GREENSBORO, N.C.—Gov. Mike Easley toured tornado damage Saturday in three North Carolina counties and said in addition to one fatality that eight people were injured and scores of homes were damaged.
Easley said it would be Monday before damage estimates were available.
Eight homes were destroyed and at least 92 homes and businesses were damaged in the storm late Thursday and early Friday, Easley said after an aerial tour of damage in Guilford, Forsyth and Davie counties.
"Nobody is displaced at this point," Easley said. "Everybody has family and a place to go."
The governor also said that aid agencies, including the Red Cross, were on the scene to help people.
Department of Transportation crews will be available to pick up debris on roads, Easley said.
Easley said the tornado moved through the areas 15 to 20 feet off the ground and hit most structures at the second-floor level.
He said warnings by the news media to seek shelter on the first floor of buildings "may have saved a lot of people."
The storm system produced a tornado rated by the National Weather Service as a category EF2 on the enhanced Fugita scale, which means the funnel had winds between 111 and 135 mph.
