Power finally restored to Durham residents 2 days after deadly storms
Power has been restored in Durham, but many residents are still picking up the pieces after Tuesday's deadly storms.
On Thursday night, power was restored for Durham residents following a storm that knocked out power for more than 100,000 customers.
Crews restored power to most areas around 11:45 p.m., but they faced challenges such as downed lines and trees on equipment.
Families are still recovering from a powerful storm that ripped through parts of Durham Tuesday afternoon.
"That big tree, this is where that was, right here," David Turner, Durham resident.
Turner and his wife narrowly escaped death when a massive tree fell on their bedroom during Tuesday's storms.
The couple showed WRAL News the damage that was done to the home and said they are now in a hotel due to the massive damage to their home.
"You realize, thank God for insurance," said Turner.
Power was restored to many homes around 6 p.m., but not all.
Residents like Sherry Williams tried to salvage what little food they could until the power returned.
Employees at Harris Teeter gave out ice so people could preserve their food and life-saving medications.
"But look, we're here," said Turner's wife. "We're here. I may look ridiculous but we're here and thank god for that."
Multiple people told WRAL News that hundreds of dollars of their groceries have gone bad, and one woman had to call an ambulance twice in order to get her grandmother the oxygen she needs to survive.
"She ran out of oxygen," a resident said. "She has three oxygen tanks and they only last an hour."
After two days without air conditioning, the resident and her family and just hoping relief comes sooner rather than later.
Thousands without power for days
At noon on Thursday, more than 12,900 customers were without power across the state. More than 9,000 outages were in Durham, down from 10,111 customers without power in Durham at 4:30 a.m.
Tuesday's deadly storms left one woman dead and knocked out power for more than 100,000 customers across North Carolina.
An entire neighborhood was still without power Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Markham and Washington streets, near the Duke Park neighborhood, and neighbors were walking around the block trying to use the breeze as relief from the heat. More than 30,000 customers were still without power Wednesday night in North Carolina, after a hot day with temperatures reaching 90 degrees.
The storms left a path of destruction, including a 32-car crash on Interstate 40 and damage to several homes and buildings. Sky 5 flew around Durham and Chapel Hill Wednesday morning to survey the damage left behind after Tuesday's storms.
WRAL News saw people sawing through tree limbs to try to access their homes or cars. Other Durham residents told WRAL News they would try to eat lunch at restaurants on Wednesday so they could charge their phones and enjoy the air conditioning.
A 72-mph wind gust was recorded Tuesday around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday on the roof of Duke Hospital. Radar estimated wind speeds on Tuesday were as high as 92 mph, but those are measured several hundred feet above the ground.
Jeff Brooks from Duke Energy said around 1,000 backup crew members were brought to the area from other parts of the state and even South Carolina.
"We essentially doubled our forces between here and Greensboro, and that is going to give us an extra push to get these outages restored," Brooks said. "We know it's hot, we know people want their power back."
Brooks warned everyone to always assume a downed power line is active to reduce risk of electric shock.
"Even if you're cleaning up debris in your yard, make sure there is nothing buried there," he said.
Durham residents left picking up the pieces
Tuesday's storm knocked out the power at Flora O'Brien's home. It left power lines blocking her driveway and front door.
"It's draped down over the tree," O'Brien said.
O'Brien had to go in and out of her neighbor’s yard, trying to get essentials, including ice.
"Well, the Co-Op is closed and the Food Lion is closed and Harris Teeter is out, and there's no ice to be had," O'Brien said.
Nearby, on Anderson Street, Sarah Peveler managed to track down a generator.
"My friend gave me a full propane tank and a gas tank," Peveler said.
The power is keeping a full load of groceries from going bad, for now.
Both O'Brien and Peveler's homes sit a block away from some of the worst damage.
Shannon Reavis was finally able to get to her car on Wednesday after crews pulled this tree off the top. Still, she considers herself lucky.
"It looks like it's not the worst compared to others," she said.
Durham resident Michael Gray is trying to make the best of a bad situation. He said it was raining so hard Tuesday night, his faimly couldn't see the tree that hit their house.
"We heard the smash, and then, I came in here because I was hearing water, and right up here, you can see, something, probably a branch, crashed down," Gray said.
Neighbors on Barenwood Circle jumped into action, bringing over a ladder, and tacking on a tarp to stop the water dripping in.
"Everybody just pulled together greatly," Gray said. "We don't have a chainsaw, [but] other people do."
Tim Darr is helping clean up, but he is running on fumes.
"I sleep with a CPAP mask, and I didn't have that [Tuesday] night, so I didn't sleep at all," Darr said.
Wake County residents begin cleanup after storm damage
Sue Keith Woodlief has lived in her Wake County community for 70 years. She is working to repair her home.
"I happen to have a dear friend that is a tree cutter, and he came to my rescue, and I have another friend who is a roofer," Woodlief said.
Woodlief said Tuesday's storm was worse than Hurricane Hazel in 1954 and Hurricane Fran in 1996.
"This was the worst we've ever had," Woodlief said.
Eddie Peoples has been with the Wake Electric power co-op for 38 years.
"I've been through [Hurricane] Katrina [in 2005]. I saw Hurricane Fran, but I haven't seen a severe thunderstorm like this," Peoples said.
Tuesday's storm knocked down seven power poles along Creedmoor Road.
Resident Tammy Davis thought she heard hail on Tuesday. She said it was pine cones hitting the roof, flying off trees.
Davis had trees crash through her bedroom in the home she's rented since 1999.
"You always wonder why people don’t get this and that, but you don’t think about grabbing all this stuff when something like that happens," Davis said. "I didn’t think about nothing but my dogs."
Davis said she and her dogs are ok. She said she's looking for a place to stay.
"If they can’t fix it, I’m going to have to move, and I have no idea where I’m going to move or how I’m going to move," Davis said.
Severe storms cause extensive damage across Triangle
Tuesday's storms caused extensive damage across the Triangle -- crashes, outages, downed trees and damaged homes.
WRAL News had 15 reporters and photographers outside assessing the damage caused by the storms Tuesday.
A crash on I-40 West happened during the heat of the storms. According to authorities, there were 32 cars involved in the crash.
The westbound lanes of I-40 between Exit 274 and 276 reopened just before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
At the peak of the storms, there were more than 100,000 power outages reported across central North Carolina.
More than 68,000 customers in Durham lost power in the storms.
More than 15,000 customers lost power in Guilford County, and there were calls of several downed trees and power lines near High Point, where a tree fell on a home.
There were multiple downed trees in Durham. Multiple roads in Durham were closed due to the damage.
Orange County Emergency Services reported seven structures were damaged in the storms, adding the Orange Grove area had large trees on homes in a concentrated area of damage.
"The recovery from this storm is going to take longer for many families," Orange County EMS said in a statement.
Homes in Raleigh and Durham were also damaged in the storm.
