Home Care In Eden, NC

EDEN, N.C. — UPDATE: Outages are now down to about 3,000, according to the Duke Energy Outage Map. This still leaves around 20% of Eden residents without power.

Thousands are without power in Eden, NC as a severe thunderstorm rolls through the state.

Outage maps provided by Duke Energy show over 5,000 addresses without power. Most of the sources are still unknown, but over 1,000 addresses are impacted by "an object coming into contact with our power lines" according to the Duke Energy website.

Sheriff Page with Rockingham County Sheriff's Office confirmed there’s a house with damage on Short Union St. in Eden, NC. Luckily, everyone is okay.

Eden residents received a public safety alert encouraging residents to stay inside due to hazardous conditions outside at 8:54 p.m.

Stay with WFMY News 2 for updates.

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Nestlé Purina PetCare recently announced an estimated $450 million investment to open a new factory in Eden, N.C., to meet increasing demand for its high-quality, nutritious pet foods.

The expansion is part of a broader growth plan for Purina that began last year with the grand opening of the company's newest wet pet food factory and distribution center in Hartwell, Ga., the company said in its announcement.

The new Eden factory will join Purina's network of 21 existing manufacturing locations across the U.S. and will become operational in 2022.

"Eden is Purina's first manufacturing operation in North Carolina, and through this expansion, we build on our more than 90-year history of making science-based dog and cat foods that pet owners trust," Nestlé Purina U.S. president Nina Leigh Krueger said "Despite the challenging times we have all been living in, Purina has remained resilient. This strategic and long-term investment demonstrates our commitment to providing high-quality nutrition for pets. We're thankful for the great partnership at the state and local levels, and we are excited to be a part of this community now and for many years to come."

Located along the Virginia border, the new factory in Eden will revitalize a former brewery, transforming it into an innovative, technically advanced pet food manufacturing facility, Purina said. Preliminary plans call for a $450 million investment to renovate the existing structure in Rockingham County and produce leading dry dog and cat food brands, including Purina Pro Plan, Purina ONE and Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets.

"At Purina, we are passionate about supporting the communities where we live and work, and we look forward to bringing that passion to Rockingham County," Purina vice president, manufacturing, Nolan Terry said. "The property is in good working condition, and we have an incredible opportunity to transform this into a world-class pet food facility. We also see great potential to work with a highly skilled workforce in the region and provide a chance to start a new chapter of their career at Purina. Great people and a great location is a win-win."

The factory will be located on 1,300-plus acres near the border of North Carolina and Virginia and will be approximately 1.3 million sq. ft. in size. Purina plans to employ more than 300 people at its new factory location by 2024 while also increasing its use of third-party employment and local and regional economic development. Many of the jobs at Purina's new factory will include professional staff, production operators, technical staff and engineers.

Purina said it conducted a national search for its newest factory location and explored multiple potential sites in North Carolina and other states as part of this project. After a detailed analysis, the proposal from Rockingham County, the city of Eden and North Carolina state officials provides Purina with the ability to serve pet owners and retain and attract top talent over the long term.

"We are ecstatic Nestlé Purina has chosen Eden and Rockingham County as their new manufacturing home," said Mark Richardson, chair of the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners. "The news of their expansion into this property brings so much light and revitalization to our community. We are anxious to watch this site come back to life with new employees as well as tax base but, more importantly, excited to see it occupied by such a well-known and respected company."

Dozens of trees were toppled, some damaging houses. Emergency Management says straight line winds were likely to blame and no one was injured.

EDEN, N.C. — As you drive through the heart of Eden it won’t take you long to find neighbors cutting up, and clearing out, all that mother nature brought down on Saturday night.

"We have a privacy fence connecting Brian’s house to our house and it’s in there somewhere," said Wanda Charles.

Trees and power lines still peppered the city landscape on Sunday afternoon.

Although most of the outages have been restored, the damaging winds and hail still left some without power.

Charles lives off of Old Highway 87, she says a massive oak tree just barely missed hitting her house.

However, the trees large limbs left a gaping hole in her neighbors roof.

"To see the damage and think, ‘what am I going to do?’ Making sure my house is ok and seeing my poor neighbor having a skylight," said Charles.

Sheila Wilkerson’s was not home when the storm moved through.

