— An Apex boy traveling with his family through Harnett County on Saturday captured video of one of the tornadoes that caused devastation across much of eastern North Carolina.

Michael Tursam, 12, and his family were on their way to Florida when they spotted the tornado near Interstate 95 in Dunn.

"As we passed (under) an overpass, we saw the dark clouds and what appeared to be a tornado on the southwest side of I-95," the boy's father, Ken Tursam, said in an e-mail to WRAL News on Wednesday. "There was no place to pull off of the road due to the traffic."

Ken Tursam said the video might make it look like they are storm chasers, but that isn't the case.

"I can assure you all, (what) we were trying to do is get out of the path of the storm. I sped up, hoping to get past the worst of it," he said.

Michael's parents and 9-year-old brother, Noah, were not injured.

The family's vehicle had $8,800 in damage, including shattered windows and a hole in the front bumper due to rocks.

“I would have continued to video the storm, but Mom and Dad told me to get down. I thought about holding my arm up and continuing to video, but I was afraid something would come through the windshield and take off my arm, and I knew I would need it," Michael said in an e-mail.