Saturday Storm Leaves Thousands Without Power In Northern Johnston County

ARCHER LODGE, N.C. – Powerful thunderstorms packing heavy rain and strong winds swept through northern Johnston County on Saturday afternoon, toppling trees, knocking out power to thousands of homes and causing several traffic accidents.

The National Weather Service had issued severe thunderstorm warnings shortly before the storms moved into the area around 3 p.m.

The Archer Lodge community sustained the heaviest damage as trees and large limbs crashed onto roadways, power lines, vehicles and private property.

One of the most dramatic incidents occurred on Buffalo Road just south of Archer Lodge, where a tree snapped and fell onto a moving SUV. Despite the damage, the driver escaped with only minor injuries.

Covered Bridge Road was also heavily impacted. Trees and power lines were brought down on both the east and west sides of Buffalo Road, forcing the roadway to close in both directions while emergency crews responded.

During the height of the storm, a large service truck struck a utility pole near the Duke Energy substation on Covered Bridge Road. The impact snapped the pole in two places and left power lines sagging across the highway, prompting additional road closures.

The downed power lines caused traffic to back up, and moments later a rear-end collision occurred near the intersection of Covered Bridge and Buffalo roads. No serious injuries were reported.

At the peak of the outages, approximately 4,400 Duke Energy customers in Johnston County were without electricity as crews responded to numerous reports of fallen trees and damaged power lines.

Fire departments, law enforcement officers, NCDOT crews and Duke Energy personnel worked throughout the afternoon and evening to clear roadways, restore power and remove hazardous trees.

Despite the widespread damage and multiple crashes, authorities reported no serious injuries.

Motorists were urged to use caution as cleanup and power restoration efforts continued Saturday evening.