Pfizer's pharmaceutical factory in North Carolina was severely damaged by a tornado that struck the area, resulting in lost equipment and boxes of medicine under the building's rubble. The National Weather Service estimated that the tornado reached speeds of 135 mph, with several factory workers sustaining minor injuries and a large quantity of vaccines and medications being destroyed. The incident, lasting a minute and a half, began with flickering lights inside the factory, followed by a sound resembling an explosion within the drug storage warehouses.