Surveyors: EF-0 Tornado touched down in Warren Co., 85mph winds

Norlina, N.C. — A tornado warning that was issued for an area of northern Warren County on Wednesday produced a confirmed tornado, according to the National Weather Service.

Tornado surveyors from the NWS assessing the damage in Warren County said the tornado was an EF-0, or the lowest level of tornado strength, touched down 2 miles north of Wise. The winds for this tornado reached around 85 miles per hour.

The warning was issued for northern Warren County at 7:08 p.m. Wednesday. The National Weather Service said it had high confidence of tornado damage in the Wise-Five Forks Road and William Hawks Road vicinity.

In the area there are uprooted trees and a damaged storage sheds.

There were radar reports of debris signature north of Norlina in Warren County. WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth said that means a tornado was on the ground and was producing damage.

Steve Barney, volunteer fire chief for the town of Hawtree, said there were several trees knocked down, power lines down and an old shed that collapsed in the area of Paschall Station Road. He also reported damage off US 1, near the Wise-Five Forks Road area.

No one was injured, and there were no reports of people losing their homes.

A tornado warning that had been issued for Wake, Harnett and Chatham counties expired earlier Wednesday. The warnings came from the remains of Tropical Storm Bertha, which made landfall east of Charleston, S.C. around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Bertha weakens to tropical depression

Bertha started off as a low pressure system and developed very quickly Wednesday morning thanks to warm ocean temperatures. Areas near Charleston saw up to 2.5 inches of rainfall an hour from Bertha and damaging wind gusts as high as 65 mph.

Along America Street in Charleston, residents awoke Wednesday to an intersection that had become a water-filled canal. Cars parked on the curb had water up to their doors, local news outlets reported. Garbage cans had spilled over, and dirty diapers, magazines and food scraps clogged drains in the area.

The Triangle saw some periods of heavy rain after Bertha weakened into a tropical depression Wednesday afternoon.