The winds left over from Hurricane Michael, now a tropical storm, left campus with whiplash Thursday afternoon.
Several residents reported power outages at the 300 Swift apartments as the remnants of Hurricane Michael swept through Durham Thursday afternoon.
"Due to the wind and rain, the power has gone out at 300 and 301 Swift," wrote Aneshia Jerralds, assistant dean for Central Campus, in an email to Swift residents. "Matt Bailey, Swift Residence Coordinator, has notified the appropriate individuals to rectify the situation as soon as possible. We will keep you posted as much as possible."
Residents' cars were also locked in the Swift Garage due to the power outage.
A large tree located near Few Quadrangle was seen split apart. The tree was located between the residence hall and the bus circle.
A tree located near the East Duke building on East Campus has also fallen down.
Additionally, the light at the intersection of Campus Drive and Swift Avenue, which normally flashes to indicate a four-way stop, did not appear to be functioning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
A traffic light at the intersection of Anderson Street and West Main Street near East Campus did not appear to be functioning at 6:00 p.m. Thursday.
A dorm room window in Few GG shattered following the fall of a tree in Few Quad.
Sophomore Stephanie Dodd and junior Sarah Gregorich were in their rooms in Roundtable section when they started to see the large tree outside their room swaying.
“Stephanie notices it’s going to hit, and we stand up and move at the same time, and sure enough the tree just went through our window,” Gregorich said.
They said they initially heard a loud crash when the tree hit the roof, then their glass shattering. Stephanie moved out of the way of the window just before the glass shattered, and had she not moved, they said that glass would have hit her.
“Let’s just put it this way, glass fragmentation reached the other side of the room,” Gregorich said.
During Hurricane Florence in September, 300 Swift did not lose power. Neither did Duke's main campus.
Dodd and Gregorich have been cleaning glass since the tree hit, and they both said they are weary of walking around barefoot in their dorm for the next few weeks.
Michael, a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall in Florida, brought a "severe thunderstorm warning" to Durham until 5:15 p.m. Thursday, with warnings of wind gusts up to 60 mph. Thursday morning, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for Durham until 9 p.m.
Durham was projected for three to four inches of rainfall.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.