People in parts of Raleigh and Fayetteville are assessing the damage after at least five confirmed tornadoes hit central North Carolina on Sunday. The strong storms that hit the area Sunday morning and afternoon were part of the remnants of Isaias. Numerous tornado warnings began coming in around noon as the system moved through the area. The National Weather Service in Raleigh said it is “reasonably certain” that about a half-dozen tornadoes touched down in the area causing damage, with three to six more possible touchdowns. Several dozen buildings were damaged or destroyed by at least four of the tornadoes. Only a few widespread power outages have been reported. Duke Energy’s power outage map reported approximately 2,000 outages in the area after the storms passed, with most of them occurring in Vance and Cumberland counties. ►Photos: Storms in North Carolina cause accidents, damage and possible tornadoes. Parts of northeast Raleigh and Fayetteville reported damage from the storms. WRAL News has reached out to county agencies across the area to determine how much damage the storms caused. As of 4 p.m., damage was confirmed in parts of northeast Raleigh and Fayetteville from two of the confirmed tornadoes that struck. So far no injuries have been reported. © WRAL North Carolina emergency management officials said state and local teams 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 was planning to have teams check two of the suspected tornado landing sites on Sunday, and three more survey teams will go out on Monday to check the rest. Raleigh/Wake County Wake County had at least three confirmed tornadoes: one on the western side of the county near Jordan Lake shortly after noon, one in northeast Raleigh around 1:20 pm, and another that entered Johnston County. Of the affected areas, northeast Raleigh appears to have been the hardest hit. People living 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 blowing debris across the street. © WRAL “It actually only lasted about 60 seconds. Then we went outside and saw trampolines in our backyard, with the fences down. Yeah, it was crazy. There’s trees on cars and stuff,” said Will Johnson, whose home was damaged in the storm. A person from the neighborhood shared a video from inside their home after the storm collapsed part of their roof. Insulation covered the floor and furniture in her living room. Homeowner Eric Grubbs said the warnings he received about the storm saved his life. He was enjoying his Sunday sitting on the couch and watching football when he received an alert on his phone and heard a noise that sounded like a freight train was approaching. © WRAL He immediately took refuge in a different room, away from the windows, and was glad he did. Moments after closing the door, he heard the living room window break and the glass hit the back of the door. “I would have been sitting right there when the roof was collapsing,” he said. “It definitely makes you stop and think for a second, it certainly made me realize what’s important today.” Other people shared photos of trees uprooted from the ground and houses with exterior damage. The Wake County Public School system said River Bend Elementary School in northeast Raleigh did not suffer any damage. The high school had a small tree blown down that the school said would be removed Monday morning. Clayton County/Johnston A tornado that formed near the Wake County border at the Johnston County line around 1:24 pm struck Clayton near the Clayton Village shopping center along US 70/Clayton Boulevard. © WRAL The tornado destroyed trees in nearby neighborhoods and toppled some along roadways. “Everything was spinning. So I looked and it was raining really hard, and I told everyone, ‘Go out in the hallway, get down and let it pass,'” said Lisa MacDougall, whose home was damaged by the storm. “It only lasted about a minute.” © WRAL Fayetteville/Cumberland County Sunday’s first confirmed tornado struck northwest of Fayetteville in the Yadkin Acres area around noon, and winds were strong enough to move and flip vehicles. © WRAL A viewer sent in photos of the damage in the parking lot of a Sam’s Club in Fayetteville. 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. Timeline of confirmed tornadoes © WRAL The first confirmed tornado occurred at 12:05 pm in northwest Fayetteville, where a debris pattern was detected on radar. © WRAL A minute later, a second confirmed tornado was detected west of Apex over Jordan Lake. © WRAL A third tornado was spotted in northeast Raleigh and Wake County around 1:19 pm © WRAL The fourth confirmed tornado was spotted near southeast Wake County and Johnston County near Clayton around 1:24 pm © WRAL A fifth tornado was spotted near Louisburg around 1:48 pm © WRAL According to the National Weather Service in Raleigh, another three to six tornadoes may have touched down during Sunday’s storms that are still awaiting confirmation.
