Dawn Kurry/Daily Journal A billboard on Highway U.S. 1 South was blown apart by Thursday's storm.

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Dawn Kurry/Daily Journal Benny and Linda Sharpe had a tree in front of their house on Fayetteville Road come down without harming anything on Thursday morning during the thunderstorm.

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Benny Sharpe isn't sure if the tree in front of his house on Fayetteville Road came down because of lightning or wind. He didn't see or hear it get struck, but he did hear when the larger of the two pieces hit the ground.

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Sharpe was glad the tree didn't fall into the road. What little bit that did hang into the road he cleaned up immediately.

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Ron Shaw lives across from Benny Sharpe, and he sustained damage to his house's original garage. Shaw said the house was built around 1925, and belonged to the late Kate Buie. Two steel poles hold the garage up against the trees, which Shaw said have unusually small root balls.

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If you were on Fayetteville Street on Thursday morning, you may have seen the work going on to remove a downed tree.

Benny and Linda Sharpe of the 800 block on Fayetteville Road said the tree in front of their house came down between 8 and 10 a.m.

“It fell in two pieces about two hours ago,” said Sharpe. “I didn’t hear it get hit or anything, but I did hear when the big piece came down.”

The tree snapped off about halfway up and split in two pieces, each falling away from the other towards the road.

“It didn’t hurt anything,” said Sharpe. “I got neighbors and friends helping me now. Earlier when I heard it, Ron Shaw across the street heard it too and he came out to help me. I got all the stuff out of the road first.”

Across the street, Shaw is dealing with tree damage as well. To the right side of his brick house sits a brick garage, built at the same time as the house, around 1925. Two trees that sat on the property line tipped over onto the garage.

“It was about 7:30 this morning,” said Shaw. “That was the wind. The trees look like they have small root balls.”

A white Cadillac can be seen in the garage which has no doors. It is blocked in by the trees, but is unharmed. Two steel posts hold up the roof against the weight of the trees, which Shaw hopes his friends and neighbors will help him remove.

“I usually park my truck on the right side,” said Shaw. “Sure glad I didn’t this time.”

Shaw said he is the son-in-law of late Kate Buie, who lived all her life in the Victorian brick home, decorated in English ivy.

“She passed away last week. I’m sure glad she’s not here to see this,” said Shaw.

Dozens of tornadoes spawned by the same storm system wiped out neighborhoods across a wide swath of the South on its way to us, killing at least 201 people in the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years, and officials said Thursday they expected the death toll to rise.

Alabama’s state emergency management agency said it had confirmed 131 deaths, while there were 32 in Mississippi, 16 in Tennessee, 13 in Georgia, eight in Virginia and one in Kentucky.

N.C. Emergency management officials reported tornado had ripped the roof off a house near Lenoir, as a line of storms moves through the Carolinas. No serious injuries have been reported.

Caldwell County spokeswoman LouAnne Kincade said several homes were damaged early Thursday near Lenoir. Trees and power lines fell. Several roads have been closed.

The violent storms that have killed more than 175 people in the South tracked northeast overnight. South Carolina emergency management officials reported no serious problems early Thursday.

Henderson, Transylvania, Macon and Burke counties all reported tornado sightings. Trees and power lines were reported down in those areas, as well as Caldwell, Guilford and Madison counties.

A tornado watch was in effect across much of the central Carolinas until noon

News 14 Carolina staff and Associated Press contributed to this story.

n Staff Writer Dawn Kurry can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ex. 43, or by e-mail at dkurry@heartlandpublications.com.