Strong storms in the Tar Heel State produced three tornadoes in southeastern North Carolina Wednesday.
The strongest was an EF-1 tornado that touched down just before 5 p.m. a couple of miles southwest of Teachey in Duplin County. It was on the ground for two miles, lifting within the town of Teachey. It had top estimated winds of 105 mph and a maximum width of 500 yards.
The National Weather Service says the tornado destroyed a metal shed and a trailer, as well as damaging the roofs of farm outbuildings. It also knocked down multiple trees.
The NWS gave the other two tornadoes a rating of EF-0. The first happened a bit after 5:20 p.m. east of Evergreen in Columbus County. It was on the ground for two miles, damaging trees and a cornfield, as well as structures at a hog farm. It had top estimated winds of 80 mph.
The second one happened just after 9 p.m. west of Clarkton in Bladen County. It was on the ground for a quarter-mile. Its top estimated winds of 60 mph caused scattered tree damage.
Justin Gehrts - Senior Weather Producer
Justin Gehrts is a senior weather producer for Spectrum News. He has well over a decade of experience forecasting and communicating weather information. Gehrts began his career in 2008 and has been recognized as a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society since 2010.