🗞️ Is a second Biscuitville coming to Kernersville?

🗞️ Sunday storm crushes homes and damages a school in Winston-Salem

🗞️ Five couples say 'I do' at a church's free wedding day

🗞️ Be ready before the next summer storm knocks out the power

🌞 Warm with afternoon storms | High: 88°F | Low: 72°F

A little less brutal today, but keep the umbrella handy. Mostly sunny early, then a good chance of showers and thunderstorms after midday and into the evening. A few could be strong, so watch the sky.

A land deal has folks wondering if Kernersville is about to get a second Biscuitville. A real-estate arm of the North Carolina breakfast chain has paid $1.62 million for a commercial property off N.C. 66 South, according to a Forsyth County Register of Deeds filing. The site sits at 1478 N.C. 66 South, tucked between the Dairi-O and Wendy's.

The buyer is listed as BV 239 LLC of Greensboro, with 801 Land Holdings LLC of Winston-Salem as the seller. Biscuitville's corporate office could not be reached for comment, so nothing is official yet, but the purchase certainly points in one direction. The chain already has a Kernersville spot at 921 S. Main Street. We will keep an eye on this one.

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Sunday evening's storms tore through northwest Winston-Salem, hitting the Sherwood Forest neighborhood especially hard. A massive oak was ripped out of the ground and crushed the longtime home of Nick Russell's parents, crashing into their bedroom. They had owned the house for more than 30 years and were in Kentucky at the time, so no one was hurt, but large trees also impaled neighboring homes on Yorkshire Road and Pennington Lane. "When the tree hit that house, it felt like an earthquake," neighbor Sam Rollins said.

The storm also damaged Sherwood Forest Elementary, where a large branch tore into the roof, gutters, a wall and the ceiling; crews spent Sunday night and Monday cleaning up and assessing the damage. The National Weather Service clocked 30 mph gusts and nearly an inch of rain nearby at Smith Reynolds Airport. Duke Energy reported nearly 1,250 Forsyth County outages Monday morning, down to about 600 by afternoon. Amid the mess, neighbors pitched in to help one another, one contractor stopping to patch up a neighbor's damaged home.

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Here is a bright spot. On Sunday, Winston-Salem First church hosted "Marry Me Sunday," marrying five couples across two services in a full wedding celebration the church and its members paid for as a gift. With the average 100-guest wedding running around $34,000, the idea was to give couples the day they dreamed of without the price tag. "The economy is so out of hand," said Hasmareen Griffin, the pastor's wife. "Sometimes a wedding is just not in their purview."

Members threw themselves into it. Photographers, videographers and decorators transformed the church into a venue and reception hall, a member who owns a bakery made all five cakes, and the congregation chipped in wedding gifts by Zelle, text and QR code. Pastor Allen Griffin personalized every ceremony. "The cost of what they provided was way more than what we could have afforded," said groom Walt Herrera, who married his longtime sweetheart Carina Nunez. A little generosity, five new marriages, and a whole lot of joy.

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This weekend's storms and the outages that followed are a good nudge to get a little more prepared, because summer in the Triad means more of them are coming. You do not need a bunker, just a few basics within easy reach. Keep flashlights and fresh batteries where you can find them in the dark, a battery or hand-crank radio for updates, and a charged power bank so a phone can last through an outage. Stash a few gallons of water, some food that does not need cooking, and a manual can opener.

A little planning helps too. If anyone in the house relies on medication that needs refrigeration or a device that needs electricity, ask your provider now about a backup plan. During an outage, keep the fridge and freezer closed to make the cold last, and never run a generator or grill indoors or in the garage, carbon monoxide is the hidden danger every summer. Save your utility's outage number in your phone, and check on older neighbors once the storm passes.

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