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Severe weather rips through NC

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WILSON COUNTY, N.C. -- Severe storms ripped through the Raleigh area Saturday where two people lost their lives in tornadoes in Wilson and Johnston counties before dawn.

Authorities in those counties say 56 homes and one business damaged, 13 homes destroyed, six people injured and two lives lost. One of those lives was a 11-year-old boy identified as Joshua Wiggins.

Wiggins was staying with his grandparents when their house was swept from its foundation in Wilson County. Wiggins' grandparents were also sent to the hospital with minor injuries and several houses in their neighborhood were badly damaged.

A 16-year-old girl who lives next door says her house was barely touched, but she heard the storm as it passed through.

"The lights started flickering on and off and the house was starting to shake and he gets in the closet and we shut the door, and it's over with and I'm like, 'That wasn't so bad,' but then we look outside and it was bad, but not for us. But for everybody else it was really bad," said neighbor Angela Allred.

The other fatality is Maryland Gomez of Kenly, N.C., in Johnston County. Her house was also blown from its foundation but her husband and another child inside survived with minor injuries.

Gov. Mike Easley and federal and state damage assessment teams will be in those two areas Monday to further survey the damage.