GASTON COUNTY, N.C.,None — Several Gaston County homes were damaged when a thunderstorm hit the area Monday night.
SLIDESHOW: Gaston Co. Homes Damaged In Storm
Several trees were tossed onto homes in the Jackson Park community of Stanley.
Henry Seegers' wife was standing in their kitchen when a tree crashed through the ceiling and ripped the walls apart.
"Then, 'Crash!' It hit and knocked everything off that counter and splattered stuff all the way over here," Seegers said.
Lisa McCorkle also saw the effects of the blistering winds that swept over the subdivision.
"The top of the tree was swaying on the ground, it was bent down so hard," she said.
She said it blew her window out of its frame.
"The kitchen window was just laying in the middle of the floor," McCorkle said.
A neighbor took a photo of what looks like a funnel cloud rolling over the neighborhood.
"I can believe it was a tornado," McCorkle said. "That's the first thing I said to my husband."
Channel 9 emailed the picture to the National Weather Service and told them about the damage. Officials checked their data and said the damage was caused by straight line winds, not a tornado.
Six homes on one street in the area were hit by trees. Police said one tree was knocked onto the railroad tracks that run alongside the community. An oncoming train hit the tree and kept going, officials said.
The storm was the second major one to hit the area in four months. Some residents said they had just finished cleaning up from the storm that swept through in April.
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