UNION COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The National Weather Service says an EF1 tornado slammed the Porter Ridge community of Unionville in Union County on Wednesday morning, knocking down power poles and trees and flattening sheds.
NWS says the tornado was only on the ground for three minutes.
The damage from the 90-mile-per-hour winds spanned just over two miles.
Neighbors say they were ready.
They got warnings by watching local TV news and on their phones.
Click here to see our latest Pinpoint Weather forecast! ?️?️
Doug Simpson was on his way to Matthews for a doctor’s appointment.
“I got to Indian Trail, and I got an alert on my phone that there was a tornado warning,” said Simpson.
He had no idea exactly where the alert was.
“I started thinking, ‘Well, where in the world did this tornado touch down at?’ And after my appointment, I started getting phone calls saying it touched down right here,” said Simpson.
Right behind Simpson’s mom’s house, two sheds were obliterated.
The fierce winds picked up the wood from the sheds, tossing it in the air and slicing through the roof of the next-door neighbor’s house that’s under construction.
The winds also sent the tin from the sheds flying more than a football field away, landing in the trees.
Simpson’s 87-year-old mom was not home in the storm. She was getting her taxes done in Monroe.
“I’m thankful she didn’t have to go through all that fear and stuff because she’d have been scared to death,” said Simpson.
Just down the road from Simpson’s mom’s house in the Porter Ridge community, Peggy Allen and her husband waited out the storm.
“All of a sudden, the wind was blowing so hard, then the power went out, and we heard this loud noise, this booming noise, and it happened so fast, and then it was all over,” said Allen.
More damage across from Porter Ridge High School, two sheds dismantled and tin tossed more than a football field away @Queen_City_News pic.twitter.com/sJ02z6oZ1P
— Robin Kanady (@RobinKanady) March 5, 2025Allen says a massive tree in her yard is more than 60 years old but it only took seconds for the strong winds to uproot it and knock it down and she had two other trees in her yard that were torn apart.
“We knew it was coming through, but we didn’t have any idea it was coming through our yard,” said Allen.
Simpson’s brother repairs bikes and gives them to kids in need around the holidays.
Some of the bikes were in one of the sheds.
“They didn’t get touched at all. It’s a small miracle, I guess,” said Simpson.
And what’s even better is that none of the neighbors were hurt.
“We just prayed that we’d be safe today and the Lord would take care of us, and he did,” said Allen.
Union County Public Schools did not delay or cancel school Wednesday like other districts.
Queen City News Anchor Robin Kanady pressed school district officials Wednesday about why they didn’t cancel or delay school Wednesday.
“We have an excellent relationship with ... emergency management and law enforcement partners. We looked at the reports from the National Weather Service, and as a team, we made a decision to continue with school today; we thought that was what's best,” said Jarrod McCraw, Assistant Superintendent of Student Support for Union County Public Schools.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 'It happened so fast': Union County residents recall moments after EF1 tornado touched down )
Also on site :
- What to Know About Mohammad Sinwar, the Hamas Leader Targeted by Israel
- Justin Bieber's Unsettling Filtered Videos on 'Gucci,' Alaska & Faith Escalate Well-Being Concerns
- Children evacuated from Swindon school after threats of ‘suspicious package’