North Carolina tornado damage
© AP Photo/The Daily Reflector, Aileen DevlinPeople stand among the remains of a mobile home Saturday, April 26, 2014, that was destroyed when a tornado touched down along Black Jack-Simpson Road in Greenville, N.C. on Friday, April 25, 2014.
At least 15 people were transported to the hospital on Friday evening after a tornado struck in Beaufort County, N.C., an emergency management official said Saturday.

There were also an undetermined number of "walking wounded" who went to the hospital, Beaufort County Emergency Coordinator John Pack told AccuWeather.com.

"The good news is that nobody died. That's remarkable in itself," Pack said.

The National Weather Service at Newport/Morehead City, N.C. reports that an EF-3 tornado was confirmed along Whichards Beach in Friday night's storm.

The tornado was an EF-0 when it touched down near Chocowinity but grew in strength to an EF-3 with an estimated wind speed of 150 mph by the time it reached Whichards Beach, the weather service said.


Areas affected by the Beaufort County storm were areas east of the town of Washington, N.C. A state of emergency was declared late Friday evening restricting travel in the affected areas from dusk to daylight except for residents who can prove they live there, Pack said.

At least 200 homes were severely damaged or destroyed, Pack said.

North Carolina Emergency Management assisted with damage assessments on Saturday to determine if the severe weather event will meet the threshold of a disaster declaration, Gov. Pat McCrory said.