Triangle Residents Clean Storm Damage

Everything the Allen family worked for was thrown across a Johnston County field after Friday's storm. Three adults and two children lived in a doublewide trailer, but none of them were home when the storm hit.

"Ain't no way I could have survived this. Nobody could have survived it, nobody. I'm just thankful to be here today," said Charles Allen.

A few hundred yards away, Tammy Domalewsky said she saw the tornado. She said it stayed in the air over her house, then dropped. She said it picked up the Allen's home and threw it into the next field.

"It was in the air. It picked the doublewide up off of its foundation and spun it around several times before it just laid it back down, and when it laid it back down, it just threw it everywhere," she said.

The storm directly affected the Allen's home, but damaged seven others in the area. Now, residents are trying to salvage what they can.

"I just thank God that no one was home. God had us where he needed us to be and wanted us to be while this went on. I just thank God for no one getting hurt and losing no one," resident Raquel Dublin said.

Companies that specialize in storm repairs were busy all weekend.

Brad Armstrong's company has been swamped with calls for water removal since Friday. He said his company can barely keep up with the number of calls from customers who were affected by the storms.

"I don't think my crews had any sleep all weekend," he said.

Cleanup efforts also took place in Raleigh over the weekend. On Friday, Crabtree Creek was swollen and spilling over its banks.

Flood waters also closed the Blues Cafe on Capitol Boulevard, but many employees still found themselves working over the weekend cleaning up.

Soaked seats and a drenched diner are nothing new to Ann Mosley. In the last 15 years, she has seen her restaurant flood six times.

"All you have to do is peek around the corner and see the water get deeper and deeper, and you know it's coming through soon," she said.

In Durham, Friday's storm caused the roof to cave in on Shaw's School of Karate. Owner Don Shaw said many of his students have pitched in for the cleanup effort.

"Some are storing stuff in the garage, some in their attics, so they gave me faith in the school and they gave me faith when I needed it," he said.

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Emily Lopez