The Dare County Sheriff's Department said that about 125 people were in the tent when the circus began. Circus officials evacuated the tent when a severe thunderstorm warning was issued. All of the patrons escaped.
A small group of circus employees, however, were holding down the anchoring ropes when the storm blew through, at around 2:20 p.m. They were slung around by the winds as the tent collapsed.
About ten minutes before the tent blew down, three planes at the Manteo airport in Dare County were flipped over by a 68-miles-per-hour wind gust.
A few minutes after the tent went down, a 104-miles-per-hour wind gust was reported in the Oregon Inlet, just south of Wanchese.
Other funnel clouds were reported in Pitt, Craven and Pamlico counties Sunday, but no damage was reported.
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