Tom Noell holds a downed telephone wire and looks at damage to his home at 265 S. Main St. Monday morning. (See another photo below)

High winds whipped through Davidson around 10 o’clock this morning, toppling trees, damaging at least one home and closing streets.

A high-wind warning from the National Weather Service is in effect until 8 p.m. Winds of 25 to 35 mph are likely, with gusts up to 60 mph possible. Meanwhile, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools canceled all after-school activities this afternoon because of high winds.

Lorimer Road remained closed this afternoon between Pine Road and South Thompson Street, near the Swimming Hole, after a gust blew over a 200-year-old pin oak. (6 p.m. update: Lorimer Road is now passable, after a work crew moved the main section of the tree off the road.)

The falling tree, in front of the home of Pam Brackett at 611 Lorimer, took down power lines as well as branches from a tree across the street.

Walnut Street near the intersection with Main Street also was closed briefly this morning after high winds knocked down two large limbs from an old oak. The falling limbs cut telephone and cable television lines and damaged the roof and second story of the home of Tom and Carolyn Noell, at 265 South Main.

LIVE POWER LINES DOWN

The Lorimer Road incident left live power lines and other utility wires curling on the ground nearby.

“About 10 o’clock you hear this cracking noise and you just knew a tree was going down,” said Ms. Brackett, who was standing on her porch talking to a contractor when the tree fell. She recalled that a school bus had gone down the street moments before. And it missed her house and neighboring houses. “It couldn’t have fallen any better,” Ms. Brackett said.

It did smash a power pole across the street, knocking down power lines. At just before 1 p.m., Ms. Brackett said she was waiting for Duke Power to send a crew to shut off the power so workers could begin removing the tree.

But Duke Power was dealing with a rash of downed power lines this morning, some resulting from wind damage on Sunday. At 1 p.m., Duke Energy officials were reporting that 211,961 customers were without power across the Carolinas, including 18,784 in Mecklenburg County.

It could not be determined this afternoon how many customers in Davidson were without power.

LIKE A PLANE CRASH

At the Noells’ home at Main and Walnut, large tree limbs were strewn on the front lawn, cable and telephone lines were down. One of the limbs fell onto a second floor roof, lopping off a section and knocking down boards on a porch.

Both Noells were inside at the time. “I thought an airplane had fallen somewhere it sounded so loud,” Tom Noell said.

“Thank goodness nobody was hurt,” said his wife, Carolyn. It had the whole street blocked. Thank goodness no one was walking here and no school bus was here.”

Town officials sent out an e-mail notice about the Lorimer incident at midday, saying they did not know when the road would be open. With the tree down this afternoon, the road is closed off by yellow police tape.

Pam Brackett of Lorimer Road looks at a 200-year-old pin oak in her front yard that toppled in high winds Monday morning.