RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina officials say they have reports of fatalities from a severe storm system that hit the state, but they are still working to confirm exactly how many people have died.
Storms ripped across the state Saturday, damaging scores of homes and businesses. The system has already killed 17 people in the South and Midwest.
In central North Carolina, dozens of people were saved at a Lowe's hardware store in Sanford when a manager corralled them into the back of the store to avoid the approaching storm, which flattened the front of the building.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
