Tornadoes hit Mecklenburg County and Durham on Monday as strong storms moved across the state.

An EF-1 tornado touched down in the Charlotte area Monday afternoon as storms bringing heavy rainfall and strong winds moved across the state.

The tornado hit in Mecklenburg County near Burnt Umber Drive, just south of Reedy Creek Park, and then spun northeast toward the Cabarrus County line, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service. The storm downed trees, utility lines and caused roof damage in its wake. 

Once the tornado crossed into Cabarrus County, it damaged the Camelot neighborhood, before lifting near Rocky River Elementary School. 

An EF-0 tornado touched down at 4:07 p.m. in Durham with estimated wind speeds of 85 mph. The tornado hit just northeast of Durham along Glenbrook Drive, De Mille Steet, Hinson Drive, Waring Street and Da Vinci Street.

It remained at tree level for its two-minute duration and resulted in mostly uprooted trees and tree damage to other structures.

Thousands of North Carolina residents awoke to power outages and damage after strong storms ripped through the state Monday afternoon, downing trees and utility lines into central areas. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, power had been restored, but thousands were without utilities well into the morning, according to PowerOutage.US.  

Storms tore through the state, and there were reports of several tornadoes near the Charlotte area Monday afternoon. The National Weather Service went out to survey some of the impacted spots to confirm whether actual tornadoes struck.

In Durham, lightning split trees, which in turn toppled utility poles. Wind damage also caused impacts, and flash flooding led to water rescues in the Burlington area.  

Parts of the state saw rainfall totals up to an inch or more. In the western regions around the mountains, rainfall measured 2 to 4 inches. The Charlotte area saw about an inch and a half, while the Triad and central regions saw 1 to 2 inches. The coast got less than other spots, but some places saw around an inch of rain.