Thunder, Lightning, Hail, Toppled Trees, and More to Come

Most areas had, at the very least, a few branches down by Thursday morning, but some areas were more hard hit. Henry Williams' Johnston County mobile home lost its roof at about 11 Wednesday night as a second wave of storms moved through the Triangle. It was the second time that particular mobile home lost its roof to a storm. The first time was during Hurricane Fran. Williams and his family left their home before the storm struck Wednesday night and did not return until it ended.

That's when he found his roof in his front yard.

"Well, you want to cry to start with," Williams told WRAL-TV5'sBrian Bowman. "You really do, but after that you just kind of settle in and go on about your business."

A few miles away in Wayne County, the winds felled a giant oak tree that crashed into Mike Forehand's attached garage. Forehand had his work cut out for him Thursday, but he and friends had to do that work with more dark clouds looming nearby.

"Well, we're trying to get enough of those limbs off so that we can put a tarp up there so we don't get any more water damage inside," said Forehand.

Forehand is well aware that more severe storms are forecast for Thursday evening.

According to Bowman, most crops in the area appear to have suffered little damage from the storm. Hail can be particularly damaging to some crops, including young tobacco plantings.

Nash and Wilson counties also saw damage resulting from storms Wednesday night. A funnel cloud was spotted in Wilson County, but apparently did not touch down. Power outages resulted from falling tree limbs cutting through power lines. "It started hailing," said Kelton Frazier of Nashville. "Hail about the size of your thumb, and it went on for probably two or three minutes. I went outside and put my car windows up, came in, and just as quick as I could get in the house, the lights went out."

Henderson residents also had to deal with hail. Some chunks of ice were larger than golf balls. One woman's yard was covered with hail. She put a few pieces in her freezer so that people would believe how large they were.

There was no serious damage reported in the Henderson area.