Northampton County still dealing with outages from Irene

The storm left three trees on top of John Morris' home in Rich Square.

Morris closely followed Irene's track while on vacation in Nevada and figured he could enjoy himself.

"I thought we'd be spared altogether. It wouldn't come this far inland when it weakened like it did," Morris said. 

Morris was wrong. He got a call from his son after the storm letting him know about the fallen trees. When he returned, Morris found the trees caused minimal damage. 

"I feel real lucky," he said. 

Downed trees were a common problem in the county. At one point, 80 percent of residents were without power. About 2,000 residents remained without power on Thursday. 

Letitia Daye woke up each morning this week hoping for a sign the power has returned to her home in Conway. 

"At night, it's horrible. Mosquitoes are terrible," Daye said. "It was a blessing when God made me in '72 because I couldn't have made it in the older days."

The lack of electricity wasn't as bad for Phyllis Sexton, of Rich Square, who said she was 12-years old before her family got power anyway. 

"I can sort of adjust a little better," she said. "You have a lot of time to think and reflect and pray. It's not so bad. Sometimes we need quiet time." 

Sexton's power was restored Thursday afternoon.

In Jackson, trees remain down across the town. The winds even pulled back a metal roof and caused a grain bin to cave in. 

Power is expected to be restored to all residents by Saturday. 

For updates on power outages in the county, Dominion North Carolina Power has set up a hotline for residents to call: 866-366-4357.