It landed in Chocowinity at Frederick Road, then plowed a path through Beaufort County: the Town of Chocowinity, Whichards Beach Road, over the Pamlico to land at Mimosa Mobile Home Park. There, it took a northeasterly heading: to Wells Avenue and Turkey Trot Road, passing through Douglas Crossroads and running parallel with N.C. Highway 32 North to North Boyd Road. Leaving a trail of debris and destruction in its wake, Friday night’s tornado then went airborne.

The National Weather Service gave the tornado an EF3 rating Saturday afternoon, with winds around 150 mph, but many on the ground saw more than one.

“It appears there was more than one tornado at certain points, but they were short lived — they’re called sister tornadoes,” said John Pack, coordinator of Beaufort County Emergency Management.

By 7:50 p.m., Beaufort County’s 911-call center was inundated with reports of damage, power outages and injuries. On the north side of the Pamlico River, approximately 110 homes and business sustained damaged. For some, it was total destruction.

Essie Floyd was asleep in her home on U.S. Highway 264 East, just east of Beaufort County Community College, when the tornado rolled her mobile home over, flinging the 94-year-old free of the destruction into the neighboring field, according to her grandson, Eric Wilson. Floyd was admitted to Vidant Beaufort Hospital with a broken wrist, a deep laceration and various contusions, but full recovery is expected, Wilson said.

Tylanda Mitchell had no time to prepare at Mimosa Mobile Home Park before a tall pine tree ripped through the roof of the mobile home, where she, another adult and her three children live.

“The noise was all we had (for warning),” Mitchell said. “Then a tree went through the kitchen. I was praying then.”

According to his son, Walton Wallace was making his escape from the coming storm, and just pulling out of his driveway on U.S. 264 East, when the tornado demolished his home, picking up the Jeep he was driving and putting it back down, trapped by debris.

At each of these homes, family and friends gathered Saturday morning and started the task of sifting through what remained of the homes, picking out the salvageable and dumping the rest in hastily acquired waste bins. It was a scene that followed the tornado’s path across the county.

The immediate response, however, did not surprise Pack.

“It’s amazing. It’s really amazing. It’s what — living in a small-county, small-town rural environment — you would expect,” Pack said. “It happens all across America, but even more so in the Carolinas from my experience.”

The outpouring of help extended into the volunteer community, as well, according to Pack. At 8:30 p.m., as the call went out to all county fire and EMS personnel to report to their stations, more than the current roster of volunteers showed up — retired firefighters came to lend a hand, offering to man the stations so as many current volunteers could respond where needed out in the county as possible.

“Based on the numbers we got, we had in excess of 300 (volunteers). Nobody quits being a firefighter — it never gets out of your blood.” Pack said. “The firefighters and EMS, they’re the true heroes in this. … I tell you what, they definitely know when to turn it on and they did a good job.”

Pack said roughly 100 volunteers worked through the night, at times going into areas on foot due to the amount of debris.

“We had to walk into certain areas,” he said, citing Wells Avenue as one of those places. “The roads were so crisscrossed with power line and limbs. We sent two firefighters in with backpacks and radios to check on the wellbeing of the people down there. …There were homes damaged and people needing to get out, but there was no one injured. And they were very patient.”

At dawn, another 200 volunteers came on to relieve those who’d worked overnight.

Down River Road, crews with Tideland Electric and Lee Electrical Construction had also pulled all-nighters, working to get power restored to the many residents still in the dark. Vanceboro Fire and EMS units joined in, as did Marine Fisheries—doing a sweep of the river to make sure no debris blocked the channel.

Pack said the response he’s seen to Friday’s tornado rivals that of the outpouring of support experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, the 2011 storm that devastated much of Beaufort County. Like Hurricane Irene, a state of emergency in the county has been declared and travel has been restricted in some areas most damaged by the tornado. The state of emergency will be in effect until Monday morning, though Pack said Emergency Management will be reevaluating the situation today to determine whether it should be extended.