EF1 tornado in Martin County, North Carolina

A tornado associated with Hurricane Isaias formed in rural southeastern

Martin County that travelled north-northwest, crossing over Manning Rd.

south of Jamesville, uprooting a large oak tree that fell on a mobile

home. The tornado produced additional tree and crop damage east of

Manning Rd. and on the northwest side of the mobile home park on Manning

Rd. Residents of the damaged mobile home sought shelter in a sturdy

nearby home after receiving the tornado warning via Wireless Emergency

Alert that likely saved their lives as the tree fell across their

bedroom where they were previously.

Hurricane Isaias originated from a vigorous tropical wave off the coast of Africa that was first identified by the National Hurricane Center on July 23, 2020. The tropical wave gradually became more organized, and became Tropical Storm Isaias on July 30. Isaias marked the earliest ninth named storm on record, surpassing 2005's Hurricane Irene by eight days. Isaias strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane the next day, reaching a peak intensity of 85 mph. On August 1, the storm made landfall on North Andros, Bahamas and subsequently weakened to a tropical storm before paralleling the east coast of Florida and Georgia. As it approached the Carolina coastline, it re-intensified to a hurricane shortly before making landfall near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, at 11:10 PM EDT on August 3 as a Category 1 hurricane, and proceeded to accelerate up the East Coast of the United States. Across eastern North Carolina, Isaias produced tropical storm force winds, pockets of heavy rainfall, minor storm surge and tornadoes.