Updated 05/30/2012 09:32 PM
NWS confirms tornado caused damage in western Carteret County
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CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. -- A tornado from Beryl swept through the Peletier area and destroyed several homes in its path.
While no injuries have been reported, the National Weather Service says 67 homes were damaged and 3 mobile homes were destroyed.
Homeowner Mike Tolston says when the wind began to howl, he knew a tornado was about to hit so he ran for cover.
"I heard nothing about any type of weather like this, it just kind of came out of nowhere and by the time we had a chance to react, it was just about over," said Tolston.
His son, Tanner Tolston, says he's grateful no one got hurt. "These houses, most of them are like beach houses and people come down on the weekends so thank god nobody was down here living in the houses that got demolished," said Tolston.
Scott Kennedy, of the National Weather Service, confirms the tornado was an EF-1 with wind speeds of up to 110 miles-per-hour. They said it's common for tornadoes to stem from tropical storm systems.
"Whenever you get the rotation with any storm, no matter what strength it is, it can spin up tornadoes quickly, they're usually not very strong, they're weak super cells embedded within the bands of the tropical system," said Kennedy.
This area is no stranger to natural disasters, they recently finished repair work from Hurricane Irene.
"It's awful, it's just going to take months and months to clean it all up," said Tanner Tolston. Every time a hurricane hits, we have to replace these docks. We never thought a little tropical depression would mess up the docks like this though."
"It's bad but everybody made it all right so that's the best thing I guess, it's just a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of aggravation," said Mike Tolston.
The Carteret County Sheriff's Office said only permanent residents are allowed back into their homes Wednesday evening.
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