05/12/2008

Associated Press

An official says several mobile homes were destroyed Sunday in the Belgrade community on the Jones-Onslow county line by high winds after a tornado warning was issued.

Patty McQuillan of the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety said there was no immediate word on injuries and it wasn't known how many homes were hit.

The state Department of Transportation has been called in to help remove debris. Belgrade is on U.S. 17 between Jacksonville and New Bern. The National Weather Service said the winds hit about 6:45 p.m.

Tornado warnings have been issued most of the afternoon across North Carolina as a storm system sweeps the state.

Casey Quell of the National Weather Service office in Newport said the system hadn't left the state yet. As tornado warnings came down, many were replaced with warnings of severe thunderstorms.

"We're issuing warnings right and left," she said.

A tornado watch was in effect for about half of North Carolina, mostly central and eastern counties, for most of Sunday. Forecasters warned of hail up to two inches in diameter, wind gusts to 80 mph and lightning.

Observers across the state reported hail ranging from the size of a penny to a quarter, the weather service said.

The National Weather Service moved the watch line eastward as the system pushed along.

Following the storms is high wind. Forecasters warned of damaging winds with gusts between 50 and 65 mph in the mountains and foothills of North Carolina through Monday night.

Winds already blew down trees and limbs that knocked out power to 985 Progress Energy customers in western North Carolina, the utility said. Duke Energy reported 732 outages in North Carolina.

Asheville emergency crews were getting ready to respond to downed tree calls, five of which had come in by 4 p.m., said Division Chief Michael Knisely.

"We're ramping up with the idea that we are going to have winds continuing the remainder of the evening," Knisely told the newspaper.