After a tornado Wednesday evening warned sent students to hide in closets and persistent heavy rain continued, Appalachian State University on Thursday canceled some of the events planned for the upcoming family weekend.

“It’s strange for Boone. Normally it rains a lot, but nothing of this magnitude,” said Sabrina Keefe. “It was really kind of scary.”

Keefe lives right next to campus, just a few miles from Chetola Resort, where a visitor captured video of a rotating cloud around 6 p.m. Wednesday. The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in Watauga County near Blowing Rock at 10:35 p.m

According to the National Weather Service, another tornado touched down southeast of Asheville in Rutherford County just after 8 p.m. Wednesday evening.

App State sent an email to families Thursday listing canceled events due to weather. As of Thursday at 4 p.m., the football game between the Mountaineers and the Liberty Flames, scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 p.m., was still on the program.

Keefe isn’t sure if the trip is safe for her family.

“I was happy for my aunt to see the campus because she’s never been here before, but I don’t know if it’s safe to come here,” she said.

Hurricane Helene brings another round of weather threats to the WNC mountains

Hurricane Helene was not the cause of Wednesday’s tornadoes; The culprit is a band of storms reveling in the mountains.

But the risk of major storms caused by Helene’s wind and rain increases until Friday. The mountains could experience wind gusts of 70 mph at higher elevations and 50 mph at lower elevations. According to WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth, life-threatening flooding and landslides are likely Thursday and Friday as the storm dumps heavy rainfall.

The worst of the rain was expected to clear from western North Carolina by midday Friday, but impacts could linger for days or longer.

Classes at App State will be held remotely until Friday at 5 p.m

The university has canceled the Mountaineer Families Welcome Reception scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m. and Friday evening events at Sanford Mall.

The following family weekend activities are still on the program:

• App State Women’s Field Hockey vs. Bellarmine, scheduled for Sept. 27 at 6 p.m
• Chuck Owen and ReSurgence – Jazz guest artists scheduled for 8 p.m. on September 27th
• App State vs. Liberty Football Game scheduled for Sept. 28 at 3:30 p.m
• App State vs. Liberty Football Game Watch Party scheduled for September 28th at 3:30 p.m
• App State Women’s Soccer vs. Arkansas State scheduled for Sept. 29 at noon
• App State Women’s Field Hockey vs. Central Michigan scheduled for Sept. 29 at noon
• Families eat free from September 27th to 29th
• Free admission to the University Recreation Center on September 27th and 29th
• Free parking for families on September 27th and 29th