Cooper calls for improved warning system amid deadly tornado
Owner Richard Dobkin, right, photographs the damage at Ocean Ridge Storage Solutions in Brunswick County, N.C. near the town of Sunset Beach, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Roy Cooper said Wednesday that the state must learn from the surprise tornado that struck Ocean Isle Beach with little or no warning, leaving three people dead and 10 injured. The governor surveyed the brunt of the damage, at Ocean Ridge Plantation, a neighborhood where residents recounted near-death experiences from the powerful EF3 tornado that approached swiftly. Some said they received a warning alert on their phone two minutes after the tornado had already passed. AdBefore the tornado hit his Ocean Ridge Storage Solutions business about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Ocean Ridge Plantation, he said he was already struggling financially from the governor's pandemic-related business restrictions.
Tornado kills 3 in North Carolina; bitter cold sweeps Plains
AdNorth Carolina's Brunswick County had little notice of the dangerous weather, and a tornado warning was not issued until the storm was already on the ground. Texas officials said more than 400,000 doses due now will not arrive until at least Wednesday because of the storm. The tornado that hit North Carolina's Brunswick County was an EF3 with winds estimated at 160 mph (257 kph), the weather service said on Twitter. Several cities had record lows: In Minnesota, the Hibbing/Chisholm weather station registered minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 39 degrees Celsius). Sioux Falls, South Dakota, dropped to minus 26 Fahrenheit (minus 26 degrees Celsius).