Crews busy repairing storm damage

The sound of hauling and grinding trees echoed across the Triangle on Tuesday as homeowners, local governments and power companies worked to recover from Monday's high winds.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of trees were toppled across the region, weakened by heavy rains then pushed by winds that topped 50 mph.

Tuesday's lighter winds and sunny skies warmed those removing debris, restoring power and clearing roads.

David Waggener said his subdivision near Crabtree Valley Mall was transformed into a disaster zone by the winds and rain. But the sound of heavy machinery pulling a tree from a neighbor's screened-in patio Tuesday signaled a return to normalcy.

"It was just like carnage out there," said Waggener, who went 27 hours without electricity before Progress Energy restored it Tuesday afternoon. He figured out why when he took a drive and saw three trees across streets nearby, wrapped in the power lines they had pulled down.

As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Duke Power was still working to restore power to more than 3,000 Triangle customers -- 1,482 in Durham County, 1,716 in Orange County and 48 in Chatham County. The last of the Triangle customers should have power by 5 p.m. Thursday, Duke Power spokeswoman Taryn Sims said.

Progress Energy restored power to all Triangle customers Tuesday, but had nearly 5,000 outages remaining statewide. Those outages are expected to remedied by today or Thursday at the latest.

Raleigh officials late Tuesday were still figuring out how many trees were lost. Wayne Schindler, parks superintendent with the Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department, said his office fielded 90 calls about downed trees in parks and greenways.

In Cary, more than 50 downed trees had been pulled from roads and sidewalks. The town had to temporarily close Coatbridge Trail at Annie Jones Park and the Franklin Field at Lions Park to repair storm damage.

The town planned to release a debris collection schedule Thursday.

In Durham, strong winds knocked out power at the Community Family Life and Recreation Center at Lyon Park on Halley Street, forcing it to close until further notice.

Only two Chapel Hill streets remained closed Tuesday afternoon, and officials there hoped to have them cleared by evening.

"We're in pretty good shape," said Richard Terrell, public works operations manager. "It was pretty much a typical heavy wind event for us."

Not so for Waggener. He moved to Raleigh two years ago from Denver, and the storm forced a vacation from his job selling software for a California company. He couldn't work in his home office without power or Internet access.

Instead, on Monday he conjured his storm-coping skills from his hometown of New Orleans -- pulling out the heater and lamps he uses for camping and icing down his food.

By Tuesday afternoon, life had mostly returned to normal, except perhaps for meal choices dictated by the thawed meat from his freezer.

"We might be having steak for breakfast," he said.