A phone call from her daughter warned her about the storm and left her worried about what she would find when she got back home.

"The closer we got to the house and we saw there were trees down in the area and all, the more concerned I got," said Wilkerson

Wilkerson and her family spent their Sunday clearing several fallen trees and snapped limbs, luckily none of them fell onto her house.

Just across the street, a century-old oak tree buried another home.

The owners were just about finished painting and renovating.

New tenants were set to move in over the next few weeks.

Missi Dawley says her heart dropped when she saw the damage.

"We’ve got 4, I think, that I have noticed just in my 10 minutes of being down here, that people are outside cutting things up and hoping that they’ll be able to restore the houses and be safe to live in. It’s devastating," said Dawley.

Rockingham County Emergency Management says they spent Sunday prioritizing power restoration in the area.

Officials will begin damage assessment on Monday.

Despite all the damage left behind, no one was injured.

"I’m just thankful that my house is ok, my animals are ok and our vehicles didn’t get damaged. So, it could have been a lot worse," said Wilkerson.

Many are asking me if the damage in Eden was caused by a tornado. I see straight-line winds are to blame. I have traveled to several areas with down trees and all of these locations have trees lying the same direction. Locations and direction of debris marked below. @WFMY pic.twitter.com/vcRq57RwaV

— Daniel Crews WFMY (@DCrewsNews) June 4, 2023

The damage left behind from the storm was likely caused by straight-line winds, not a tornado.

The National Weather Service did not survey the area with no affirmative evidence of rotation.

EDEN, N.C. —

A chemical reaction sent five people to the hospital, according to the Eden Fire Department.

Eden's Fire Chief Chris White told WXII they were called to the Loparex plant on West Fieldcrest Road around 7 p.m., Thursday night.

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The call regarded a commercial structure fire, but when Eden firefighters got to the scene, it turned out there was not a fire. Rather, chemicals in a waste barrel had reacted and let off vapor steam in the Laporex plant, according to the Eden Fire Department.

The area was evacuated, and firefighters stayed outside while a hazmat team worked.

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The North Carolina Department of Public Safety's NC Hazardous Materials Regional Response team told WXII that they are still in the process of filing a state report regarding which chemicals were found and how the team responded. Until then, they cannot share details of the incident, only that they did send a hazmat team to Loparex, LLC.

Rockingham County Emergency Services said they only knew of two people who went to the hospital, but that Eden Fire has jurisdiction over this case and has more information. The conditions of those treated are also still not known at this time, but Eden's fire chief said the victims needed only minor treatment.

The City of Eden and Eden Rescue Squad also responded.

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EDEN, N.C. (WGHP) —The city is coming to a close on a streetscape project that’s been underway for nearly a year in its downtown, making much-needed improvements to the business district that sits on Monroe Street.

“It’s a little rough because we don’t have any parking for our businesses. Nobody knows where to park to be able to come to it,” said Gracie Willoughby, Halo Salt & Yoga employee.

Businesses on Monroe Street in uptown Eden are welcoming the upgrades to their small business district.

After nearly one year, the streetscape project is nearly complete with new wheelchair access, newly replaced signage, sidewalks and gutters, improved drainage, and a freshly paved road.

Talks about the project began in the spring of 2021, concerning improvements needed for Monroe Street.

“Got input from the merchants and property owners around here to see what the best possible improvements we could make to the street would be, and now we’re finally getting to see,” said Neville Hall, Mayor of Eden.

City leaders know work being done for the project has impacted businesses sitting on Monroe Street.

Several businesses had to alter store hours opening at 4 p.m. once paving was complete on the street.

Gracie Willoughby lives in uptown Eden and walks to work at Halo Salt & Yoga each day said despite the construction she believes it will help draw more people to their business district.

“It’s helped a lot. There’s not holes in it, and boards on the sidewalk. So, it’s a lot better,” said Willoughby.

It’s been around 20 years since Monroe Street has been paved and seen improvements, and the streetscape project is a part of the city’s plans for revitalization of the uptown area.

“We’re considering expanding or creating and expanding the social district within this uptown area,” Hall said. “I think having safe sidewalks for people to walk to from one business to the next will be a great asset.”

The paving of Monroe Street was completed today, and the street is now open to traffic. the city will have the lines painted within the next few days. the total cost of the project is around $205,000.