LUMBERTON — Robeson County was hit with thunderstorms Monday that downed trees, knocked out power and left behind soggy yards — and another round is expected tonight.
As many as 5 inches of rain fell in parts of Robeson on Monday and into this morning, and forecasts are calling for more thunderstorms tonight, with a chance of rain persisting until Friday.
About 1.5 inches fell in Lumberton, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Michael Ross.
“Some areas of Robeson County northwest of Lumberton received 3 to 5 inches of rain,” he said.
The rain downed trees throughout the county, including large trees on Oxendine Road in Pembroke and on McDuffie Crossing Road toward St. Pauls, according to the National Weather Service.
Lumberton appeared to dodge the worst.
“We did not receive any reports last night or during the day yesterday of damages. It was mostly scattered power outages. That’s all we know of at this point,” Bill French, assistant director of Emergency Services for the city of Lumberton, said this morning.
Lamar Brayboy, director of electric utilities for the city of Lumberton, said most outages in Lumberton occurred in the afternoon and residents have since had their lights restored.
“We had about 70 customers out and they had their power out for about an hour and a half. There were some downed trees on Chippewa Street and Warwick Mill Road. After 7 p.m., there weren’t really any problems,” he said.
As of this morning, two Duke Energy customers in Robeson County were without power, but power was expected to be restored by late morning. Forty-one customers with Lumbee River Electric Membership Corporation were in the dark this morning.
Ross said the rain has moved southeast of Robeson County, but the heavy rainfall — and a possibility of hail — could return tonight. On Monday, hail as large as 2 inches in diameter was reported in Cary and forecasters warned of flooding in the Triad area.
“I don’t think there’s going to be that much more precipitation, certainly not more than a quarter-inch today,” Ross said. “… It depends on how much it heats up today.”
There’s about a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms tonight, with a low of 62 degrees. A hazardous weather outlook is also in effect for Southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina, warning of damaging wings and cloud-to-ground lightning.
On Wednesday, there’s a 60 percent chance of heavy rain, with temperatures climbing to a high of 78. Thursday and Thursday night may see scattered showers, but Friday and Saturday promise respite with sunny skies and mild temperatures.
