Some of the Worst Tornadoes in NC History - "Twist of Fate" - A WRAL Documentary

[@vicalsi1568]

I miss Greg Fishel. Best weatherman North Carolina ever had.

[@jeffbryan4019]

Yes he was ! Greg and I corresponded quite a bit during his tenure at WRAL . He and Bill Schmidt both received AMS awards for their forecasting during the March 28 1984 tornadoes . Greg's knowledge and kindness plus his uncanny humour made him my all time favorite meteorologist .

[@sammylacks4937]

He was and I had about forgotten his forecasts. He would explain weather events so you understand the situation.

[@chrisbyrd7178]

My mom was in college at the time. She went outside and saw the rain blowing in two different directions.

[@jamesstrickland631]

I remember the 84' outbreak, had a small tornado pass by my parents house, literally just across the path, then cut across one corner of the yard, snapping off a huge Pine tree. This was in Edgecombe county, close to Rocky Mount NC.

[@helenjackson8413]

The teacher mentioned in the Documentary was my eighth grade English teacher during the 70s.

[@qaannat]

They bussed us kids out from DH Conley High School to help with the cleanup efforts in Simpson and Blackjack NC after that 1984 tornado came through. Worst devastation I have ever seen down County Home Road and Eastern Pines. One of our classmates, Michael House was killed when his house fell in on him. During the cleanup, a fellow student was injured or killed, I can't recall, when someone threw a cinderblock up into the dumpster, but it went over and struck her in the head. I hope I never see anything like the aftermath of that storm again.

[@SunnyGaming3710]

I may be twelve but I've seen what hurricanes and tornadoes can do, I live on the outer banks near cedar point and emerald isle. So I've seen a hurricane or two, Matthew, florence, Dorian, and before both maybe 2013 a hurricane I don't remember the name. I remember florence the most, 7 weeks without power, 10 weeks without wifi, 13 weeks without even being able to get out of my town because the roads were so full with twigs and branches.

[@thecarsthatgoboom9516]

I’m in Moore county and Matthew was quite a storm. Without power for a bit and knocked down the tree in our backyard. Fell opposite of our home and right in between two others. Crazy that it didn’t fall on anyone. I never really knew how bad the storm was until last year. Totally flooded Fayetteville which is terrifyingly close to us. Lmaoo I’m 12 too

[@jeffbryan4019]

I was in Hugo ...Fran ...Agnes ...David ... Floyd ....Matthew ...Dorian ...Florence ....Isiasis ....Bonnie ....Diana ...Bertha Florence 2018 in Wilmington remains the strongest and wettest storm I've ever experienced . 35 inches of rain at Elizabethtown is our all time state record for a single storm event . I had winds of 110 mph gusts and several tornadoes touched down around my neighborhood . Our record hurricane was Hazel in North Carolina . That record still stands more than 65 years later for most intense winds and highest surge plus lowest barometer in our state . The 1984 tornadoes remain the record strongest and deadliest tornadoes to ever sweep North Carolina .

[@noelle1225]

I’ve been through some hurricanes too. I lived in uptown Charlotte in Dilworth when Hugo hit. Massive oak trees blocked both ends of our road. I worked on Tryon Street and there was glass everywhere the next day, and great shards of glass from one skyscraper embedded into the buildings next to it. If that had happened during the day when people were working, no telling how many would’ve been injured or killed. When we moved to Ocean Isle Beach in 2020, the eye of Hurricane Iseasis went right over the top of our town.

[@sammylacks4937]

I was at work at Armour sawmill the morning that tornado hit Reiglewood . Myself and a co worker worked in the 3 rd floor filing room full of bandsaws. It formed right over us touching down just before hitting the mobile home park killing 7. We were so lucky it didn t touch down before passing over. Every door suddenly blew open and the room filled with dust. We didn t know what hit us and had no time to do anything if we had known. We were lucky that morning.

[@keventertains7077]

I was looking to see who was from delco/reigelwood lol I remember the day too

[@nancy4don]

About constantly hearing warnings and nothing happens: Ask the people who live in Oklahoma, Northern Texas, and Kansas how they deal with that. They'll say: "It only takes one..."

[@crand20033]

I have lived in Durham for 24 years and we have had only one category zero tornado so far. It only tore up our trees but luckily our houses were OK.

