BLADEN COUNTY, N.C. — Weather service survey teams head back out Monday to check suspected tornado tracks after the remnants of Isaias produced at least five confirmed tornadoes across central North Carolina on Sunday and more in the southeast.
Tornado warnings began around noon Sunday as the system moved through. The weather service office in Raleigh said it was reasonably confident close to half a dozen tornadoes touched down in its area, with three to six more possible touchdowns still to be checked. Several dozen buildings were damaged or destroyed by at least four of them.
Wake County had at least three confirmed tornadoes: one near Jordan Lake just after noon, one in northeast Raleigh around 1:20 p.m. and another that crossed into Johnston County. Damage was also confirmed in Fayetteville. No injuries were reported as of Sunday afternoon.
In Bladen County, a tornado touched down about a mile southwest of East Arcadia at 12:54 p.m. and stayed on the ground for 1.68 miles before lifting four minutes later. Surveyors rated it EF-0 with top winds of 75 mph and a maximum width of 235 yards.
Power outages stayed limited. Duke Energy counted roughly 2,000 outages after the storms moved out, most of them in Vance and Cumberland counties.
State emergency management officials said state and local teams were moving from response to damage assessments and would work with federal partners to decide how to help affected communities. Weather service teams planned to survey two suspected touchdown sites Sunday and send three more teams out Monday.
Isaias came ashore near Pensacola, Florida, on Oct. 9 and weakened as it moved inland, bringing flooding rain to the North Carolina mountains before the tornado outbreak farther east.
