EDEN, N.C. — Thursday marks five years since a tornado hit Eden in Rockingham County.
In just six minutes on the ground, it tore through miles of homes and businesses. The storm struck in the middle of the night.
No one saw it coming but no one was injured or killed.
Along Stadium Drive, it's now business as usual.
"You could never tell that a tornado came through here at all," Chris Burleson said.
For WFMY News 2 Weather Spotter Chris Burleson, the memory of the storm is still fresh. He was up late, tracking a storm with no tornado risk when it quickly evolved.
"Between three and four in the morning I noticed the wind started to pick up really hard and it was raining really hard. It had a little bit of whistling in it," Burleson said.
When he got to Eden before daybreak, he found trees and power lines blocking roads. Some buildings were torn apart.
"It was heartbreaking to see the devastation not only to our building but to other buildings as well and homes," Pete Crouch said.
Crouch owns Eden Drug. His store avoided damage but his nearby education center was hit.
"It was a total loss and we couldn't leave it as it was because we are afraid someone will get hurt," Crouch said.
Clean-up continued in the days and weeks after.
Danville-based crisis response team God's Pit Crew was among those who came to help.
"They cleared some trees and did debris removal to try to help some of those families out," God's Pit Crew founder Randy Johnson said. "It's never enough, you always want to be able to do more for people."
It took months, but recovery came.
Crouch found a bigger space for his education center next door to the pharmacy.
"We feel blessed. Not only did no one get hurt, but eventually we got a better site," Crouch said. "It just has worked out better. We can serve our community better from the location right now."
The old site is an empty lot. A tire store across the road was also torn down.
But there is a sense of relief in Eden because they made it through that storm.
"Everybody came together as they always do that in Rockingham County," Burleson said.