GREENSBORO, N.C. — Much of April 15, 2018 was quiet, but shortly after 5 p.m. that evening, mother nature took a turn for the worst.
An EF-2 tornado would eventually form near Gate City Blvd. in Greensboro and remain on the ground well into Rockingham County.
When the tornado warning was issued, Chief Meteorologist Tim Buckley and our team of meteorologists immediately went on air.
"Once you got that first warning, it was already in Greensboro and that became the storm that really rocked for about 30 miles across our area," said Buckley.
As the storm tracked north, Buckley had to take action like he never had before when the area of rotation passed right over the News 2 studio.
"We had to huddle our staff. I remember going out to the newsroom and kind of shouting with some urgency. We need to get into the safe spot," said Buckley. "I've never been in the line of fire. I've been informing people about that a lot in my career, but never been the person that's actually having to take cover myself and certainly I felt responsible for the crew here also."
Not only was this tornado powerful and dangerous with 135MPH winds -- it remained on the ground for 33 miles.
"Not only was it a strong tornado, which we don't get very many of, it was on the ground for so long. 30+ miles across two counties, that just does not happen here very often," said Buckley.
The days of community support is something Buckley remembers most about that devastating storm that hit too close to home.
"This was something that went on for days and weeks and we are sitting here five years later where there is still a slow recovery going on for many folks, but the community really banded together in a way that was really impressive to see," said Buckley.
As Buckley was on the air, those who found themselves in the path of the storm were turning to 9-1-1 dispatchers for help.
"An employee came to the door and was like hey we just got a report of a tornado touchdown on 29. So we both immediately came into the room and the phones had exploded," said Angela Mitchell, a shift supervisor with Guilford-Metro 9-1-1.
Mitchell was the shift supervisor when the EF-2 tornado touched down in east Greensboro.
Within minutes, dispatchers were inundated with calls for help.
"I can't get out of my house, could hear gas, trapped inside their house, my neighbor's house is not there anymore, I mean, it was a lot of calls," said Mitchell.
From 5 p.m. on April 15 until 2 p.m. the following day, Guilford Metro 9-1-1 received 2,080 calls for service, 447 of those calls came within the first hour following the tornado.
"It didn't hit me until seeing that call screen with those open calls, not really knowing are these entrapment calls, are these injury calls, are these calls of just the unknown?" said Nathan Jackson, a dispatcher with Guilford Metro 9-1-1.
Jackson was on EMS dispatch that night.
He says with each call he answered, his concern grew not knowing the destruction that lie outside their four walls.
"There was that concern, is another fellow human in some type of peril that we just can't get to because we have to be concerned with responder safety as well," said Jackson.
Despite all the damage the tornado created, there were no deaths along the path of the storm and no serious injuries.
Thanks in part to the quick actions of those answering the call for help.
"There's one picture that will forever stay in my mind as kind of a communications-minded person. The cell tower, 408 Banner Ave., why that address sticks in my mind I guess it's one of those things, the cell phone tower laid over there like a candy cane. That impaired people's ability to make phone calls," said Jackson.
"Just praying that everybody is going to be okay because it was like I said, something that we, in my tenure here, had never experienced," said Mitchell.