Stoneville, NC Rebuilds
Listen in RealAudio
Email your weather question

On March 20th, 1988, the town of Stoneville, North Carolina changed forever. Hi. I'm Bryan Yeaton of The Weather Notebook.

At 3:38 p.m. a black funnel cloud packing winds of 200 miles per hour ripped across Stoneville in north central North Carolina . The tornado completely leveled the downtown business district and killed two people in the small town. As Leda Hartman reports, Stoneville's residents not only picked up the pieces but forged stronger ties than ever existed before in the small southern town.

STONEVILLE LIES JUST EAST OF NORTH CAROLINA'S BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS...NOT A PLACE THAT'S PRONE TO TORNADOS. BUT THE ONE THAT BLASTED THROUGH IN 1998 WAS BIG EVEN BY MIDWESTERN STANDARDS. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR BOB WYATT WAS WORKING AT CITY HALL AT THE TIME. HE AND THE OTHER STAFFERS TOOK COVER IN A VAULT MADE OF BRICKS AND STEEL.

OF COURSE WE HAD TREES AND BUILDINGS AND EVERYTHING FALLING AROUND US, AND YOU COULD ACTUALLY FEEL THE TREMOR OF THE EARTH. AND YOU COULD TELL THAT SOMETHING REALLY VIOLENT WAS GOING ON, OUTSIDE.

HELP CAME ALMOST IMMEDIATELY TO THIS LITTLE TOWN OF A THOUSAND. STATE AND FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS COORDINATED RELIEF EFFORTS. LUMBERYARDS DONATED TIMBER AND ROOFING MATERIALS. AND THE BAPTIST MEN'S ASSOCIATION COORDINATED VOLUNTEER REPAIR EFFORTS. THE TOWNSPEOPLE, TOO, SAYS WYATT, DREW CLOSER THAN EVER BEFORE. THOUGH THEY'D LOST A HISTORIC TOBACCO WAREHOUSE AND A CENTURY-OLD RAILROAD DEPOT...THEY STILL HAD EACH OTHER, AND THEY BUILT BACK. AT STONEVILLE'S MAIN INTERSECTION, WHERE AN OLD BUILDING ONCE STOOD, THE TOWN HAS ERECTED FRIENDSHIP PARK.

IT'S KIND OF A MEETING PLACE IN TOWN. (E) SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE USEFUL BY THE TOWNSPEOPLE, THAT WOULD BE PRETTY, THAT WOULD KIND OF LET THEM REMEMBER THAT WE DID HAVE A DEVASTATING MOMENT. BUT ALSO THAT WE HAVE SURVIVED IT, AND FOR THE MOST PART, THE TOWN HAS DONE VERY WELL, IN RECOVERY.

The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory.