STONEVILLE, N.C. — On March 20, 1998, multiple tornadoes tore through Rockingham County.
One was an EF-3 which left an unimaginable path of destruction nearly twelve miles long.
Now, 25 years later, as you look through town, it's hard to tell that it ever happened.
Jeff Webster was working at the Stoneville Post office that Friday afternoon.
He and his coworkers took shelter in a center office.
"We didn't know what we were going to see when we opened that door," said Webster.
The post office was untouched, but just feet away was a carpet of debris.
"Powerlines were down, the cars were stacked up, bricks, buildings collapsed, all in the street. Never seen that many people in the street and it be that quiet," said Webster.
He was not alone.
Eric Whitten was a parole officer, working nearby, when the tornado touched down.
"We saw the tornado coming up 220. It was literally like oh my God, there's a tornado!" said Whitten.
Both men remember the storm like it was yesterday.
"It was a nightmare, you never dreamed you'd see anything like that," said Webster.
"Obviously you see it on TV, it's something you don't expect to see here in Stoneville, North Carolina," said Whitten.
Former Stoneville mayor Rex Tuggle rushed back to town after hearing of the storm.
He and his wife were in Myrtle beach at a Rotary Club meeting when the storm struck his small town.
"I kind of break down every time I talk about it, it was a sad, sad time. I carried my wife down to her mothers and I came straight back up here. I stayed 24 hours a day for three days," said Tuggle.
Two people lost their lives that day, dozens of others were injured.
"The ones you saw were crying and saying, Stoneville is ruined, we will never build back it's gone so it's just a heartbreaking time," said Tuggle.
Kathy Stanley-Galvin is Stoneville's current mayor.
She says the scars left behind remind the townspeople to never take a moment for granted.
"We're small here, we love everybody, we care for everybody, and when one family or one person hurts we all hurt, so it was really tough that day," said Stanley-Galvin.
Over time, pictures fade and time heals.
For those who lived through Rockingham County's most powerful tornado, the painful memories will last a lifetime.
"You always hear about it and you always think it happens everywhere else, you never think of it happening in your own hometown," said Stanley-Galvin.
"You still don't forget, forget what I'll happen that day, and I know it's still a painful memory for many," said Webster.