GREENSBORO, N.C. — Authorities were waiting for daylight early Friday so they could begin assessing the damage from a reported tornado that killed one person and injured three others in central North Carolina.

Law enforcement officers reported a tornado 6 miles northwest of Greensboro around 11:29 p.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The person killed was in a small truck that overturned in a parking lot near Triad Park west of Greensboro, said Alan Perdue, Emergency Services Director for Guilford County. He did not have any other details.

Two people were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening and a third person was treated at the scene and released, Perdue said.

One of the two who was hospitalized was injured when a wall at a distributing business collapsed on them, Perdue said. The other two injured were in vehicles, but Perdue said he did not have details on what happened.

Also, numerous trees and power lines were down and there were some trees on houses, he said.

"We won't really know until we get daylight to get into the high impact areas to know if we have any other injuries or fatalities," Perdue said.

The Winston-Salem Journal quoted the North Carolina Highway Patrol as saying the storm blew three tractor-trailers off Interstate 40 near N.C. 68 and not far from Piedmont Triad International Airport.

Eastbound lanes of I-40 were briefly closed because of downed trees, said Patty McQuillan, spokeswoman for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

The Emergency Operations Center reported that two businesses and one house were damaged in Guilford County, McQuillan said.

Emergency officials also reported building collapses in Forsyth and Davie counties.

In Forsyth County, one home had collapsed and two others nearby had their roofs taken off, said John Cox, a dispatcher with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department.

Central and western North Carolina bore the brunt of the severe weather, which was part of a line of storms that swept across the Southeast, damaging homes and businesses in at least four states.

Duke Energy said about 13,800 customers in an area between Charlotte and Greensboro remained without power Friday.

Reports of house damage, fallen trees, flooding and road accidents came in from Surry, Guilford and Davie counties.

In Clemmons, at least two houses off Friar Bridge Road collapsed, probably because of high winds, said Dan Ozimek, the director of the Forsyth County Emergency Medical Services, in an interview with the Journal.

Portions of north-central North Carolina were under a tornado watch from Thursday afternoon into early Friday morning.