Twister kills one in North Carolina

Emergency crews in North Carolina plan to assess damage Friday morning after a reported tornado killed one person and injured three others in the central part of the state.

Strong winds on Thursday night overturned tractor-trailers and cars on Interstate 40, collapsed parts of commercial buildings and damaged single-family homes in western Greensboro, said Alan Perdue, emergency services director for Guilford County.

One person died when the winds overturned his truck at a business, Perdue said.

He said at least three other people suffered injuries that authorities do not consider life-threatening. 

Local authorities received calls at around 11:30 p.m. from people who reported seeing a funnel cloud in the unincorporated Colfax community near Piedmont Triad International Airport and along the nearby western edge of Greensboro, Perdue said.

Three planes at the airport suffered significant damage, including a private jet and two cargo planes, he said.

The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for the area and also received reports that a tornado struck. Investigators will try to confirm Friday that a tornado caused the damage, said Darin Figurskey, a meteorologist for the weather service.

A second reported tornado struck just before 10:30 p.m. in or near Clemmons, North Carolina, a town of about 17,000 southwest of Winston-Salem. Two houses collapsed in Clemmons, probably because of high winds, and more than 32,000 were without power, officials told The Associated Press.

Authorities knew of no injuries, said Maj. Brad Stanley of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.

Winds caused "significant damages" to several houses, Stanley said, including one that was reduced to rubble even though the storm caused only minor damage to an adjacent structure.

"It's just a foundation now, but next door -- that house is still there," he said.

The severe weather was part of a storm system that left its mark across the Southeastern United States