Staff report
More than 1,200 Duke Energy customers, mostly in Spencer, lost power Wednesday night when a line of strong winds swept through the area.
While other areas of the county were buffeted by the winds from the storm front sweeping through the Southeast, Spencer suffered the worst. Around 9:30 p.m., winds brought down two trees on Charles Street in front of North Rowan Middle and North Rowan Elementary schools.
One of the trees, a large pine, broke off a utility pole and pulled down several lines.
Spencer Police Officer Nathan Lindon said at least three transformers sparked, with most of Spencer going dark. Police and the Spencer Fire Department blocked off Charles Street and waited for utility crews.
Lindon said early reports indicated power could be restored by 1:30 a.m., but others on the scene expected it would take longer.
Workers at Food Lion on Main Street were scrambling to protect frozen and refrigerated foods.
The Rowan County 911 center said all reports of damage were in the Spencer area.
Other reports included a tree down on Carolina Avenue near North Rowan High School.
An outbuilding was reportedly blown off its foundation near Third Street and Whitehead Avenue.
And a chimney was reportedly blown over at a home near the intersection of Fourth Street and South Rowan Avenue.
Only a few scattered outages were reported elsewhere across the Duke service area in the Piedmont.
In South Carolina, thousands of outages were reported. A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for Rowan and Cabarrus counties around the time of the damage and for a few hours afterwards.