Sanford subdivision survives tornado strike

The St. Andrews neighborhood in southern Sanford was thrashed and trashed by the violent storms that roared across North Carolina Saturday. The property damage is devastating, but no one was seriously injured.

Posted 9:55 p.m. Apr 18, 2011 — Updated 10:49 p.m. Apr 18, 2011

SANFORD, N.C. — The St. Andrews neighborhood in southern Sanford was thrashed and trashed by the violent storms that roared across North Carolina Saturday.

Houses slid off their foundation and roofs blew away, leaving second stories dangling and residents grateful to have survived.

Jessica Hamilton said Monday that she can't believe how quickly the tornado destroyed her home. She and her husband covered the kids in the bathtub as the storm blew by. "We were in the bathtub, all four of us," she said. "It didn't last a minute."

They walked out to find their world in shambles.

"Quite obviously, had we been anywhere else, I wouldn't be talking," Hamilton said.

The picture is much the same all along Andrews Drive. The property damage is devastating, but no one was seriously injured.

Clifton Wells, who lives in St. Andrews but was not home at the time, called it a miracle. His house is completely blown away. Wells's next step is to decide how to proceed after the storm of a lifetime.

"I'm learning about this day by day," he said. "I don't really know where to go. I'm not schooled in this."

Suggest A Correction