RALEIGH - Six people received minor injuries and thousands were without power Sunday after high winds hit eastern North Carolina communities after tornado warnings were issued.

Six people received minor injuries after winds destroyed 10 to 20 structures in the Belgrade and Maysville communities about 6:45 p.m. on the Jones-Onslow county line after a tornado warning was issued, said Patty McQuillan of the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

"Apparently, one woman gave birth during the storm," McQuillan said.

While power outages peaked at fewer than 900 Sunday evening, an estimated 5,200 people were without power in Bertie, Hertford, Camden, Currituck, Jones and Onslow counties.

The state Department of Transportation was called to remove debris on U.S. 17. Belgrade and Maysville are on the highway between Jacksonville and New Bern.

Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown told the Daily News of Jacksonville that a store was demolished in Maysville.

Josh Reinijer was traveling on U.S. 17 when the storm came through.

"There's an old store that's been destroyed, sheet metal dangling from power lines, wood and debris everywhere," said Reinijer, a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune. "There was one house with a piece of sheet metal that went through the window of their house."

Tornado warnings were issued most of the afternoon across North Carolina as a storm system swept the state.

McQuillan said the state emergency operations center also had reports of numerous trees down in Aulander and Lewiston in Bertie County.

As tornado warnings came down, many were replaced with warnings of severe thunderstorms.

"We're issuing warnings right and left," said Casey Quell of the National Weather Service office in Newport.

A tornado watch was in effect for about half of North Carolina, mostly central and eastern counties, for most of Sunday. Forecasters warned of hail up to two inches in diameter, wind gusts to 80 mph and lightning.

Observers across the state reported hail ranging from the size of a penny to that of a quarter, the weather service said.

The National Weather Service moved the watch line eastward as the system pushed along.

High wind followed the stoms. Forecasters warned of damaging winds with gusts between 50 and 65 mph in the mountains and foothills of North Carolina through Monday night.

In Western North Carolina, winds already blew down trees and limbs that knocked out power to 985 Progress Energy customers, the utility said. Duke Energy reported 732 outages in the western part of the state.

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