One person killed as strong storms cross NC; thousands without power
Severe weather across North Carolina on Sunday killed at least one person, according to news outlets in the Piedmont, and Duke Energy crews were working Monday morning to restore electric service to more than 31,000 customers in central North Carolina counties.
Two storms, reported as tornadoes, toppled trees and ripped apart homes in Greensboro and Reidsville.
The Triangle saw heavy rain and gusts of wind. One National Weather Service observer measured 5.09 inches of rain north of New Hill in Wake County, though others measured less than an inch where they live.
The highest measurements in the rest of the Triangle were 4.48 inches in Durham County, 3.52 inches in Chatham County, 3.33 inches in Orange County, 1.25 inches in Franklin County and 1.4 inches in Johnston County.
Duke reported that outages were affecting 1,153 customers in Durham County and 526 in Wake County at dawn Monday. Almost 21,000 were out in Guilford County.
By late morning, the utility showed outages were down to 174 in Wake County and 154 in Durham County.
The National Weather Service recorded peak wind gusts of 48 mph at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and 69 mph at Fort Bragg on Sunday night.
The weather service issued a small-stream flooding advisory for central Wake County until 8:45 a.m., warning that Crabtree Creek was rising and could reach the top of its banks near Wake Forest Road. Flooding is possible in the area of Atlantic Avenue and Hodges Road.
In Greensboro, the News & Record and WFMY TV described several areas that had damage from high winds, with much of it east of U.S. 29. At least seven homes were damaged, as well as a mobile classroom at an elementary school in Greensboro.
Trees were down, pulling power lines with them, making streets impassable in some places.
The death was reported in Greensboro.
The weather service in Raleigh reported that a tornado was spotted near U.S. 29 and East Gate City Boulevard in Greensboro in Guilford County at 5:15 p.m.
Monday morning, weather service personnel were surveying damage to confirm the tornado.
All public schools in Guilford are closed on Monday.
In Rockingham County, the weather service reported that a tornado touched down at 5:30 p.m. in the Monroeton community southwest of Reidsville. No deaths were reported there, but emergency crews rescued several people from collapsed homes.
Earlier Sunday, the National Weather Service had issued a tornado watch for 26 North Carolina counties, including Wake, Durham and Orange.
The storms spread through the Charlotte area earlier Sunday afternoon, bringing heavy rains and wind and leaving downed trees and power lines.
Interstate 77 closed in both directions because of a road obstruction near Exit 30, which caused traffic problems, WBTV reported.
It was seven years ago, on April 16, 2011, when North Carolina had 31 tornadoes reported in a span of a day. Downtown Raleigh was hit, as was Fayetteville.
This story was originally published April 16, 2018 at 7:32 AM with the headline "One person killed as strong storms cross NC; thousands without power."