4 homes ‘uninhabitable,’ more damaged, after tornado strikes Garner. Here’s what we know.
A tornado rendered four homes “uninhabitable” and damaged over a dozen others in Garner on Sunday as a series of storms rolled across the Southeastern U.S. ahead of a strong cold front.
Here’s what we know about the twister.
Was anyone hurt?
The town of Garner reported in a Facebook post that no one had been hurt in the twister.
“We are thankful that there were no reported injuries as a result of today’s storm, which appears to have included a brief tornado touchdown ... in the area of The Woodlands neighborhood and vicinity,” the town said Sunday.
How strong was it?
The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday that what came through Garner was an EF1 tornado with maximum winds of 110 mph. It touched down at about 12:28 p.m., meteorologists say, and was on the ground for four minutes.
Where did it hit?
The Weather Service says the tornado touched down one mile west of Garner and traveled more or less in a straight line to the northeast for 1.5 miles. It was on the ground for about four minutes, meteorologists said. At its widest point, the tornado was about 250 yards across.
What was the damage?
In addition to the four homes declared unsafe (uninhabitable due to the extent of the damage, with a building permit required for repairs), the town reported Monday evening:
▪ two homes partially uninhabitable (rooms or portions of home not habitable; building permit required for repairs)
▪ four other homes with major damage (building permit required for repairs)
▪ 11 homes with minor damage (permit optional)
The town did not have information on the number of people displaced by the damage, referring that question to the Red Cross.
The storm snapped and uprooted trees, many of which fell onto the homes. Several traffic lights were disabled by downed power lines and some streets were blocked by debris.
The town reported that traffic lights were working again Sunday night. As of Monday morning, Duke Energy’s outage map showed power had been restored to the area.
Isn’t this kind of late for a tornado?
Historically, the busiest time for tornadoes in North Carolina is March through June, according to the National Weather Service.
However, Weather Service records show that a severe thunderstorm spawned a strong EF3 tornado in Columbus County on Nov. 16, 2006, that killed eight people and injured 20 more. It had winds approaching 200 mph and destroyed 30 homes. The same storm spawned a second tornado that hit Pender County.
On Nov. 15, 2008, an EF0 tornado touched down just east of St. Pauls in Robeson County, about 12 miles northeast of Lumberton. This tornado was estimated to have winds of 80 mph with a path length of just over a mile and a width of 40 yards.
This story was originally published December 11, 2023 at 10:48 AM.
