With the blizzard warnings up for the eastern New England states and the rest of the Northeast under a winter storm warning, you may hear or read the term “thunder-snow” in weather discussions today. Some people in the triangle actually heard thunder-snow for themselves back in January with our first winter storm of the year.

Residents in Wake County are encouraged to drop off vegetation and building-related debris at the county's convenience centers.

UNC-Wilmington, the campus that once used the slogan "UNC by the Sea," is ready for the big one.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has recognized UNCW as the state's first university and one of 25 nationwide to complete a FEMA-approved crisis plan to deal with emergencies. The plan focuses on hazards such as hurricanes, winter storms, hazardous materials spills and terrorism.

UNCW is also the first campus in the state and only one of 14 universities in the United States to be certified as "StormReady" by the National Weather Service. That designation means UNCW has passed a review by officials for its communication plans, technology systems, staff training, campus education and other preparations for severe weather.

See Tropical Storm Hanna's erosion impact at Emerald Isle and hear from the Shore Protection Manager Greg Rudolph.
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View collected multimedia content from Tropical Storm Hanna.

Power has now been restored to all of Durham's 20,000 homes hit hard by that crazy evening storm on the evening of July 4. Some were without power until late Sunday morning, according Andy Thompson, a Duke Energy spokesman.

The fierce thunderstorm knocked over power poles and damaged some transformers, necessitating some time-consuming repairs, Thompson said.

"This time of year we see a lot of thunderstorms, and this one caused a lot of damage," Thompson said.
"We had to rebuild our system in some places. It was a lengthy outage anyway you look at it. We really hate that. We appreciate the patience of our customers."

Most of the damage was concentrated in south Durham, Thompson said. In many neighborhoods from the Duke Forest area west towards Orange County, residents spent the weekend clearing brush from their properties, or worse. Some spent Saturday morning on the phone with insurance adjusters and tree-removal services. Others fretted over damage to homes or playground equipment.

In the Carillon Forest neighborhood in western Durham, a tree-removal crew working at one house did a robust business Saturday, as residents from across the neighborhood enlisted their services. At least two homes in that neighborhood were hit by snapped pine trees, and scores of other trees leaned precariously, pointed evidence of the direction and fury of Friday night's winds.