Residents in parts of Raleigh and Fayetteville are assessing damage after at least five confirmed tornadoes struck central North Carolina on Sunday.
The severe storms that hit the area Sunday morning and afternoon were part of the remnants of Isaias.
Numerous tornado warnings began coming in around midday as the system moved through the area.
The National Weather Service in Raleigh said it was “reasonably confident” there were nearly a half-dozen tornadoes that touched down in the area and caused damage, and three to six more possible landfalls.
Several dozen buildings were damaged or destroyed by at least four tornadoes.
Only a few widespread power outages were reported. Duke Energy’s power outage map reported about 2,000 outages in the region after the storms left, and the majority of them occurred in Vance and Cumberland counties.
►Photos: North Carolina storms cause accidents, damage and possible tornadoes
Parts of northeast Raleigh and Fayetteville reported storm damage. WRAL News contacted county agencies in the area to determine the extent of storm damage.
As of 4 p.m., damage was confirmed in parts of northeast Raleigh and Fayetteville from two of the confirmed tornadoes that struck. No injuries have been reported so far.
North Carolina emergency management officials said state and local crews are in response mode, but will soon shift to assessing damage and working with federal partners to determine how to support affected communities.
The NWS said it planned to send teams to check two of the suspected tornado landing sites on Sunday, and three more survey teams would visit Monday to check the rest.
Raleigh/Wake County
Wake County saw at least three confirmed tornadoes: one in the western part of the county near Jordan Lake just after noon, one in northeast Raleigh around 1:20 p.m.
Of the affected areas, northeast Raleigh appears to have been hit the hardest. Residents in neighborhoods along the Neuse River, particularly in the 5401 North and Neuse Crossing neighborhoods, shared photos and videos of downed trees, damaged homes and sudden, intense winds carrying debris into the street.
A local person shared a video from inside their home after the storm collapsed part of their roof. Insulation covered the floor and furniture in their living room. Just hours after the storm, people were hard at work repairing their homes:
Others shared photos of trees torn from the ground and homes with damaged exteriors.
The Wake County Public School System said River Bend Elementary School in northeast Raleigh suffered no damage. The college cut down a small tree that the school said would be removed Monday morning.
Clayton/Johnston County
A tornado that formed near the Wake County line at the Johnston County line around 1:24 p.m. struck Clayton near the Clayton Village shopping center along US 70/Clayton Boulevard.
The tornado uprooted trees in nearby neighborhoods, toppling some onto roadways.
“Everything was spinning. So I looked out, and it was raining really hard, and I just told everyone, ‘Go into the hallway, hunker down and let it pass,'” said Lisa MacDougall, whose home was damaged by the storm. “It only lasted about a minute.”
Fayetteville/Cumberland County
Sunday’s first confirmed tornado struck northwest Fayetteville in the Yadkin Acres area around noon, and winds were strong enough to move and overturn vehicles.
A viewer sent in photos of damage in the parking lot of a Sam’s Club in Fayetteville. The cars were pushed into other vehicles and onto shopping carts. A nearby Marriott hotel also suffered damage after part of its roof was torn off.
Chronology of confirmed tornadoes
The first confirmed tornado occurred at 12:05 p.m. in northwest Fayetteville, where a debris pattern was spotted on radar.
A minute later, a second confirmed tornado was detected west of Apex over Jordan Lake.
A third tornado was detected in northeast Raleigh and Wake County around 1:19 p.m.
The fourth confirmed tornado was spotted near southeast Wake County and Johnston County near Clayton around 1:24 p.m.
A fifth tornado was spotted near Louisburg around 1:48 p.m.
According to the National Weather Service in Raleigh, three to six additional tornadoes may have touched down during Sunday’s storms and are still awaiting confirmation.
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