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EF3 tornado in Bertie County, North Carolina

Tornado April 16, 2011 · Bertie County, North Carolina

EF3
Rating
35.4 mi
Whole path
1,300 yd
Path width
12
Deaths
66
Injuries
$4.3M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Bertie County → Bertie County → Hertford County → Hertford County → Gates County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,300 yards (0.74 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Tornado first touched down about one mile south of Askewville (east of U.S. Rt. 13), producing minor tree and building damage. The tornado began producing significant damage on the east side of Askewville, where numerous structures and several mobile homes sustained major damage or were destroyed. The tornado then tracked continuously for nearly 19 miles finally lifting east of Harrellsville. For much of the tornado's life, the path width was one half to nearly three quarters of a mile wide. EF2 and EF3 damage was widespread from just east of Askewville northeast to about 3 miles west of Colerain, then gradually decreased as the tornado crossed into Hertford county. Numerous homes were destroyed, and many others suffered varying degrees of damage. In addition, there was extensive damage to trees and wooded areas in the path of the tornado. A split in the tornado damage paths just north of Colerain suggests that the tornado underwent a cyclic re-development with 2 tornadoes on the ground simultaneously for a period of about 5 miles.

The wider storm

Scattered severe thunderstorms in advance of a cold front produced damaging winds, large hail, and several tornadoes across portions of northeast North Carolina.

Began near Askewville (36.0870, -76.9502).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 304929. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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