RALEIGH, N.C. — Remnants of Hurricane Isaias tore a confirmed EF2 tornado through Duplin County and flooded western counties hard enough to dump more than 840,000 gallons of sewage into local creeks, as North Carolina cleaned up from a weekend of wind, rain and power outages.
National Weather Service surveyors rated damage near Wallace and Beulaville at EF2, with estimated peak winds of 115 to 125 mph. Near Wallace a two-car garage was lifted off its foundation despite anchors, pine trees snapped along Highway 41, and debris lofted high enough that radar showed material near 13,000 feet. Near Beulaville a feed silo weighing more than 1,000 pounds was pulled from concrete anchors and a barn was destroyed.
In Burke County, the city of Morganton said intense rain overwhelmed a sewage junction box Sunday, spilling about 840,000 gallons into Hunting Creek over roughly two hours. An earlier manhole overflow sent about 1,500 gallons into a storm drain between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. Roads and a mobile home park along Antioch Road flooded as rainwater infiltrated the sewer system.
Farther west in Watauga County, some mountain spots saw as much as nine inches of rain and a 60 mph gust at the Tater Hill observing site. Rivers left their banks at low crossings, though meteorologists said the flooding was nowhere near Helene levels. Nearly 27,000 customers lost power statewide at the Sunday morning peak, with most service later restored.
Gov. Josh Stein said Monday that no one was reported hurt in the weekend storms. Multiple tornadoes were confirmed across the Carolinas on Saturday and Sunday as the post-tropical system moved through.
Crews are still measuring the Duplin path length and width. Eastern and western counties alike are clearing debris, watching streams and checking sewer lines after a storm that arrived less than two years after Helene hammered the mountains.
