A wild video shows the moment a tornado touched down on a Pfizer facility in North Carolina, kicking up debris and leveling the roof of the medical supply company.
The tornado was categorized as an EF-3, according to the National Weather Service, with winds of up to 150 miles per hour, partially decimating the company’s storage facility in Rocky Mount on Wednesday.
While experts feared the damaged plant would cause long-term shortages of certain drugs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf Friday that the agency “expects no immediate significant impact on supply following tornado damage.” Fox business reported.
“For those products produced at this facility that are already in stock or at risk of shortage, the FDA has taken mitigation actions, such as seeking additional sources and asking other manufacturers to prepare to ramp up production if necessary,” Califf said.
He also said that Pfizer had strictly assigned the inventor of many products to ensure fair distribution and availability and to prevent hoarding.
The Pfizer facility in Mount Rocky, North Carolina was hit hard by the powerful EF3 tornado
Dashcam footage captured the strong winds and flying debris that ravaged the region
The tornado began about 12:35 a.m. near Nashville, North Carolina, and raced northeast through Rocky Mount, 60 miles east of Raleigh, where it decimated the Pfizer facility.
The powerful weather system battered the region, causing a partial collapse of the roof of Pfizer’s Rocky Mount facility on Wednesday. The plant is one of the largest of its kind in the world, supplying nearly 25 percent of all sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals.
According to officials, some 50,000 pallets of medicines were damaged.
“It’s likely to lead to long-term shortages as Pfizer works to move production to other locations or rebuild,” Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health, told CBS News earlier this week.
In a statement posted on social media, Califf described the recent events as a “dynamic situation and FDA personnel are in regular contact with Pfizer and other manufacturers.”
“Importantly, we don’t expect there to be any immediate significant impact on supply as the products are currently in hospitals and in the distribution system,” he said in part.
“The FDA will work closely with partners in government, industry and the broader health care system to minimize the impact on patient care.”
According to officials, some 50,000 pallets of medicines were damaged. The destruction threatens the production of anesthetics and other sterile injectables
The Pfizer factory, seen before the destruction, produces vials, syringes, IV bags and bottles of anesthesia, analgesia, therapies, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers
The tornado started around 12:35 a.m. near Nashville, North Carolina, and raced northeast through Rocky Mount, 60 miles east of Raleigh, where it decimated the Pfizer facility.
The pharmaceutical giant said in a statement that all workers had been safely evacuated and there were no reports of serious injuries at the factory.
The 3,200 Pfizer employees and contractors reportedly were able to safely evacuate and seek shelter before the storm erupted on Wednesday.
Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone said large quantities of drugs stored at the plant were left lying around during the tornado.
“I have reports of 50,000 pallets of drugs scattered around the facility and damaged by the rain and wind,” the official said, according to CBS News.
Officials in two counties say 16 people were injured — including two with life-threatening injuries — and 89 buildings damaged.