Storms take down trees, power lines

  

Several people are cleaning up debris after winds and rains downed numerous trees and limbs on Saturday evening.

Scattered storms moved eastward through the area around 6 p.m. There were reports of strong winds ranging from 30 to 50 mph and some hail in numerous counties in and around the Triangle.

A stretch of Capital Boulevard was without power after a tree fell, taking down power lines and street lights. Police closed the street down until power was restored Sunday.

The wind also knocked down a pine tree near Kildaire Farm and Tryon Road. Police had to shut down the road and direct traffic. The storm also toppled over a power line and streetlights on Huntleigh Drive.

At the height of the storm, Duke Energy said about 29,000 of its customers were without power. More than 15,000 of those outages were in Durham County and about 5,000 were in Orange County. Dozens of customers in Granville County were also in the dark.

Progress Energy also reported more than 2,000 outages in Wake County and about 1,400 outages outside the county.

Most of the lights came back around 8:30 p.m. In some parts, Duke Energy says its hopes to have power restored by Sunday.

ABC11 Meteorologist Scott Dean says a cold front will move through the state later on Saturday.

"Skies are expected to becoming partly cloudy overnight once the storms push off to our east," Dean said.

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