Officials: Damage heavy but could have been worse

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey toured areas of the Twin Counties affected by a Wednesday tornado that cut a 16.5-mile path of destruction from Dortches to an area of Edgecombe County about 9 miles northeast of Battleboro.

The National Weather Service said the tornado had a maximum wind speed of 150 mph and its path was approximately 600 yards wide, ranking it as the most powerful tornado to strike in the state in the month of July and the strongest to strike central North Carolina since 2011.

At least 16 people were injured and about 90 properties sustained damage as a result of the storm, including major damage to Rocky Mount's Pfizer pharmaceutical plant.

Causey said the state Department of Insurance is there to help insured property owners with their insurance claims and to educate the public about the pitfalls of doing business with scammers seeking to take advantage of desperate homeowners. Department of Insurance representatives were at Red Oak Fire Department Thursday afternoon assisting area residents.

In a little over 25 hours in which to work, Causey said he was impressed with the work local emergency response personnel, especially those with the Rocky Mount Fire Department, did in assisting area residents affected by the storm.

"They went above and beyond the call of duty," Causey said.

Nash County Emergency Services Director Tony Cameron thanked the cooperation of numerous agencies working together to ensure the public's safety, noting that the situation could be much worse despite the damage to many homes and other structures.

"We want to thank our municipalities, Nash County volunteer fire departments, surrounding counties, North Carolina Highway Patrol, N.C. Department of Transportation and North Carolina Emergency Management for their assistance during the emergency response," said Cameron. "It takes a big team to recover from an event like this. We are also fortunate that the number of injured individuals remained very low despite the amount of damage we are seeing."

Jonathan Edwards, Nash County communications director, said the Nash County Emergency Medical Services treated a total of 13 area residents with minor injuries, transporting two of them to UNC Health Nash hospital for further evaluation.

Officials in Edgecombe County said three residents there were injured in the storm, two of them suffering life-threatening injuries.

No deaths were reported.

Damage to Pfizer plant on North Wesleyan Boulevard could put even more pressure on already-strained drug supplies at U.S. hospitals, experts told the Associated Press. The twister ripped up the roof the factory, which makes nearly 25% of Pfizer's sterile injectable medicines used in U.S. hospitals, according to the drugmaker.

It will likely lead to some long-term shortages while Pfizer shifts production to other locations or rebuilds, said Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health. "If Pfizer falls out, it makes it that much harder for other companies to make up the difference," Fox said.

The specifics of which drugs might be involved in a shortage and how long that shortage will go were not clear.

"Anyone who is aware of this event is basically holding their collective breath at this point, hoping for the best and waiting for news," said said Mike Ganio, who studies drug shortages at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

He noted that drugmakers tend to ship finished products quickly from manufacturing sites, which may limit how much inventory was damaged by the twister.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Thursday on Twitter that the company was "working urgently to determine the best way to get back online as quickly as possible, while ensuring the safety of our people."

Drugmakers can shift manufacturing to other locations. But that can be complicated because they must reroute raw materials — usually made elsewhere — to other locations and may have to train workers to make a product.

Pfizer also may have to figure out whether to cut production of another product to squeeze in more manufacturing at the new site.

"It's not always as easy as just flipping a switch to increase production," Ganio said.

Due to debris on the roadway, a portion of I-95 in Nash County was closed Wednesday afternoon. Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone said interstate highway closures pose a serious threat for collisions and injuries. He said it was fortunate that neither occurred following the closure.

Edwards said officials with the Nash County Planning Department were busy Thursday assessing the monetary value of the property destroyed by the storm's 150-mph winds.

"Nash County Emergency Services has an initial estimate of around 89 structures damaged by the tornado. A thorough assessment can occur once power crews have cleared the area of downed electrical lines," stated Edwards.

Causey warned residents about doing business with scam artists who appear in areas stricken by natural disasters seeking to prey upon desperate owners. He said there were about a dozen contractors in Nash County going door to door Thursday offering their services. While many are legitimate and do excellent work, there are others performing shoddy work or no work at all after receiving payment.

"People need to be alert and skeptical," Causey said, adding that it not good business to give a contractor money upfront. "Some of them will take your money and you'll never see them again."

For homeowners experiencing difficulties with their insurance companies, Causey said his agency's Consumer Services Division can help in those situations, adding that he often hears from homeowners that have their issues resolved by the insurance commission in a matter of days that they themselves failed to do after years of trying.

"We're really pleased with the results they get," Causey said.

The phone number of the Consumer Services Division is 855-408-1212. Online and printable forms for assistance can be found online at ncdoi.gov/contactscomplaints/assistance-or-file-complaint.