5 Rocky Mount buildings deemed 'unsafe' after EF3 tornado
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) -- Removal started Monday on destroyed vehicles that were lodged inside a Rocky Mount business during Friday's EF3 tornado. City leaders have not yet given the green light to clean up the debris.
Five buildings have been deemed unsafe in the wake of the twister and damage it left behind.
The City is waiting for a structural engineer to assess the buildings.
"That's the thing we worry about with damage like this is structural integrity," said Rocky Mount Plans Inspector Luis Ramirez. "There's a lot of weight involved."
City leaders said a medical supply building sustained the most damage and there are at least 100 oxygen tanks here. They are flammable and could combust.
"There are some oxygen tanks still in these vans that were set for delivery, but in the building itself, there are a large number of oxygen tanks," said Ramirez.
Rocky Mount is waiting for a company to remove the oxygen tanks.
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey toured the damage and tried to assure residents that the department was there to help.
"If it's a business, and they had a commercial policy, it should be covered. If it's a homeowner and they had regular home damage, if a tree limb blows through somebody's roof, something like that, that's generally covered," said Causey.
The National Weather Service said the powerful twister brought winds of 140 mph.
K&W Cafeteria sits right next to where buildings were destroyed.
Manager Clarence Furse was working Friday. He said about 20 staff members and customers narrowly missed being hit by the tornado.
"I heard this loud pop sound and then a real booming sound, real loud. and the lights went out and you know, everybody was scared," he said.
There were no fatalities.
Ten people were rushed to UNC Health Nash after the tornado. Everyone has been treated at the hospital and released.
