(ELLENBORO) -- Damage assessment is underway after an apparent tornado struck two Western North Carolina counties late Wednesday afternoon and early evening. Homes were damaged or destroyed in the Rutherford County town of Ellenboro and around Icard in Burke County.

There are no reports of deaths but at least 15 people were injured, 10 of them in Rutherford County.  Two of those injuries are considered serious.

Burke County resident Terry Hilton said he is just happy to be alive. "For how many ever seconds it took, you know, shrapnel flying in the air, I thought we were dead.  I thought that was it," said Hilton.

Field crews from the National Weather Service office in Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C. are expected to investigate the damage and determine officially if a tornado is indeed responsible for the damage. "Right now that's unconfirmed, but looking at some of the early pictures from that part of the state, it does look like a good possibility it was a tornado that went through that area," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Scott Sharpe.

Emergency crews have set up a command center at the Ellenboro Fire Department in Rutherford County. A shelter was open overnight in Burke County.