AUTRYVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A state of emergency is in effect in a small town in eastern North Carolina after a tornado with winds of 110 mph damaged a fire station and several mobile homes.
No serious injuries were reported when the tornado touched down three times in Sampson County around 5 p.m. Tuesday. A curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. was imposed in Autryville, a town of about 200 people about 15 miles east of Fayetteville.
The Autryville Fire Department lost its roof and suffered heavy damage. All but one of the trucks was covered by rubble.
Some firefighters were in the building but no serious injuries were reported, said Fire Chief Andrew Hawkins.
“Everyone is safe,” Hawkins said. “Equipment can be replaced. The department can be replaced. Lives can’t.”
Weather service officials planned to visit Parkton in nearby Robeson County Wednesday to determine whether a tornado damaged some buildings about an hour before the storm ripped through Autryville.
Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said one man was treated by emergency personnel after suffering minor injuries when a mobile home overturned. Thornton said all the other injuries were scrapes and bruises.
Tori Turner was in the bedroom of her Autryville mobile home when the tornado struck, tearing the roof off her home.
“This was my home for nine years and it’s just gone,” she told The Fayetteville Observer.
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