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WILSON — Areas of Wilson are back to normal after Sunday's storm and others have a long way to go. The city closed roads to clean up debris Monday morning but everything is back open by early evening.

Magnolia resident Robbie Bostic said he considers himself lucky. That may sound strange coming from a man who has a tree through the roof of his home, but he insists it is true.

"All I can do is thank God I wasn't here," said Bostic.

Bostic said he and his family were home Sunday night when the winds started to pick up. When they became violent, they made the choice to run for safety.

"I noticed the trees going back and forth real heavy. So I got my daughter and wife and we proceeded to Kenansville. We made it there safely, amazingly," said Bostic.

Even though they were safe inside a relative's brick home, Bostic worried about what he left behind such as baby pictures of his daughter and his pets. When he returned home after the storm had passed, he found a large tree had fallen, just missing his two pit bulls in the back yard, but crashing through the roof of his house.

Experts at the National Weather Service said it comes as no surprise the damage in Duplin County was so severe.

"The atmosphere was so volatile, so unstable from all the heating and all the humidity we had, that it was kind of like a cork being popped off of a bottle," said warning coordination meteorologist Steven Pfaff.

Kenansville was one of the communities that was hit the hardest in the area. In fact, one area resident said it looked like a bomb had gone off in the town. Huge trees in the town park and the elementary school were uprooted.

The National Weather Service reports there were no confirmed tornadoes in Duplin County Sunday night. They are attributing the damage to straight line winds.