WRAL-TV News 11/28/88 - Raleigh Tornado Coverage

[CashKidRecords]

ACID WASHED JEANS 1:42

[MrWeatherman10]

im 22, and wat happened on 4/16/2011 was un believeable in my opinon

[MrGSWAGG92]

@MrWeatherman10 Yea it was but what i cant understand tho and i dont think i ever will is why so many people die from tornadoes in NC than any other state it seems...22 ppl in total dead in our state...i dont understand that...

[Soulthinker2007]

That tornado went through North Raleigh and yesterday's tornado almost came to downtown.

[1998disco72]

Brings back some memories!!

[jcextra]

did this tornado hit downtown, because the one that happened today hit downtown

[magetrix9]

@jcextra the one that hit i was in the middle of it in a damn bathroom with about 30-40 other people it was scary as fuck mostly worried about my other family members luckily none of them got hurt but unluckily 20 people died and 88 people got injured

[SASSYme73]

WOW. I googled this because of the storms we are having today in Wake Co. I remember this storm. I had just had my birthday that Thursday and I had just turned 15. I knew people had died, but didn't realize that they were so young. I remember being so afraid that night. On a side note: weren't the graphics so 80licious?

[ILovestorms]

@SASSYme73 That Thursday was Thanksgiving that year, your birthday was Thanksgiving that year. What happened today was very similar.

[ether150]

@SASSYme73 "On a side note: weren't the graphics so 80licious" ROFLMAO....i like that.

[davidlee110]

IT HAPPENED AGAIN! TODAY!!! :0

[kbw1970]

I remember this like it was yesterday. I was all the way in eastern NC and I still heard the rumbling from this storm, very scary.

[gbear4]

I remember this storm going right OVER our house(we lived in a valley). We drove to see what is now the Wal Mart(was Kmart). Talk about destruction.

[leeloo67]

None of the official documentation state this, but I say there were two tornadoes in Raleigh. Around town you could discern two paths near Ray and Lynn Rds, etc. For months and months afterward if you went up Ebeneezer Church Rd. to where it (used to) turn from pavement to gravel you could see two separate paths, side by side. At the time I lived in Oak Park off Duraleigh Rd - about a mile as the crow flies from the old K-Mart... Amazing there were not more injured or killed.

[nitr0junki3]

what was interesting looking back is that they thought the "tornadoes" that tore the path from wake to nash co. were multiple tornadoes. only later did they learn that it was a massive tornado for this area, topping out as an F4. i lived near youngsville at the time and remember it like it was yesterday. it actually collapsed 3 walls on a dear friend of mine, in her bedroom, a few miles from my house. she survived only to be killed in a car accident the following monday. god bless u E.H.

[MissManxy]

Thank you for posting this video. I remember this awful night as well. It was a VERY warm night. The scary thing was seeing the K-Mart afterward; it had collapsed to only 2 feet tall.

[jrock636]

I remember this. I lived right off Six forks road on village grove rd. It was about 150 yrds from our house. I was 8yrs old.

[ASHZ71]

I lived in the neighborhood right off of six forks rd where this happened. I was like 5 years old

[kooldavewarren]

I remember that night/morning. I was about 5 miles from ground zero just off US 64 at the time. I have some of this footage on VHS also. I was sleeping with my window open and the strom woke me up around 1:00am.

[nossolg]

Donna Gregory was HOT.

[hkfreak]

I know this may not fit right now, but I think Adele left WRAL on that date.

[hkfreak]

I cannot say anything about the tornadoes, as I have never experienced them, nor can I say about the shock and sorrow its trail must bring to each of the individuals' lives. That I wouldn't know, and I cannot imagine what people had to go through, and I am VERY grateful for that. But I must say that Charlie Gaddy held a lot of composure heading the news and giving the facts out, I am really amazed at Mr. Gaddy here. Bless him lots.

[2dazed]

this  tornado hit a mile from my house and I was 6 years old

[asulca593]

just found it on WRAL's web site; its roughly an hour long....check it out

[BartmanMC]

No I live in North Carolina and WRAL has two half hours that involve 4 reporters that split up the two half hours.

