CLAYTON, N.C. (WNCN) -- A severe thunderstorm that hit part of Wake and Johnston counties Sunday evening knocked down several trees and briefly closed one direction of Interstate 40 and Interstate 95.
The severe thunderstorm warning was issued just after 6 p.m. for southeastern Wake County and central Johnston County. At the time, a severe thunderstorm was 8 miles east of Angier, or 14 miles west of Smithfield, moving east at 25 mph.
The storm knocked out power to about 1,000 customers and left several trees down in various locations of Johnston County, according to the National Weather Service. Trees were down in the area of N.C. 50 near McGees Crossroads, the weather service said.
A witness saw several trees down on Interstate 40 about a mile north of the McGee's Crossroads exit. I-95 near Smithfield had multiple trees down, which caused the southbound lanes to be blocked for about 30 minutes, according to the National Weather Service.
Sunday night, power was still out for about a total of 1,000 customers in three areas starting just south of Cleveland Road and extending south to the McGee Crossroads area.
The NCDOT reported eastbound I-40 was closed for about an hour minutes south of exit 312/N.C. 42 to near Benson/Mile Marker 315.
Jamie Sills, who was driving east in the area on I-40, managed to record video of the trees down.
"Be careful coming down 40 east! Trees down all along the right lane and debris everywhere!!" she wrote on Facebook. "This was between McGees exit and Highway 42 - about a mile north of exit 312."
By 7:40 p.m., crews had cleared the trees off eastbound I-40 and the area 3 miles after Exit 312B (Cleveland Rd) had reopened.
