Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
At least 100 dead, major disaster declared after catastrophic Texas flood. Read the latest Chevron right
Flash flood threat to continue in central Texas into midweek. Get details Chevron right

Columbus, OH

78°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

78°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Weather News

Multiple damaging tornadoes tear through Southeast

One of the confirmed tornadoes in North Carolina caused major damage to a warehouse occupied by 30 people.

By John Murphy, AccuWeather staff writer

Published May 6, 2022 7:08 PM EDT | Updated May 9, 2022 4:04 AM EDT

Copied

AccuWeather radar imagery of the tornadic storm as it hit Mebane, North Carolina, on the evening of May 6, 2022.

The National Weather Service (NWS) reported major damage a few miles west of Durham, North Carolina, following a confirmed tornado on Friday evening, including damage to one building where at least 30 people were taking shelter.

A strong line of storms entered Orange County just before 5 p.m., local time, on Friday. The severe weather came from a cold front that was moving east over the state, which also brought hail and damaging wind gusts to North Carolina and the surrounding states.

The majority of the damage occurred around Mebane, a city roughly 20 miles from Durham. In addition, several structures were damaged in the East Washington Street area in Mebane, according to the Orange County government.

The Gildan Distribution Center on East Washington Street in Mebane was impacted by possible tornado damage as a result of the storm. As the tornadic storm struck the plant, large chunks of the wall were ripped off. Pieces of the building could be seen dangling to the side and the interior of the building was exposed in some places, according to photos posted by WRAL.

Thirty people were working inside the distribution center as the storm tore through, but no injuries were reported, according to WRAL.

The damage report is located just off an area of US-70 that is less than a mile north of Interstate 40 and Interstate 85.

UPDATE: Folks, Orange County Emergency Services confirmed tornado damage in Mebane. These are pictures from WRAL's Leslie Moreno, showing damage to Gildan Distribution Center. This is on East Washington Street. @wral pic.twitter.com/gc2l9GNiBE

— Chris Lovingood WRAL (@LovingoodTV) May 6, 2022

Five minutes following the report in Mebane, another tornado damage report surfaced about four miles northeast of the city. Structural damage occurred in a neighborhood about two miles northeast of where major damage was reported earlier.

At 5:24 p.m., local time, law enforcement confirmed a tornado located west of Schley, North Carolina, moving northeast, according to the NWS. The tornado was then seen 7 miles west of Rougemont, North Carolina, and it continued its northeast track just after 5:30 p.m., local time.

On Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service released the results of their preliminary survey on the tornado in Mebane, rating it an EF1. The path of the tornado started just south of US-70 in eastern Mebane and went northeast, carving an over 3 mile long path.

Later on Friday, another tornado was located in North Carolina near the Virginia border. The National Weather Service issued a warning just before 7:30 p.m. stating a confirmed tornado was located over Madison, North Carolina and moving northeast. A confirmed tornado was also located near Wentworth, North Carolina, from the same cell.

A particularly dangerous situation tornado warning was issued for central Rockingham county as the large and extremely dangerous tornado moved through the county. A strong tornado debris signature was visible on radar as the tornado moved through the county, which suggested debris were being lofted into the air, according to WFMY.

About 20 minutes after the tornado warning was issued for the county, Rockingham County Emergency Communications received multiple reports of damaged structures, possibly from the tornado. Widespread property damage, blocked roads and power outages were among the reports, according to McDowell News. The county declared a state of emergency on Saturday.

On Saturday, the National Weather Service confirmed the area was hit by an EF-1 tornado, which carved a 7.9 mile long path in the county. The tornado had an estimated max wind speed of 110 mph and crossed North Carolina State Highway 14 before dissipating near US-29.

The storm system that brought multiple tornadoes to the area also brought large hail to other parts of the Southeast, with several areas reporting 1.75 inch (golf ball sized) or larger hail. In central Tennessee, 2.25 inch hail (egg sized) was reported. Georgia and South Carolina also had hail reports exceeding 2 inches (egg sized).

Hail in Course, North Carolina on May 6, 2022. (Twitter/@SplendaDad1)

Severe thunderstorm reports stretched from Florida to Virginia on Friday, with several involving large hail and strong wind gusts. A 70 mph wind gust occurred in Treadway, Tennessee, and Pitt-Greenville Air, North Carolina, on Friday.

With many rounds of heavy rain, reports of flooding were widespread across much of the Appalachians and eastward into the mid-Atlantic. Flooding was particularly intense in Huntington, West Virginia, where up to 3 inches of rain led to rapidly rising waters in the area. According to West Virginia emergency management, a fatality was reported on Friday as a man was swept away in rapidly rising floodwaters.

Several power outages have been reported in states impacted by the severe weather, according to PowerOutage.us. On Saturday morning, Virginia and North Carolina combined for over 26,000 outages, and an additional 14,000 outages were reported in Pennsylvania.

For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform. 

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Weather News

At least 100 dead, major disaster declared after Texas flood

Jul. 8, 2025
Weather News

US Coast Guard rescue swimmer hailed as a hero after saving 165 kids f...

Jul. 8, 2025
Weather News

The faces of the Texas flooding tragedy

Jul. 7, 2025
Severe Weather

Severe weather to rumble in the central US through the holiday weekend

Jul. 6, 2025
Weather News

Record sargassum seaweed piles up on Caribbean islands, Gulf

Jul. 2, 2025
Weather News

Alabama teen in ICU after lightning strike hits boat, causing burns an...

Jul. 2, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather News

Camp Mystic, site of deadly Texas flooding, is in 'Flash Flood Alley'

18 hours ago

Weather News

‘Oh my God, we’re floating’: What people faced in amid Texas floods

3 hours ago

Weather Forecasts

Flash flood threat to continue in central Texas into midweek

2 minutes ago

Weather News

How torrential flooding wrought tragedy at girls camp in Texas

1 day ago

Severe Weather

Flooding downpours, severe thunderstorms to mitigate heat in East

1 hour ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Travel

FAA investigating part of a Delta Air Lines wing fell onto a driveway

4 days ago

Health

Three hospitalized, 21 injured after bee attack in France

23 hours ago

Weather News

France leads Europe in saying au revoir to beach and park smoking

4 days ago

Weather News

125,000-year-old ‘fat factory’ run by Neanderthals discovered

23 hours ago

Weather News

An ambitious vision of a city built from lava

22 hours ago

AccuWeather Weather News Multiple damaging tornadoes tear through Southeast
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...