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A tornado ripped through parts of Burke and Caldwell counties Sunday night damaging at least five homes, downing trees and causing power outages across the area.

A tornado was spotted on the ground 10 miles southeast of Morganton heading north at about 30 mph around 5 p.m. Sunday night, according to a National Weather Service alert.

A fire department in Caldwell County confirmed to the Hickory Daily Record that a tornado touched down 4 miles northeast of Lenoir near Cedar Rock on Sunday at about 6:15 p.m.

Five buildings on Cub Creek Street in Connelly Springs were damaged in the storm, according to Burke County Fire Marshal Mike Willis.

Four of the buildings are homes and the other is an outbuilding, Willis said. Three of the buildings currently are uninhabitable, he said.

Willis said a man was injured in one of the homes from falling debris and was transported to a local hospital with possible back injuries. He also said there were numerous reports of fallen trees across the eastern part of the county as well as a number of power outages.