'Scared to death': Golfers take cover in bunker, dodge falling trees while caught in tornado

Thursday, July 20, 2023
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) -- The EF-3 tornado that touched down Wednesday came with a warning for some, but not 10 men out at Belmont Lake Golf Course.

"I was scared... all of us were scared," said Pat Smith.
[Ads /]
The group left their phones in their cars and in a matter of minutes, everything changed.

They jumped in the golf cart and searched for shelter.

"And that tree fell in front of us so I had to slam on brakes. I was going back up because you can't turn the cart path, I mean it's woods. About time I got ready to back up, a tree fell behind it and then they started falling everywhere and we just ducked down. I was holding onto the steering wheel and you can't really remember much, you know what I mean? You scared to death," Smith said.

Another group of golfers caught in the storm included Bob Norman. He and his friends weren't able to move as quickly.
[Ads /]
Norman was thrown from his golf cart, and his friend Bill Stephens took cover in a bunker.



Today crews began the removal process.

"We're removing 30 trees; do you know there's one that split the house directly in half removing all trees 150 feet of the structure, so we're probably going to be here for quite a couple days; maybe we estimate 100 hours on this project," said Andrew Schray with 503 Tree Service.

None of the golfers who were caught in the tornado were seriously hurt.
Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.