CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. -- Meteorologists believe a tornado caused winds that blew a house off its foundation and destroyed several barns late Thursday.

Representatives from Cabarrus County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service combed through the debris left after the storm early Friday. Most of the damage was centered around Mount Pleasant Road and Kluttz Road.

Justin Lane with the NWS said it was probably a weak tornado with winds reaching between 90 and 100 miles per hour that struck the area.

"You'll see damage on one side of the path in one direction, damage on the other side of the path in another direction. We don't really see that, but a lot of times in weak tornado cases, there may not be much damage," he said.

Lane said the estimated wind speed would make it an F1 tornado. He plans to file an official report after reviewing the radar pictures from the exact time the storm hit.

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No one was hurt when a week tornado touched down in Cabarrus County, destroying a barn Thursday.

Marvin Bost owns the farm along Mount Pleasant Road. He said he was outside when parts of his farm were ripped apart.

"I saw the roof of the tractor shed lift up about 6 inches, and that's when I got under the belly of a 125-horsepower tractor. That was the only place I knew to go," Bost said.

A barn nearby withstood Hurricane Hugo's wrath nearly 20 years ago, but the high winds that blazed a path of destruction Thursday night were too powerful and took the barn down. Just several hundred yards away the storm also blew a home off its foundation.

"It was some kind of a twister. I know it had to have been the way the wind shifted so fast," Bost said.

With a preliminary confirmation that a weak tornado was responsible, Bost feels fortunate to be alive and have all his animals safe. He said when Hugo came through he wasn't as fortunate. Another barn was destroyed and a large piece of wood killed one of his large farm animals. He said that day was all he could think of as the wind howled.

"It was just like being in Hugo all over again. That was the scariest night I thought ever, but yesterday come around again pretty hard," Bost said.

Bost said he has insurance to help pay to rebuild the barn, but a lot of the cleanup is just going to be hard work.

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