Amanda Marshburn and other neighbors are going through the debris to salvage pictures and anything else they can find for family members. One item they retrieved was a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal.

“As soon it was over we all came up here and to know that she was not here anymore is very sad . Their grandkids are always playing out here and that’s what I can remember, that’s what makes me tear up and all I can hear is her playing outside because she loved to play outside. She was such a pretty girl. It’s just very tragic,” said Marshburn.

Shortly after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, a tornado warning was issued for Davidson County. About 20 minutes later, calls flooded into the 911 emergency center reporting storm damage and power outages. 

The tornado left a narrow but destructive path. An eight mile stretch from Old 64 Young Road to U.S. Highway 109 is lined with mud, twisted metal, uprooted trees, and downed power lines. Several businesses were also damaged in the Silver Valley area including a Citgo Gas Station and Skipper’s Seafood

“Currently, we know that we have 35 structures that received some type of damage in the county. Reports we got from the hospitals, we have eleven patients who treated at local regional hospitals as a direct result from the storm,”  said Jeff Smith, Director of Davidson County Emergency Services.

About a mile from where the young child and her grandmother died, the Hedrick home is completely destroyed. Richard Hedrick’s parents got out just before the house exploded. He looks in disbelief at the black office chair sitting in the front yard.

“Total destruction of where I grew up. There is a lot of memories still in that house and in those walls. It’s tough but we can rebuild. We got mommy and daddy and there are other folks who didn’t make it as good as we did through the storm,” said Hedrick.

Emergency officials say the storm also damaged more than a dozen structures in Randolph County. 

The National Weather Service estimates winds were between 100 and 120 mph.

“One of our biggest concerns now is people coming back home and their houses are nearly destroyed and they still could collapse so they need to use extreme caution when going into these homes,” said Mike Moore, Chief of Central Volunteer Fire Department.

The American Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at Davis Townsend Elementary where some community members are dropping off clothes.  Tears stream down the face of Janet Hughes of Thomasville as she looks through the donations. Her 15 year-old daughter barely escaped, before their mobile home was destroyed.

“My neighbor got her out of the trailer and they said they got her into the bathtub him and his wife and the trailer is in pieces. Nothing left,” said Hughes.

Volunteers are also delivering food, bottled water and other household items to the survivors.  

 “Hopefully, we can at least get a tarp on the roof where they have holes in the roof or missing parts of it so they can maybe stay in their homes. A lot of people just need help picking up the pieces. They just need to know that people care,” said  Ron Gooden of North Carolina Baptist Men.

Emergency officials are still surveying the area and accessing the cost of the storm damage.  Davidson County officials say they are looking to see if they meet the requirements for a federal disaster declaration.

Meanwhile, the small Lexington community continues to mourn the loss of a 3 year-old girl and her grandmother.