SANFORD, NC – Saturday was just an absolutely beautiful day in the Tar Heel state.
The sun was shining, there was a nice breeze in the air, and just enough clouds to keep the temperatures in check.
It's hard to imagine how anyone could not enjoy the day, unless you’re a part of Shirley Matthews’ family.
"We were scared to death that it was the end of time for us,” said Matthews. “It came right over us!"
This day brings back nightmares for Matthews and her daughter, Lisa.
They are the mother and sister of WFMY News 2 Meteorologist Ed Matthews.
The Matthews family will never forget April 16, 2011.
Five years ago on Saturday, they were trapped in the basement of their house in Sanford, NC as an EF - 3 tornado went right over her house in Sanford.
160 mile per hour winds ripped through her neighborhood that day.
It was one of many tornadoes that touched down that day. In fact, a record 30 tornadoes touched down in North Carolina on that day.
It knocked down trees, took out power lines, it destroyed houses, and sent debris flying everywhere.
Worst of all, it took life of one of their cousins.
Half a decade later, the family is still recovering, both physically and mentally.
"It was an awful day,” said Matthews. “I don't want to live through another one."
To this day, she still cringes when a storm rolls through.
"I am scared to death of wind," said Matthews. "If it gets up to 50 mph, somebody is going to come and hold my hand!"
Five years ago, Shirley Matthews was asleep on the couch when her daughter, Lisa, busted through the door and rushed her down to the basement.
“I got down like this next to mom,” said Lisa as she re-enacted the crouching move she made in the basement that day. “We were sitting here and we weren't talking because we were more worried about our ears popping.”
Their ears were popping because the tornado was literally right over their heads leaving a path of damage all over their property.
It took out hundreds of pine trees that the family had planted, it put a hole in the Matthews' garage, and it destroyed many of the family’s antiques.
But Lisa says the worst part about it was the loss of a family member.
"It's not a memory. It's just something that happened in your life,” said Lisa. “It's something that you will never ever forget. Something that I never want to go through again.”
There is a new shed in the Matthews' backyard.
The old one was completely ripped to shreds.
The tornado was so violent and the winds were so powerful, it picked up a treadmill out of the shed, spun it around, and sent it flying 200 feet in the air, over the garage and right in front of the basement door, where the Matthews' ladies were inside.
Lisa believes her deceased father had something to do with saving her life.
“That was my daddy! My daddy and the good Lord above was watching over us,” she said. “That's the reason the treadmill landed right outside the door and slid down so that the pressure couldn't open the door and suck us out!”
“He had been dead for five years and he was still looking after us,” said Matthews.
Call it divine intervention, or just luck, but the Matthews' family is just happy to be here five years later to tell their story.
“I thank God for saving us and not letting anything happen to us,” said Matthews.
But Lisa says they have a lot more work to do to restore the property to the way it looked before the storm.
“It's not the same. It's been a whole out of hard work. Each and every day, even now, you come over here and I pull in and I come down the driveway and you look over there and you say, it's just because of the tornado that it's not beautiful like it used to be,” said Lisa. “There is always work to do. There's always work to do.”
From time to time, friends and family continue to stop by and do some work around the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Ed Matthews was working on that day, five years ago.
He was in Greensboro, on the air at WFMY News 2.
When asked about it, Ed said he wishes he was home in Sanford.
Of course, he wanted to be there to take care of his mother and sister.
But he said he also wanted to be there to experience that as a meteorologist – to feel the power of the storm in real life.
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