The same storm system that left dozens dead in the Midwest spared the Triangle and eastern North Carolina serious damage and injuries, but did provide the region with its first taste of severe thunderstorms this season.
Many counties in the area were under a tornado watch until midnight Monday and the storms caused thousands of power outages and some minor damage.
WRAL WeatherCenter
Around 8:30 p.m. Monday, some power outages were reported and a wreck on Interstate 40 left one person dead and narrowed I-40 eastbound to two lanes at Miami Boulevard.
It was unclear if the wreck on I-40 was related to the weather. Police said the wreck happened when a pick-up truck slammed into another vehicle that had stopped on the shoulder of the interstate. The driver in the stopped vehicle died in the wreck.
On Tuesday, Duke Power reports only a scattered number of outages. Fewer than 75 customers are currently without power. Crews from Progress Energy also spent Monday night restoring electricity. Only about 20 of their customers in Franklin County are without power.
In Sanford, a tree fell on a house at 206 Temple Avenue, breaking a natural gas line and causing a one-block evacuation. Residents were allowed back in their homes around 9:30 p.m.
A 62 mph wind gust was reported in Franklin County between Youngsville and Franklinton off of Cedar Creek Road.
The first part of the system moved through the Triangle before dawn Monday and another part hit the area around 9:30 a.m. That part of the storm had damaging lightning that caused a house fire in Garner and a townhouse fire in Raleigh.
There were also reports of a few power outages with that part of the storm.
Elsewhere, some hail was reported but there were no damaging winds or other problems.
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