Last night’s tornado in Brunswick County has been rated as a high-end EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita damage scale with winds estimated at 160 mph, the National Weather Service said Tuesday evening.
Three people were killed and at least 10 people were injured. An estimated 50 homes were damaged by the twister that touched down near Ocean Isle Beach at 11:50 p.m., Port City Daily reported.
Much of the damage occurred in the Ocean Ridge Plantation golf course community and Sea Village subdivision, according to the Wilmington-area news outlet.
The National Weather Service issued alerts about the possibility of severe weather and isolated tornadoes being spawned by the latest in a series of strong low pressure systems moving up the East Coast over the past week.
A tornado watch was issued for several hours overnight along the Outer Banks. Other than some strong, gusty winds and heavy downpours no damage had been reported in our area as of Tuesday morning.
There has been some minor rainwater flooding in the usual trouble spots along Highway 12 on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, and elsewhere in northeastern North Carolina.
Plenty of standing water on Highway 12 in the Tri-Villages area of Hatteras Island. But this runner wasn’t deterred! @JMorrowweather @SamWalkerOBX @NCDOT_NC12 @OBXtoday @mikeseidel pic.twitter.com/thn2JTZznk
— Janet Morrow Dawson – Cape Hatteras Motel (@JanetMDawson) February 16, 2021
