News 14 Carolina's Stephanie Stilwell has more on what lies ahead for those who lost their homes in Thursday's storms.
Gov. Mike Easley dispatched damage assessment teams to the Triad, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole and senate candidate Kay Hagan got firsthand looks at the damage.
CLEMMONS, N.C. -- Residents of this Forsyth County town will continue the task of cleaning up this weekend following severe storms Thursday night. A tornado destroyed and damaged several homes but there were no deaths or serious injuries reported.
The tornado, deemed an EF3 by meteorologists with the National Weather Service, tore through parts of Davie and Forsyth counties, packing winds of 140 mph. The severe storm left a 200- to 300-yard path of destruction.
“I still walk into my yard and I still get upset but a lot of stuff is getting done,” said Mark Caudl, whose home was severely damaged in the storm. “All our neighbors are great. Everybody’s helping each other.
Only now, two days later, does Caudl say the reality of situation is sinking in.
Residents of Clemmons will continue this weekend to assess the damage done to their homes.
“This is not a joke. This is reality right here,” he said. “You watch it on TV and see it happen to everybody else and you don’t think it’s going to happen to you.”
One thing Caudl doesn’t have to worry about is getting his belongings out of his house.
“You’re assisting people in need,” said Richard Evelyn, of Disaster Restoration Services. “A lot of these people, they lost everything. We deal with people who break down. It’s a hard situation.”
Evelyn says his job is to help get things back to the way they were before the storm and that’s one less thing for Caudl to worry about.
“The traumatic part of it is over with,” he said. “We’re trying to move on right now.”
Moving on for Caudl and his wife involves some tough decisions like whether they come back to the same neighborhood when they decide to rebuild.
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