[asulca593]

i had a compilation of news coverage on VHS put together by WRAL; i watched it many times; it was simply facinating; the music was very eerie; i know it is somewhere around and i would like to find it; if not, im sure WRAL has it in their archives

[bootes53]

I lived 1/4 mile from this and heard it go through--I had just taken out the garbage and rescued my cat, who was trapped outside in the rainstorm, and brought him in, when a little later I heard a roar go through the neighborhood like a giant lawn mower.

The next day, our phone started ringing at 7:00 AM from people who knew we lived not far from the K-Mart and saw it on the news. I knew someone whose house was in the path; the second floor was knocked off the first floor into the front yard.

[walkingencyclopedia]

20 years ago today ? Has time changed that fast ?

[obxnitro]

The more I have researched large tornados in the east the more real and scary these monsters become.The 2008 suffolk VA EF3, the 1993 Petersburg F4, and now this F4 truly terrifying.A mircale not more people were killed.

[cyberiankhatru]

I remember little Pete. I was a store manager up at Stonehenge s/c back then. He would come into my store and play games after school. He was a good kid.

I slept through the whole thing. My brother called from Boone at 7AM and asked "Are you alright?." I said, "Yeah, why?" He said "turn on your TV." It was awful. Later I learned about Pete.

[tvfan103]

@cyberiankhatru Oh my gosh you knew him? It must have been really heart breaking for you. RIP Pete 1974-1988

[scott9050]

I remember how warm it was the night before, mid 70's near midnight. I was in 10th grade then.

[raymieX]

@scott9050 For somewhere like North Carolina in November, that's high, but Arizona can outdo that. We had a low of 90 sometime last summer! 90! The LOW!

[HarbingerGA]

I was in 7th grade at Carroll MS and the boy who died was in my homeroom. I've never forgotten how some of us joked about Pete not being in class that day. It was no joke when the principal came over the intercom later in the day to announce that he in fact was one of the fatalities.

My school bus route included one of the hardest hit neighborhoods (I lived a mile from the tornado's path). I recall our bus driver having to navigate the tree-strewn street to get through.. eerie memories.

[GUTTERbOY001]

Man, this brings back memories. I was nine years old and we lived in Franklin County, near Youngsville. The tornado passed about a mile from our house. I remember being awake during the whole thing; I remember that I'd never seen lightning like that in my life. But I think the most enduring memory is of driving around the morning after, and seeing a mobile home on the side of the road, crumpled up like a ball of aluminum foil. That image is still seared into my mind after all these years.

[carycocweb]

I remember my bus driver that afternoon kept commenting about how freaky the weather was for late Nov. like he could sense something bad was going to happen. Seemed like the temp was in the 80's and it was very humid. I didn't realize there were no warnings for this tornado. That's crazy! All the ingredients were there. We've come a long way with weather prediction technology.

[Jnelson09Returns]

I was just two months old, living just south of Raleigh in Fuquay-Varina.

[linkmand]

yeah I forgot about Carol. Adelle Arakawa (SP) who was named at the begining went to chicago then to Colorado now I think. and at the top of the clip that was Donna Greggory.

[dorseylgnc]

I grew up in Raleigh and was a student at Millbrook when this happened. I voluntered with the Red Cross to help with the cleanup on the Saturday after the storm. We got to see things that many in the public couldn't (behind the yellow tape). Charlie Gaddy was correct. You would see one house with major damage while the one next door was pretty much unscathed. You could drive down Sawmill and see where the tornado went through picking up pine trees like it was grabbing them by hand.

[stevewl1164]

I was working that night, was horrible. The Kmart was flattened and a WalMart stands there now.

[Jillc3po]

I lived off of Lynn Rd on Battleford Drive when the tornado hit our neighborhood. The events of this night still bother me to this day. I was woken up when my bed was lifted off the floor with the suction of the roof being lifted off of the house. We had alot of damage and we were very lucky to have survived. Janet (Barnes) and I rode the bus together to Lynn Rd Elementary. We had to live in a hotel for months. Every time the wind whips up, it brings me back to this terrible night.

[arakele]

i remember this when I was a kid as well.. definitely a scary night.

