The City of Rock Mount said 15 people were injured during a tornado on Friday. The National Weather Service office in Raleigh estimated winds were 140 mph which is EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Officials said four of the injuries were considered to be serious.

The National Weather Service Raleigh has issued a flood watch for several counties across central North Carolina Thursday. A flood watch was issued for Person, Alamance, Orange, Durham, Chatham, Wake,

A tornado watch has been issued for Hampton Roads and North Carolina as Hurricane Helene, now downgraded to a tropical storm, makes its way across the southern United States. Tornadoes and damaging wind gusts are possible until 6 p.

Outer bands of Hurricane Helene could bring potentially severe weather to northeast North Carolina and Hampton Roads, starting Friday afternoon.

A tornado watch was issued by the National Weather Service on Thursday at 9:01 p.m. in effect until Friday at 8 a.m. The watch is for Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg, Union, Chester, Greenwood, Laurens and York counties.

Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast, making landfall late Thursday as a powerful Category 4 storm, bringing with 140 mph winds, torrential rain and a record storm surge before moving inland across Georgia and the Carolinas.