY ALARMED FOR BOTH WARNINGS TO ALERT PEOPLE.
THE TORNADO CAUSED 7 FATALITIES…20 TREATED INJURIES…AND 30 HOMES
WERE DESTROYED ACCORDING TO THE COLUMBUS COUNTY SHERIFF.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ENCOURAGES EVERYONE TO SERIOUSLY
CONSIDER YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY…AS WELL AS YOUR FAMILY…AND
PURCHASE A WEATHER RADIO FOR THE HOME OR BUSINESS. WHEN A WARNING IS
ISSUED THE RADIO WILL AUTOMATICALLY ALARM…GIVING YOU PRECIOUS TIME
TO PREPARE FOR A DANGEROUS SITUATION.
ALSO…NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS IS THE ONLY GOVERNMENT RADIO
SYSTEM AND WILL AUTOMATICALLY ALARM TO ALERT YOU TO A WIDE RANGE OF
OTHER HAZARDS THAN JUST WEATHER.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS…PLEASE GO
TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV
$$
MAC/TM
It once again points to the need for there to be a working NOAA Weather Radio in every household in the tornado prone parts of the United States. Please take heed of this example. The man in the article who was watching television and got up to see what the roar was found himself face to face with a brown funnel closing in on him. He was lucky to survive when the tornado leveled his 3 bedroom house. Be ready, not lucky.
