Editor's note: Technical issues last night forced delay of posting. More photos can be found on our Facebook page.

A state of emergency has been declared and a curfew set from now until 7 a.m. Sunday after what is believed to be a tornado slammed Roanoke Rapids, especially in the Tenth Street and Park Avenue areas this evening.

This tree crushed a truck.

No serious injuries have been reported but several in the area of Sonic were taken to the hospital, Captain Andy Jackson of the Roanoke Rapids Police Department said.

City Planning and Development Director Amanda Jarratt said the city will begin assessing damages Sunday morning. All gas leaks caused by the storm have been contained, she said.

Tenth Street and Park Avenue were hard it. Firefighters said it appeared Sonic was destroyed. The force of the storm blew a vehicle at Performance Auto onto the street and power lines and poles were mangled on the street.

Guardian Care sustained serious damage and a wing was shut down and residents transported elsewhere, Fire Chief Gary Corbet said. There were no injuries reported at the care facility.

Buildings in the Winn-Dixie Shopping Center were severely damaged and the  Employment Security building and plumbing business facing it had extensive damage.

Corbet said there were several trees through houses on Park Avenue and Jarratt said there were also damages in the South Rosemary area.

Sonic.

At Eleventh Street a tree smashed an S-10 pickup and shattered the window of an Expedition.

Throughout the area there were downed fences and debris scattered along streets. Power lines were down and firefighters monitored gas leaks. One firefighter sprained his ankle at one of the disaster scenes.

Witnesses at Eleventh and Park described seeing a dark funnel cloud which uprooted trees and snapped power lines.

Bob Wrenn and his wife were working at their business, Bob’s 1 Hour Photo when the storm hit. “We went in the vault. There’s water all over the store. Two windows were blown out. It could have been worse. We’re thankful no one was hurt.”