[@helenjackson8413]

I remember those tornadoes going through parts of Lenoir, Pitt, and Beaufort Counties. My eight grade English teacher lost her life when the tornado came through Pitt Country. I was working late at my job at the time and remembering looking out of the window and thinking how dark the sky was looking Southeast. Never knew that a tornado was coming through.

[@CortHiatt]

April 2011 the EF3 Sanford tornado went through my backyard….Im in Seven Lakes. Growing up in tornado alley, never having seen anything worse than an F1….way to remember. Last year my hometown was hit by an EF1 about 5 miles from my house I grew up in… another about 10 that was EF2

[@KP-do2ss]

My niece was a senior at Whiteville high school when she was killed in a car wreck in 2002. That was before it hit.

[@KP-do2ss]

They didn't mention the EF-4 on the Lincoln/Cleveland county line in may, 1989. 4 people died and most weren't home or it could have been much worse. It was in a rural area also. Nothing left but the driveways and foundation was wiped clean. They were two story brick homes gone.

[@noelle1225]

The 2021 Ocean Isle Beach tornado was not expected at all. It was the middle of February. Our phones only warned of a severe thunderstorm and the power was out so we had no TV coverage. I don’t know why we didn’t get a tornado warning unless the internet went out just after the thunderstorm warning. It was absolutely crazy. I’ve never seen such fierce lightning. It was so continuous, it was like daylight. The floor was vibrating, and you could hear the roar. We were 3 miles from the most destruction, but we didn’t know there had been a tornado until the next day. Three people died. It was a high-end EF3, almost an EF4. Wind speeds maxed at 160 mph. An EF4 begins at 166 mph.

[@AshleyWilliams-zs1sp]

My mom and dad remember this day they both lived in Raleigh

[@Bryanscott88]

I was a child at the time, but definitely remember, lived in salemburg

[@jeffbryan4019]

Salemburg tornado nearly hit my community of White Oak that night in 1984 . I was 16 when that monstrous tornado outbreak hit our state . A friend of mine in Beaver Dam near Roseboro called his mother in the phone as it bore down on their neighborhood . She told him her house was leaving her . That's the last time he talked to her . He found her body lying out in the field . She still had the telephone receiver in her hand . Only the porch slab remained of her property . Her house was completely gone . That storm carried an infant boy across four counties that night .A lady in Snow Hill was blown away in that outbreak and wasn't found until the next year after a severe drought came to our state and dried up the farm pond where she had been carried by the tornado in 84 . Such a sad event for the Carolinas .

[@Bryanscott88]

@@jeffbryan4019 wow... my grandparents lived in Beaver Dam and lost thier home, horse barn and horses too. Thank god they were out of town at the time (which was a very very rare occasion) or they would have more than likely died too. But they lost everything they ever owned minus a old farm pickup and 1 tractor. It was terrible. That was the ONLY time I ever seen my grandad cry. I was young. Just old enough to understand, but not to realize just how devastating it really was.

[@Queen.Lady.Jocelyn]

They forgot to add the tornado in Rocky Point, NC on September 2004. I remember a baby got killed but not sure of any other deaths or injuries.

[@jeffbryan4019]

There was three killed in the Rocky Point tornado . I remember it well .

[@danielponder690]

there was another in 2023 which hit the Pfizer plant, NC gets way more tornadoes than people think

[@stevejarrettnc]

I too remember that day..... Question. Is this literally the best quality copy that WRAL has? Truly sad quality.

[@KP-do2ss]

This is in the northeastern part of the state. I have lived here all of my life and I don't remember hearing about these. Don't recognize most of these small towns. Sad.

[@jeffbryan4019]

I was in the 1984 tornadoes and also witnessed the Riegelwood aftermath . The 1984 outbreak actually outranks most of the epic Midwest outbreaks . It's a night I will never forget . No one else who witnessed it will ever forget either .

