'I thank God we're all still alive'

The smaller pieces were the biggest indicators that something huge had happened.

Broken glass. Shards of splintered wood. Twisted metal. An empty trash can on a dirt road. Walking along U.S. 17 in Belgrade the morning after a tornado powered through the small community, it was difficult to take more than a few steps in any direction without seeing the destruction left in its wake.

Bobby Smith doesn't know how his family survived it.

He stood outside his overturned mobile home early Monday staring at the aftermath. On one side, neighbors and friends helped Smith salvage what he could from his home. The other side revealed the underbelly of his home - now laid across his car.

"We hadn't been home 30 minutes when it come whipping up," said Smith, glancing across the field at Belgrade Mobile Home Estates where he's lived the past several months with his wife Tina and their 7-year-old daughter, Paige. "I was standing in the yard, and I saw the cloud. I've never seen one like this before. I didn't know what it was until it was up on me."

Smith said he ran back to the home and made it inside the back door, but he didn't make it to the other end, where his wife and daughter were standing in the kitchen.

"It picked us up and moved us," said Smith. "There was nothing you could do."

Smith said the whole thing only lasted "about 10 seconds." When it was over, the entire kitchen was demolished. His wife lay under the refrigerator holding the hand of their small daughter.

"I'm glad it was there. If it wasn't for the refrigerator, I think it would have gotten her," said Smith. The family spent the night at Onslow Memorial Hospital where Tina and Paige were treated for minor injuries.

Smith said the family will pick up the pieces and start over. They have no insurance, but their losses, he said, are small - considering.

"I thank the good Lord we're still here," said Smith. "We've got our lives, we can replace all that other stuff."

Mighty force

Greg Dickerson, 45, was in his house watching the news when he learned a tornado was coming near his home on Belgrade-Swansboro Road.

"(My wife) went to the door and saw what she thought was a tornado. It was just leaves swirling," he said as he stood in his debris-covered yard the morning after. "When I got up, you could see it taking metal."

Dickerson said he could feel the pressure change. He urged his family and pets to the interior of the home.

"By the time we got to the closet and prayed a little bit, it was over," he said.

Dickerson owns three houses on Belgrade-Swansboro Road, all of which were damaged.

Some were missing shingles, others lost windows and doors, and the electrical pad was ripped off another.

"I had a race car over there," Dickerson said pointing toward a field. "It was in the field over there; it ended up between the job trailer and house. ...  (The tornado) definitely picked it up and set it down," he said.

The experience and aftermath, in Dickerson's view, could only be attributed to one thing.

"If you don't believe in God's power and can see this, there's something wrong with you," he said.

Fast and furious

It was over and done before Janet Ward, 49, even realized what was happening.

She was in her home on Belgrade-Swansboro Road with a friend when the tornado came through.

"It happened so fast," she said. "I moved, the wind picked up all of a sudden. It was like a big fan that just turned on. ... The next thing I knew, it was all over just as fast."

At first glance, there does not appear to be much damage to Ward's property - just some things out of place and lots of debris.

However, in other parts of her yard, the tornado's destructive evidence is all too clear. Her new barn was destroyed, shingles were torn from the roof of her house, trees were uprooted and aluminum siding at the back of the house was ripped off, she said.

Ward never expected to see a storm like it in Belgrade.

"I always thought it would go somewhere else, not here," she said.

The tornado, Ward said, sounded like a roar.

"By the time you could react, it was all over," she said.

Knowing what to expect

Mohamed Almaghrabi was at his home in Maysville. He heard that a tornado was in the area. He wanted to get to his store just a few miles down the road in Belgrade and secure the building and to warn his friend Ahmed Muthana who was working at White Oak River Variety.

"I jumped in my truck to warn my friend, but while I was driving I saw it coming," Almaghrabi said. "I hit the brake and did a U-turn. I could see things flying in the air."

Almaghrabi drove back and parked out of harm's way until the storm passed. When he arrived at the store, he was shocked to see it in shambles, but he was thankful to see Muthana was alive.

"(Muthana) was able to get out from the side. He had no idea what to do in a tornado; that's why I was trying to get to him," he said.

Almaghrabi, who moved to Maysville from Buffalo, N.Y., in December, said it was the first time he'd ever experienced a storm like that. He said it pays to pay attention to the advice that officials give about what to do and where to go when a storm comes.

"You have to pay attention to those warnings," said Almaghrabi. "I thank God we're all still alive."

Bill Gilbert, 48, was outside with friends watching for funnel clouds when they saw the tornado and heard its roar.

"When we saw it coming from over there," he said, pointing toward U.S. 17, "we took off in the house."

 Gilbert had seen tornadoes before while in Mississippi and Tennesse and had an idea of what to expect.

"I'd rather a hurricane came. At least then you have plenty of warning. You know what they're going to do," he said.

The damages to Gilbert's home were minor - shingles were gone from his roof and trees were down. There were also pieces of the mobile home park about a mile down the road that had made their way to his home.

Timing is everything

Jerry Wethington's son had just left a few days before Sunday for training with the National Guard. His dad said it was good timing; otherwise, he might have been home when the tornado streaked through Belgrade, causing much damage to the home his son has been renting along U.S. 17 just across from White Oak River Variety Store.

"He left for Mississippi on Friday," said Wethington. "He doesn't even know about it yet. He's in the field (for training)."

His son's home was pelted with debris from the storm. The windows were blown out. The brick chimney lay on its side on the roof. Hunks of twisted metal lay in the yard. Trees were uprooted. Wethington, who lives in Grants Creek, said he thinks the house got the brunt of the storm - and the store.

"Most of this is what came from the store," he said. "I've seen tornados before, but nothing like this around here."

Mark Goodman, director of Onslow County Emergency Services, said there were six injuries and between 15 and 20 structures were damaged.

"Some (were) totally destroyed, some partially destroyed," he said.

The tornado came through south of Belgrade-Swansboro Road, across U.S. 17 and touched down in Belgrade.

"It was on the ground for only a few minutes, thank God," said Goodman who noted the National Weather Service said the storm was an Enhanced Fujita level one tornado.

The lead time for those who had a NOAA All Hazard Radio, Goodman said, was 34 minutes.

"It will warn them for significant weather, like this tornado," he said. "That's the best Mother's Day present anyone could get ... or Father's Day or Christmas."

Contact Amanda Hickey at ahickey@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8463. Contact Timmi Toler at ttoler@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8458.