Firefighter killed in western NC while responding to Nate storm damage

According to officials with the Triple Community Fire Department, the 40-year-old man was working with another firefighter to clear the debris from the road leftover by tropical depression Nate when a car struck him. Officials said he died on impact.

The driver of the car has been charged with DWI.

Nate weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday but severely impacted portions of western North Carolina in the process.

According to WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner, the passing system brought strong winds and 2 to 4 inches of rain to the mountains late Sunday into Monday. A picture posted on Twitter by Appalachian State University students shows a flooded hallway in an academic building.

Officials also reported several tornadoes across North Carolina's western counties due to Nate's remnants, including Cleveland County, Caldwell County and Burke County. At least 12,000 businesses and homes were without power.

A 20-foot steeple was ripped off the top of Refuge Missionary Baptist Church in Hudson. Dozens of people were in at the church at the time and sought shelter in the basement.

The tropical depression was bringing rain to New England on Monday and will move off the coast by Tuesday.