[@eddieclark5930]

Like the old saying goes on, you never know what Mother Nature throws at you. LOL by studying my research about NC's worst twisters, I didn't even know we had a small tornado alley named Carolina Alley, that probably explains to reason why we get tornadoes so bad here. but they don't happen in the foothills and the mountains. I guess some people don't know we have our own little tornado alley right here in the Carolinas. But when you think Tornado Alley, the Midwest comes to mind over the Carolinas. The Midwest gets the most tornadoes in the country because that's where the bad weather is known to occur. But I think the reason why tornados will happen here in the old North state is because of that jet stream. Tornadoes in NC on the fajita scale we have here is f1 to f4s. It's hard to believe we had a ef4 tornado that leveled Raleigh. F4s are among the most destructive.

[@jeffbryan4019]

We've had knowledge of Carolina Alley since the 1984 outbreak . I witnessed the devastation in Fayetteville in 1971 to my relatives home on Stewart Avenue . My aunt's brick veneer home had considerable damage from the strong F3 which traveled 85 miles across five counties . There was a woman and daughter killed just a few streets over from my aunt's place . The March 28 1984 tornadoes came within a few miles of my little town of White Oak . They were recovering people from the trees and fields where they had been blown after their homes were destroyed . The tornado at Maxton and Red Springs reached 2.5 miles wide . The Carolinas Outbreak is still among the nations worst tornado events of all time .

[@eddieclark5930]

​@@jeffbryan4019 that's what I'm saying, don't forget about the Ef4 tornado that tore down Raleigh.

[@maryhageman6224]

This could be in your town ? Hope it never comes.

[@velmapickens9972]

I'm confused?!! Why would you stand outside with your child and watch a tornado come toward you??? We're you hoping it would pass you and wave...

[@yorkielove08]

Did you even watch the video? He went back to warn his parents and didn't have time to take cover himself..

[@keventertains7077]

@@yorkielove08 no they didn’t watch the video😂

[@keventertains7077]

@@yorkielove08 crazy part is I was part of this storm and I was scared out my mind as much as I use to like storms when I was 6😂😂 now I’m 22…hard to believe it was 16 years ago

[@EddieClark-q9l]

And I thought the 2011 outbreak was the worst, but the 1988 outbreak was the worst. I think most people don't know is when you think of tornado alley the great plains what comes to mind. I think certain people didn't know we do have a little Tornado Alley in the Carolinas up the I 95 corridor in the coastal plains. That's where the most tornados happen because of the ingredients come together in terms of severe weather. But tornados have happened all through out the state from the mountains to the piedmont and coastal plains. Overall I never been through one, I hope I don't though. Because these twisters can happen to any one. So when you have a tornado alley, that's where it comes to terms to explain why this state's been through a lot of outbreak of tornados. But I been through a lot of hurricanes and storms. Day and night truth is not only they can be life changing but they sure don't have no mercy for humans.

[@jdizzy5076]

I Wonder what these same people was thinking in April 2011? Would love to hear their thoughts. 🤔

[@Esmullert]

I’m a young nc native currently in 6th grade but i will share a experience from the 1st grade so when it was whenever the date was I was at school but I saw the wind blowing when the janitor getting the outside trash but not long after we were in the hallway with a tornado warning I told my friend Brady if this is the end I love you bro but it ending up being a f0😅

[@qdawg8291]

Tell me why this is in 240p

[@DanTheMan1985ful]

Give them a break on the resolution, OK? That's how the video quality was in those days. You don't hear them complain about why yours is in 1080p, Do You?

[@qdawg8291]

DanTheMan1985ful back then? It wasn’t that long ago when this was produced. At least 480p

[@DanTheMan1985ful]

@@qdawg8291 1080p, 720p, 480p, or 360p wasn't around when this footage was broadcasted even if it is in the modern era. Be grateful they're showing something at all.

[@javorisscott4288]

@@qdawg8291 bro. They had pagers for communication and newspapers to relay events.

[@urszulagromadzka6417]

Winer

[@chadlandon7380]

Wow

[@latoshaadams7482]

Yeah that trailer park was gone

[@KP-do2ss]

BJ Sully No I don't remember it being in the news for "weeks"! I live in the western part of the state and we don't have the same news channels. Besides, I think I was working 2 full time jobs 7 days a week at the time. I probably wasn't watching any news . I was busy. And no I am not related to Bev Perdue. I am a registered republican and have never voted Democrat. I am smarter than that. My family has been in NC for many generations. Perdue was the worst governor the state has ever had. This is all in response to your very rude comment. Have a nice day.