Aircraft Flipped Over, Hangars Badly Damaged

A line of storms associated with a strong cold front produced nine possible tornadoes in North Carolina Monday afternoon and night, and one of the storms caused severe damage at the Hickory, NC Airport northwest of Charlotte.

CBS News reports that the storms flipped over several GA aircraft and piled cars on top of one another. Several aircraft reportedly broke free of their tie downs and ran into one another. The storm also blew down a hangar at the airport, damaging as many as eight of the aircraft inside.

The Morganton News Herald reports that winds as high as 100 miles per hour were clocked during the storm, which went through Burke County late Monday afternoon.

Sara Prencipe, a communications specialist with the city of Hickory which owns the airport, said that there were no injuries reported in connection with the storm. She also said that the damage to the hangars at the airport would not affect operations, and the airport was open as usual on Tuesday.

Prencipe said that the city is working to contact the owners of the aircraft that were damaged during the storm, and the city's insurance company has been put on notice.

(Images posted to Facebook by user Chris Chester)

FMI: Original Report, Original Report