Hail, heavy rain bring damage reports
Thunder, strong winds, heavy rain and hail threw punches at Triangle commuters during Tuesday's evening rush, and then another storm system raised tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings in Cumberland County.
Posted — UpdatedA spokeswoman for Raleigh Durham International Airport said there was heavy rain and lightning at the airport, but no major flight delays occurred.
Emergency officials said about a half-dozen homes, one business and sheriff's patrol cars were damaged by falling trees in Pittsboro.
"When I first pulled into the driveway, my first words was 'God is good,' because it could have been so much worse,” Teresa Farrell said.
A 70-year-old red oak tree crashed down during the storm. The tree grazed the side of Farrell’s house.
A few more feet and "it would have demolished that whole end of the house,” Farrell added.
A huge tree came down on Jackie Green’s house. It destroyed an empty mobile home in his yard. The force knocked over a gas tank and ripped the power lines out of the house.
"No one is dead. No one is injured. So I’m happy,” Green said.
The storm also uprooted an enormous tree behind the sheriff's office, crushing at least five vehicles and a storage building.
"Luckily, the old building that it went through is scheduled to be torn down in a couple of years. We used it for storage, basically,” Emergency Operations Director Tony Tucker said.
As of 8 p.m., 2,100 customers were without electricity in the Pittsboro. Utility workers hoped to have power restored by midnight.
During the afternoon, numerous trees were reported down on N.C. Highway 39 in Vance County.
A tree fell on a power line, sending the live wire across N.C. Highway 210 in Smithfield. Crews blocked the road while the line was removed. Nearly 7,000 customers were without power during the storm in Johnston County.
A tree fell on train tracks at Brisson Road and Lake Upchurch Road, just south of Hope Mills. Emergency communication had to stop a train that was scheduled to come down those tracks Tuesday night.
"All in all, the weekend's not looking bad at all," Maze said, predicting that the holiday would be warm and dry.
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