Outages roll through NC on hot, stormy day: where to cool off

Thousands lost power throughout the day on Saturday as storms and dangerous heat rolled through.

Late Saturday night, a strong band of storms rolled through Wake and Johnston counties, knocking out power for more than 1,000 people in Raleigh alone. There are at least 1,000 people without power in Durham.

Durham and Morrisville were also hit with outages earlier in the day, though it is unclear what caused the Durham outages before the storms moved through.

The town of Morrisville posted on the Facebook page that the outage was caused by a transformer fire in the RTP area. The outage was first reported at 8:19 a.m. 

Saturday is a WRAL Weather Alert Day due to high temperatures and even higher heat indexes. The temperature in Morrisville around 1 p.m. is 95 degrees, with a real feel temperature of 105 degrees. 

With temperatures in the area reaching record highs, residents are looking for places to cool down. 

The Morrisville Fire Department Station 1 is opening as an emergency cooling center located at 200 Town Hall Drive. Kennelled pets are welcome.

• Durham Public Library: 300 N. Roxboro St, Durham. Open until 6 p.m.
• All regional libraries in Durham will be open until 6 p.m., with the exception of Bragtown Branch Library.
• Morrisville Community Library: 310 Town Hall Drive, Morrisville. Open until 6 p.m.
• Morrisville Aquatics, Community pool: 1301 Morrisville Parkway, Morrisville. Open until 5 p.m.
• Cedar Creek Community Center: 1050 #B Town Hall Drive, Morrisville. Open until 3 p.m.
• Cary Regional Library: 315 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary. Open until 6 p.m.
• West Regional Library: 4000 Louis Stephens Drive, Cary. Open until 6 p.m.

Remember to stay hydrated, and drinking electrolytes can help keep you cool during extreme heat.