BURNSVILLE — Burnsville was hit by a tornado on the afternoon of March 31.
According to the National Weather Service-Raleigh, a band of showers and isolated thunderstorms moved into central North Carolina, one of which produced a tornado that tracked from Burnsville in northwest Anson County to Cottonville in southern Stanly County. The tornado was EF-2 (STRONG) with speeds from 111 to 135 miles per hour. The tornado stayed on the ground most of the time until it lifted in Stanly, causing the worst damage around 1:27 p.m. in Burnsville.
No injuries or deaths were reported. Pee Dee Electric responded to over 700 members’ power outages.
“To my knowledge, Burnsville was the only [Anson] community affected by the tornado,” Burnsville Volunteer Fire, Rescue, and Ambulance Service Chief Josh Bowers said. “There was damage to a hay barn on 742, a house on Little Road, an abandoned house on Wightman Church Road, and the chicken farm on Wightman Church Road.”
“Please join us in keeping [the community] in our thoughts and prayers as they are in the process of rebuilding,” reads the department’s Facebook post.
Bowers and the rest of Burnsville would like to thank all those that came and helped during the response and recovery including local farmers, Lynn Thomas Grading, Anson Contractors, Southern Fab, Anson Dispatch, Anson Emergency Management, Wadesboro Fire Department, Pee Dee Electric, Anson County Sheriff’s Office, Charlotte Fire Department, and North Carolina Emergency Management.