Water, wind plague Triangle

Downpours flood streets, tornado warnings raise tension and power fails

RALEIGH -- Powerful storms dumped more than 2 inches of rain across the Triangle on Wednesday, as streets briefly flooded and tornado warnings kept weather watchers on their toes.

There were no reports of significant tornado damage, but the National Weather Service received numerous reports of brief twister touchdowns in fields. Meteorologists will be out today to assess what happened, meteorologist Jonathan Blaes said.

Parts of Siler City received as much as 5 inches of rain, while Raleigh-Durham International Airport recorded 2.07 inches as of 8:15 p.m.

The storms Wednesday were largely influenced by remnants of Tropical Storm Fay, Blaes said.

Durham suffered one of the biggest disruptions after a tree fell on a power line and knocked out electricity to four county buildings, including the courthouse. Although power was restored shortly after 10 a.m., court was canceled for the day and the building closed.

Heavy rains flooded some streets in Durham, Carrboro and Chapel Hill and slicked roadways. Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Everett Clendenin said troopers had responded to about 87 accidents in the Triangle by 4 p.m., but no fatalities were reported.

Progress Energy Carolinas reported more than 5,000 customers without power Wednesday afternoon, but the number had fallen to 1,660 by about 6 p.m. About 1,000 of those customers were in Chatham County, and just more than 100 in Wake. Duke Power reported no major outages at 6 p.m., according to its Web site.