'We're very blessed': Pinetops mayor, neighbors wake up to tornado warning

Around 6:45 a.m., WRAL News spoke to Pinetops Mayor Brenda Harrell, who was walking around with neighbors surveying the damage. Harrell said when she woke up to an alarm on her phone at 3:30 a.m., she thought it was an Amber Alert.
Posted 5/13/2025, 11:20:31 AM Updated 5/13/2025, 12:58:07 PM

OUT LOOKING AT THE DAMAGE.

LAURA?

>> ELIZABETH, GOOD MORNING.

YES, WE'VE BEEN SPEAKING TO

NEIGHBORS AND EVEN THE

HOMEOWNER HERE BEHIND ME WHERE

WE'VE REALLY SEEN THE MOST

DAMAGE HERE ON STREET. JUST

MANY PEOPLE OUT HERE ASSESSING

THE DAMAGE, INCLUDING THE MAYOR

OF PINE TOPS, WHO'S WITH YOU

RIGHT BRINDA HARRELL. HOW YOU

DOING THIS MORNING? I'M DOING

GOOD. YEAH, IT'S BETTER THAN

ME. YOU KNOW, SOME OTHERS, BUT

I WOULD HAVE A BLAST. JUST A

BLAST. WHAT THE 3 YEAR NIGHT

KIND OF RECOUNT. JUST SOME OF

THE THINGS YOU HEARD. YOU WERE

JUST TELLING ME HOW QUICK IT

PAST. YEAH. WELL, AND THEN, YOU

KNOW, THE PHONES WENT OFF AT

3.30 AND WE RESPECTED IN AMBER

ALERT BECAUSE IT TELLS US A

MOMENT TO LOOK AT US ALL MY

GOSH, THIS A TORNADO WARNING

GET UP TO ONE SIDE AND ALSO

THIS MORNING AS WE HAVE A

WARNING SYSTEM HERE, IMPACT

TOPS OUR FIRST RAIN WILL GO

OFF REPEATEDLY FOR ABOUT 10 OR

15 MINUTES TO LET PEOPLE KNOW

THERE'S A TORNADO IS SPOTTED.

TAKE COVER NOW.

>> SO WE HEARD THAT AND WE NEED

IN ADDITION IN, YOU KNOW,

IMMEDIATE THREAT TO DO

SOMETHING. AND WE'RE LISTENING

TO THE RADIO. I HAVE READ YOU

LIKE TO LISTEN TO. SO WE

GRABBED OUR STUFF AND GOT THE

MATH WRONG ABOUT TIME WE GOT

BACK FROM THAT WAS GONE AND USE

JUST THAT BY US. WE HEARD IN

THAT THE SELECTORS ARE REALLY

HAPPY. SO WHEN THE DAMAGE

REPORTS STARTED COMING IN IS

LIVE. NOW, JUST FROM WHAT WE

HEARD AND THEN WE STARTED

WATCHING. SO YOU GUYS AND THIS

IS WHEN WE ACTUALLY SAW THE

DAMAGE HERE WE SAW IT ON WRAL

THAT JUST LIKE FOR THAT, NOBODY

WAS HURT. IF YOU REPLACED, IT

COULD BE MUCH, MUCH WORSE.

WANT TO BE AN ABSOLUTELY.

AND IN SPEAKING TO MEMBERS OF

YOUR COMMUNITY AND THIS

MORNING, HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT

FOR YOU TO JUST BE OUT HERE?

>> AND GETTING THAT FIRST HAND

ACCOUNT? AND LOOK, I WAS VERY

IMPORTANT. OBVIOUSLY IT COME

OUT AND CHECK WRITER AND SEE

WHAT'S GOING ON IN

A LOT OF THINGS. YOU KNOW,

EVERYBODY ELSE'S BC DON'T

THINGS THEY DON'T HAVE TIME

TO CHECK EVERYTHING. SO WE JUST

COME OUT ROD OF STREETS TO SEE

WHAT'S GOING ON. SO WE CAN SEE.

>> JUST FOR MORE ASSETS HERE.

SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO ME

BECAUSE THESE ARE MY PEOPLE,

YOU KNOW, YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL

OF THAT. THE LESS SUPPORTIVE

PERSON KNOW IT SAYS THAT ON

TOP, SO MUCH FOR PEOPLE, NOT

ME. IT'S PEOPLE THAT LIVE HERE

AND WE'RE HERE TO TAKE CARE

OF THEM AND ABSOLUTELY. THANK

YOU SO MUCH NEAR HERO FOR

SPEAKING WITH US AS I'M SURE

YOU ARE BUSY SPEAKING WITH

PEOPLE KIND OF ASSESSING THE

DAMAGE. GOING TO BE BACK TO YOU

© WRAL