[sonacast]

I was a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill. I was jolted awake about 12:45am as the storm-just a severe thunderstorm at this point-blew through my area. I had just driven back from MD earlier in the day (all in the rain) from Thanksgiving break.

I'll always remember standing out on my porch in my underwear. It was already clear that this storm was something different.

My heart goes out to those who lost their lives.

Thanks for posting this footage...sure brings back the memories.

[mclaybry]

I was a sophomore at Millbrook High School when this happened- we had just moved into our house out on Falls Lake. Scary night...

Incidentally, Carol Sbarge is now on the news in Atlanta- she's the weekend anchor.

[padude64]

I feel so bad for the people who have to go through these terrible storms!

[sforbes42]

I lived in Clayton at the time and was 18 years old. I was woken by high winds, but nothing that caused any damage. I remember going to Raleigh the next night to see for myself, and saw that the K-Mart on Glenwood Ave was completely destroyed. The weird irony in this is there now stands a Wal-Mart in that same area.

[summer4autumn]

Why is that a "weird irony"? Did Walmart create the tornado to destroy the Kmart??

[sforbes42]

No. I do not believe my comments suggested such. That would be an insane thing to think. I believe my point would be more of situational irony. When the K-Mart was destroyed, the expected result might be that K-Mart would rebuild. However, they did not, but Wal-Mart did build, who is the competitor. So that leads to a discrepancy between the expected and actual result. That would be situational irony.

[goddessbluebaby]

i was 9 years old when this happend janet barnes was my friend we went to school together at lynn road elementry school and we were in class together... she was 9 not 8 and peter folgm was 11 and he went to carol middle school at the time of hes death

[sebrian]

I was 18 and lived in N.Raleigh when it hit.Something woke me up a few minutes before it hit (maybe pressure drop?).I got up to make a pbj and the front door started shaking like someone was trying to get in! The wind was howling like crazy!Strange night!!

[jrshort86]

This tornado badly damaged all of the houses around us but left ours untouched, incredible.

[ZionTherapy]

I lived about a mile away from it. I can still vividly recall the constant lightning strikes as the power was out and it was well after midnight. We had a dozen or so pine trees down. The bus ride to West Millbrook in the morning was chaotic.

[TBirdSCIL]

This is really good quality for a 20 year old video. You don't really hear much about this tornado.

[Greystone45]

The 14 year old boy who died was in my class before they moved to Raleigh. I think about these tornadoes every now and then.

[ncmpg]

This tornado came 1/4 mile form my house.

[veluz330]

The one Who replaced Batista is Pam Saulsby not Debra Morgan

[veluz330]

Choose who is The Longest weatherman Bob DeBardelaben or Dick Goddard?

[GBS1043]

Absolutely Dick Goddard. He started at WJW in 1961 and he is STILL ON !

[angelapleasant2007]

He started his Weathercaster in 1961 at KYW Cleveland Before to WJW in '66

[GBS1043]

Ah, I don't remember Goddard being on KYW (channel 3) now WKYC. I am pretty sure that he started working for Storer (WJW- channel 8) in 1961.

[jjqqpublic]

Wral is still #1 in Raleigh for those who were asking. The best local news channel I've ever watched.

As for Bobbie Batista's replacement...I guess it would be Pam Saulsby now...or Debra Morgan

[ralmatt]

Sorry to burst your bubble jjqqpublic, but WRAL news has sucked ever since Charlie Gaddy left.

[tl54]

no warning for this, was this the famous storm that caused for an investagation at the nws? also very sad that all thoes peopel died :(

[bootes53]

It is very hard to do warnings for tornados--they come up so quickly--and especially when it happens at 1 in the marning when people are asleep. All you can do is post something on a weather radio, but how many people have those?

How else would YOU propose to warn people when they're asleep, when the entire life of a tornado is just a few minutes?

[veluz330]

Who is the Current Replacemvent of Bobbie Battista?

[jjqqpublic]

the girl that died went to my elementary school (Lynn Rd. Elementary School). Her parents paid for a memorial to be built at our school...i think it was a bench w/ a tree etc. The chimney caved in on her house. A girl in my kindergarten class showed us her scar from the tornado for show and tell. Her bedroom window shattered on her leg. Interesting event for such a young chap.

