Storms leave 50,000 without power in N.C.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., May 10 (UPI) -- Some 50,000 North Carolina residents were without power Sunday as crews cleaned up after quick-moving thunderstorms blew through the region, officials said.

Severe wind gusts as high as 54 mph struck Chapel Hill, N.C., late Saturday, knocking trees into power lines and disrupting traffic signals, as power outages were reported across the state's Research Triangle area, The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reported Sunday.

The storms approached the Triangle at 6 p.m. Saturday from the west, moving through Greensboro, N.C., two hours earlier, the newspaper said. Before that, winds gusting nearly 50 mph knocked out power to thousands of people in western Pennsylvania, including Mt. Lebanon, where a tree was pushed into a home, officials said.

About 3,000 customers of Duquesne Light were without power northwest of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Post-Review reported.

The severe weather came one day after deadly thunderstorms ripped through the Midwest, killing four people and causing extensive damage in Missouri, Kentucky and southern Illinois.