The National Weather Service confirmed Friday night that the 100-yard-wide tornado was an EF-3 with 140 mph winds and traveled for a quarter-mile.
Rocky Mount Fire Chief Darvin Moore said 15 people were injured, four seriously. They were taken to UNC Health Nash for treatment.
A hospital spokesperson said two patients had "major injuries" and eight others were treated for minor injuries in the Emergency Department.
An automotive repair shop and a restaurant were among 14 buildings along Tiffany Boulevard that were heavily damaged, some with roofs and walls torn away. Numerous vehicles also sustained damage.
Sonny Cardinelli was inside the Hing Ta restaurant when the tornado moved through.
"We were sitting there, we kept getting the tornado alerts, and then some of my family members told me that there was a tornado in the area," Cardinelli said. "So, me and my granddaughter and a friend of hers ... sitting at the table, and I went to get my plate and when I seen the chimes going around and everything started spinning, so I ran to them and grabbed everyone I could and we went under the table. We were lucky."
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Witness describes moments tornado tears through Rocky Mount restaurant
Cardinelli said he got as many people as he could under the table as the tornado roared overhead. He could hear items and debris falling on the table and around him. Cardinelli said he was OK but a little sore.
First responders were launching a drone to get a better view of the damage.
Moore said emergency crews were conducting assessments of all the facilities, doing walk-throughs and making sure no one else was inside the building.
Possible tornado causes damage in Rocky Mount
He said building inspectors would examine each building to determine when they would be safe for occupancy.
Rocky Mount Interim City Manager Peter Varney said the tornado was a "surprise and devastating" but added that if there was a silver lining, it was the quick response of emergency crews, who also faced a similar catastrophe last year when a tornado destroyed a large Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in Nash County.
Tornado causes major damage in Rocky Mount
This time, the twister hit inside the city limits.
"Friday is a heavy traffic day ... and this is a shopping center, and people are out here," Varney said. "Looks like the tornado came from Airport Road and jumped across the highway and into this shopping center area and on down Tiffany Boulevard."
Varney noted that there was some damage in a nearby apartment complex. Mostly debris damage, he said, but also some roof damage.
"It could have been a whole lot worse," Varney said. "Fifteen injuries is not what you want, but it's not any worse than that."
Keisha Justice was inside her store, Pretty Essentials Women's Boutique, in the shopping center when the tornado struck.
"The front is completely gone," Justice said of her business, which services cancer patients.
Shopping center in Rocky Mount damaged by tornado
"Things were flying around in the business. When I came out, my first saying, or thought was "Thank you, God," she said.
A hookah business next door had its sign ripped off and windows broken out.
The force of the twister blew cars out of parking lots and toppled trees and power poles. Duke Energy was at the scene working on the power lines. Power has been shut off in the area.
The area around the shopping center has been roped off because of the damage and debris. In the apartment complex across the street, children had been playing video games in one home when a tree branch busted through a boy's bedroom window. He told ABC11 that he was not in his room at the time but there was glass all over his floor.
Tropical Depression Helene spawned numerous tornado warnings throughout the day and caused historic flooding in the western part of the state.
As of Friday evening, Helene had been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph as it moved through the Appalachians.
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Damaging wind gusts were expected to continue throughout the night in portions of the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennesee and Kentucky. Helene was moving north-northwest at 17 mph, noticeably slower than earlier in the day.
Earlier, Gov. Roy Cooper confirmed there have been two storm-related deaths in North Carolina, including one in Charlotte and another in Catawba County. A third death was reported later in Yadkin County.
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