LUMBERTON — Two tornadoes touched down in Robeson County on Saturday night, uprooting dozens of trees, scattering debris across the county and knocking out power.
According to Reid Hawkins, a science officer with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, the same storm produced both tornadoes, dropping one funnel cloud in Raynham then creating a path of wind damage before touching ground again near Lumberton.
No injuries were reported as a result.
In addition to wind speeds as fast as 90 mph, the storm also produced plenty of rain and lightning.
“This time of year when it’s very moist, super-unstable … you’ll get these extreme lightning events,” said Hawkins, who was one of two Weather Service representatives who surveyed the county for storm damage with local Emergency Services personnel.
The first tornado touched down at about 8:23 p.m. on Saturday near the intersection of U.S. 301 and North Chicken Road near Raynham, according to the National Weather Service. A tornado warning was issued at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and canceled 30 minutes later.
That tornado reached an estimated maximum wind speed of 90 mph and had a path about 175 yards wide and a mile long. The tornado snapped 20 large trees and reportedly tore the roofs off of several barns, the Weather Service said. An empty silo was overturned and a piece of farm equipment destroyed.
According to Stephanie Chavis, director of Emergency Services for the county, a tree fell on a home on U.S. 301 near Chicken Road, but no one was at the residence at the time. At least one mobile home was severely damaged, Chavis said.
A second tornado touched down near Lumberton about 20 minutes later. That tornado, which touched down in the Allenton community on N.C. 211, reached maximum estimated wind speeds of 90 mph and had a path 25 yards wide and 100 yards long.
The tornado “uprooted a healthy 100-year-old, 3-foot diameter pecan tree” and four smaller oak trees. The pecan tree fell on a home, causing “significant damage,” the Weather Service said.
Hawkins said the tree fell on a girl’s bedroom, but the home was vacant.
“Luckily she wasn’t in that bedroom because otherwise she probably would have gotten hurt,” Hawkins said.
Wind damage was also reported in Fairmont, where a severe storm snapped two trees that fell onto a home.
According to Chavis, about 2,000 people were left without power by Saturday night’s storm.
The Highway Patrol responded to several reports of vehicles running into downed trees, according to Sgt. Daniel Hilburn, but no serious injuries were reported.
Mac Malloy, field crops agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension in Robeson County, said while he hadn’t received any official reports of crop damage, he did see some corn bent over and some crops damaged by fallen trees.
But after several weeks of temperatures hovering around triple-digits, Malloy said Robeson County was becoming “critically dry” and the rain likely helped crops more than it hurt them.
Thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday night dropped more than 3 inches of rain at the Lumberton airport, and according to Hawkins, unofficial social media reports described rainfall of up to 5 inches around St. Pauls. Hawkins recalled seeing dirt roads eroded by rain, and landscaping washed into roads and parking lots during his trip to Robeson.
Although forecasts call for mostly sunny skies on Tuesday, thunderstorms could return on Tuesday and linger through Thursday.
There’s a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday night, followed by a 30 percent chance on Wednesday and Wednesday night. Forecasts for Thursday include a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms. Temperatures this week are expected to top out in the mid-90s.
