Roanoke Rapids City Manager Kelly Traynham late this evening was preparing a state of emergency declaration that includes a curfew which began at 9 and will go through Saturday morning after a strong storm came through and toppled trees and power lines throughout the city.
Some 35 streets throughout the city had a combination of downed trees and power lines and at city hall Planning Director Krysten Anderson and fire Chief Jason Patrick along with the public work department were beginning to map out the damaged areas.
Deputy Fire Marshall Kenneth Hollowell said the storm came through around 6:30 this evening and knocked out power in the western part of the city beginning from around Tenth and Marshall streets to around West Tenth Street and Zoo Road in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
In the last gallery photo the red on the map represents areas that are blocked or damaged and green represents areas that have been cleared, according to Patrick
A large tree blocked Ransome Street, one of the railroad crossing arms at Fifth and Monroe streets was broken by the strong winds that accompanied the storm.
At one point this evening more than 5,000 customers were without power, said Halifax County Emergency Management Coordinator Buddy Wrenn.
Wrenn said the same sort of damages were reported in Warren and Northampton counties as the storm traversed the lake.
The damage appears to be the result of straight line winds and downbursts, Wrenn said.
The storm packed winds of 60 miles per hour. “It’s the most damage we’ve seen from a thunderstorm in a while,” Wrenn said.
Both Hollowell and Wrenn said there were no reported injuries.
Hollowell said himself, Patrick and Deputy Chief Richard Cook requested that the mayor enact a curfew, which also had to be done in conjunction with a state of emergency.
The curfew and state of emergency were enacted due to downed power lines, outages, and impassable streets. “Vehicle traffic needs to be minimized for the safety of our first and frontline responders,” Mayor Emery Doughtie said.
