At Least 3 Dead After Tornado Rips Through NC

A tornado ripped through North Carolina's Brunswick County early Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring 10 others in its trail of destruction, the AP reports. The tornado hit just after midnight Tuesday in southeastern Brunswick County near Grissettown in the Ocean Ridge Plantation Community, destroying homes, downing power lines that left thousands without electricity, and snapping trees in half, news outlets reported. "It's something like I have never seen before. A lot of destruction. It's going to be a long recovery process," Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram said at a press conference early Tuesday.

Brunswick County Emergency Management said people were trapped in homes. Ingram said searches for missing people were underway and will increase during the day. He's asked people to avoid the area while crews work to clear the streets and search for victims. The Wilmington Fire Department tweeted that it would send teams to help find people missing after the tornado. CNN reports "no missing people are currently outstanding." About 140,000 people live in Brunswick County, according to 2019 census records. Tornado watches remain in effect for the eastern part of the state, per CNN.

(More tornado stories.)