40-50 mph Gusts Topple Trees Across Wake County, Cause Brief Outages

A massive tree toppled onto decks a whole level off the ground on Rosefield Drive after strong gusts swept through Wake County, leaving a row of townhomes damaged and crews working to clear debris. Residents in Cary reported houses hit and short power interruptions as neighborhood cleanup began.

"A line of gusty winds moved through Wake County on Feb. 20, 2026, producing strong gusts that downed trees and led to brief power outages in parts of Raleigh and nearby communities. Viewer-submitted photos shared with local outlets showed trees toppled across residential str"

WRAL reported gusts in the 40-50 miles per hour range as the line of winds moved across the county, and video shared online showed gusts of more than 40 miles per hour breaking branches that were sent flying. The highest-impact areas cited in field reporting included parts of Raleigh and Cary, where multiple downed trees blocked yards and streets.

In Cary, one neighborhood off Chapel Hill Road and Maynard was particularly hard hit when a tree smashed into homes, residents said. On Rosefield Drive a massive tree struck a row of townhomes and damaged decks "a whole level off the ground," leaving porches and exterior stairs covered in splintered wood and insulation. Eyewitness accounts and photos from homeowners documented the structural hits to townhome exteriors.

Emily Apadula, a resident affected by the Chapel Hill Road-area damage, said the power had already been out at her house before the worst impact. "The power had been out for about half an hour already, and I just heard this huge ripping sound and then a big crash and looked out my back door and just saw all of this," Apadula said. She added the crash happened "around 6 p.m. after the power went out at their home" and that previous storms had not produced this level of damage: "We’ve had some trees go down in previous storms but nothing like this, nothing that's caused this much damage."

Neighbor Teddy Reger described interior impacts and the cleanup that will follow. "It's just another day in paradise, just got a little more interesting," Reger said. Reger showed reporters inside his home, where you "can't even open the door to the deck without seeing a pile of debris," and he noted that, thankfully, everyone in his household was OK.

Local emergency crews spread out across Wake County to respond to the storm damage and clear downed trees and limbs. Power interruptions were described as brief in parts of Raleigh and nearby communities, but no county-wide outage totals or National Weather Service wind measurements were available in initial reports; officials and utilities will need to confirm official gust readings and outage counts as cleanup continues. An image credited to Tom George accompanied local coverage of the scene.