Some 19,000 people call Bertie County home, and this tight-knit community banded together in the aftermath of the storm.
Billy Graham chaplains pray with community members amid the destruction.
The tornadoes happened as Hurricane Isaias made its way up the North Carolina coast. The Category 1 hurricane initially made landfall on Monday evening near Ocean Isle Beach, which is about 3.5-hours south of Bertie County.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." —Philippians 4:6
God's Word says, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." —Psalm 18:2
The National Weather Service reportedly confirmed an EF-3 tornado, with winds up to 145 mph, tore through this area. Two people were killed and two more declared missing after the twister uprooted a mobile home community on Morning Road.
Neighbors grieved the loss of two loved ones while also working alongside each other to restore their community.
Cars were tossed about along with pieces of homes and their precious contents. Many remnants landed in a cotton field just across the street from the mobile home community.
The chaplains met one survivor (not pictured) who recalled seeing an angel covering them from the wind during the storm.
Rapid Response Team chaplain coordinator Barb Grabowski talks with local resident Lori Speller (right) who credits God for surviving for the storm.
Some residents shared how nothing looks the same now that their property dots the landscape.
Underneath the fragments, though, rests one of the richest soils in the state. Bertie County, one of the largest in North Carolina, produces many major agricultural crops including corn, peanuts and cotton among others.
Please continue to pray for this community and all affected by these devastating storms.