[russellbuzz]

The 3rd grader that was mentioned as dying in the tornado damage was the sister of a girl I knew in high school. This tornado was definitely a major event in the history of the Triangle area.

[patmix]

omg

[ozfest43]

I was only 3 at the time this happened, but my parents still have in their house the original VHS that came out with extensive coverage of the tornado. I remember my dad taking me up there when I was a kid a few years after and still seeing all the trees down and the clear path it left up off of Ebenezer Church Rd.

[flyaaguy]

It's amazing how the news sets have changed at the Big 5 over the years. This was just after they had moved back into the main news studio after totally redoing it. Donna Gregory was still new at the station and Adele Arakawa was on her way to Chicago.

[plastastic]

Wow, thanks for uploading this.

[pepperw5]

I lived in Raleighwhen this happened! I lived in the neighborhood Westwood where they are at! My friends room made the news! WOW! I will never forget!

[huggyface]

I moved to Raleigh about a year after this happened...I was hoping I'd have caught this sucker when it went thru town, I love stormy weather! Very sad about the loss of life nonetheless...especially the children whose parents were killed. :-(

[Metzasaurusrex]

Yea there was a Kmart where Wal Mart is now. The Kmart was removed except for the bottom row of cinder blocks. I was home on leave and in Stonehenge and I remember hearing the sucker go by. I actually now live in a home that was damaged in that storm in Village Grove. Small dangerous world...

[flyfish1217]

I remember being awakened as it shook our townhouse in Cary, before first touching down ~ 1 mile away in Reedy Creek State Park. It cut a wide swath through the state park, before hitting North Raleigh. If I recall correctly, there was a lot of damage to a shopping complex called Pleasant Valley Promenade, near Edwards Mill Road.

[bootes53]

The shopping center that really got it is right next to Pleasant Valley Promenade: Town Ridge. Neither is very close to Edwards Mill, though.

[lizolopolis]

wow this is freaky to watch. my sister was one of the 4 killed in this tornado. awfully surreal to run across this as i am bumbling around on you tube....

[popweaverhdtv]

One could only wonder how much bigger WRAL could have gotten (if that's even possible) if Adele had remained in Raleigh.

[huggyface]

Heck WRAL is a HUGE juggernaut in Triangle TV even sans Adele! I've since left NC, but when I was there 'RAL was kicking serious butt! Even rival 'TVD was a fairly distant 2nd! And WNCN...do they get many viewers for their news? Maybe those who can't stand the crap on 22 or 28 haha

[AuburnTowers]

She's one of the main anchors at KUSA-TV in Denver.

[1998disco72]

@AuburnTowers You know why she left!

[linkmand]

ahhh Adele wow what a classy lady wonder how she is doing.

[rsmayton]

I was 13 and lived in North Raleigh and remember waking up in the middle of the night because of how loud the wind was. Our neighborhood didn't get hit but up the street at the Celebration shopping center all the windows were blown out as I recall. More clips!!!!

[cag1970]

I definitely remember this tornado. In fact, I was a student at N.C. State at the time. I didn't know that this twister hit until the next morning. If the path had been further south, it would've wound up plowing through the State Fairgrounds and the main campus, instead of North Raleigh.

[huggyface]

Yeah, my former "roomies" (who still live in RAL) happen to live near Cameron Village close to NCSU...if this storm would've moved further south, closer to the center of town, and the campus, they may have been hurt or killed. They actually had NO IDEA of this tornado until they woke up later that morning and heard it on the news!

[AuburnTowers]

Glad you like these. I'm hunting around, looking for more videos to add.

[popweaverhdtv]

Talk about bringing back memories. I lived in Seven Springs when this happened. If I remember correctly, WRAL was going to do a farewell tribute to Adele Arakawa as she had been scheduled to depart WRAL for WBBM in Chicago. However, she waited an extra day to depart in order to not overshadow this important story. Do you plan to add more videos of the Raleigh TV Stations (i.e. Late 80's and the 90's, as well?