JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – An EF-0 tornado destroyed the American Legion building in Jacksonville on Thursday, the National Weather Service confirmed. The tornado was on the ground for less than 800 feet, was 60 feet wide, and lasted approximately one minute, with winds reaching an estimated 85 mph.
Jacksonville Fire officials said no one was inside the building at the time of the storm. The building manager had been on his way to prepare for a bingo event that had 120 to 130 people expected later that evening.
American Legion Commander Steven Shortt said the damage was significant given the building’s construction.
“I was pretty devastated. I mean, this building’s built of steel and concrete block, so it has to take a direct hit for something to destroy it like it did,” Shortt said.
Shortt said all events at the location are cancelled until further notice. He added that several churches and other organizations have offered to host American Legion meetings in the interim.
Despite the destruction, Shortt described the outcome as the best possible given the circumstances.
“We’re thankful, as thankful as we can be. We lost our building, but we didn’t lose the apartment complex behind us or the Onslow County school building where there were people in both of those areas. It would have been much more devastating than us just losing our building, cause we had nobody inside the building at the time,” Shortt said.
Insurance adjusters were on site Friday assessing the damage. Shortt said the plan is to rebuild on the same property.
“The plan is to rebuild here. This area is a big part of Onslow County. We have the county fair, we have bingo, we have a bunch of other events,” Shortt said.
The American Legion has been a fixture in Jacksonville, and this particular building, since 1981. A celebration dinner marking the organization’s 80th anniversary in Jacksonville had been scheduled for Friday evening, but was cancelled following the storm.
Cheryl Larson, who lives next door to the building, said she heard a loud bang during the storm but did not immediately realize the extent of the damage.
“I heard a loud bang, kind of looked out but couldn’t really see anything, and then the storm ended, the power went out, internet went out, then I heard a lot of sirens. But I was thinking with this rain there’s probably trees down, accidents, whatever. And later came out to go to the store and came out and saw this building gone,” Larson said
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