May 4, 2019
May 5, 1989.
The first of the stormy night s three tornadoes touched down at 8:39 p.m. in Clemmons, moving northwest for half a mile.
A second hit just minutes later near Poplar Street in Winston-Salem, cutting a swath of devastation more than 10 miles long through Ardmore, Buena Vista and Old Salem.
A third tornado, this one at 8:45 p.m., virtually destroyed a hangar at Smith Reynolds airport and left planes scarred and scattered.
It would be weeks â months or years for some â before anything seemed normal again.
A Piedmont Aviation hangar at Smith Reynolds Airport was virtually destroyed by one of three tornadoes that touched down in Winston-Salem on May 5, 1989.