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Tornado spawned by Isaias kills two, obliterates Bertie neighborhood
Windsor, N.C. — Two people were killed after a tornado hit a neighborhood in Bertie County early Tuesday.
Sheriff John Holley said the damage from the tornado, which was spawned by Tropical Storm Isaias, was the worst he’s seen in the 38 years he has worked at the Bertie County Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s bad,” Holley told WRAL News. “It doesn’t look real. It looks like something on TV. Nothing is there.”
Holley said he got a call at about 1:30 a.m. that a tornado hit a neighborhood on Morning Road in the town of Windsor. The damage is so extensive that deputies have blocked of the area and won’t let anyone get to the neighborhood.
At least 10 homes are gone, and crews couldn’t even reach one home because it was blocked by a tree, he said.
Resident Desaree Pike said she rode out the storm with her two young sons in a bathroom for a terrifying two minutes.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to react once it finally hit. I mean, it hit all at once,” Pike said. “For lack of a better word, it was hell. You don’t really think about anything else but just holding the kids and hoping it doesn’t tear the house up.”
When she emerged from her home, she saw most of the neighborhood in ruins.
“I’ve seen all of my neighbors out and about this morning trying to clean up the best they can the debris, just reuniting with family members, happy they made it out,” she said.
Sandra Bell, who lives a second neighborhood the tornado hit, said she heard the storm and also ran for cover.
“It was so loud like a roar, like a train,” Bell said. “All I could do was jump up and get my oldest daughter so she could help me get my mom, and we went in there to grab her to go in the bathroom. We made it halfway to the bathroom, and it was just a lot of debris hitting the house.”
The tornado damaged her roof, downed trees in her yard and scattered debris.
“It was just terrifying. It really was,” she said, adding that she’s just thankful she, her mother and her daughter weren’t hurt.
Two children and their mother were unaccounted for until Tuesday afternoon, when authorities determined that the mother was at work and the two children were safe with their father, Holley said.
Crews at the scene helped clear debris from the area.
“There are still valuables on the ground like generators and guns,” the sheriff said. “We’re trying to make sure no one takes anything that isn’t theirs.”
Holley said it’s an emotional scene for his team to work.
“One minute you’re fine, and the next, all hell breaks loose,” he said.
Several miles away, in the parking lot of Abrams BBQ on U.S. Highway 13, a fried chicken food truck was on its side, possibly as a result of the tornado. The restaurant itself was missing an entire side due to wind damage. Inside, chairs were still stacked on tables.
