DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — Thousands remained without power in Durham on Wednesday afternoon.

Tuesday’s storms caused significant damage to communities all across the city.

Duke Energy officials said their goal is to restore power to everyone between 2 and 3 a.m. on Thursday. They have been working all day to make significant repairs.

CBS 17 crews saw cars stuck under fallen trees, and large limbs blocking entire streets in some neighborhoods.

There were similar scenes all across the city after heavy rains and strong winds.

“The lightning was intense. I’m pretty sure I saw the thunderbolt that [struck this tree] because the whole house lit up,” said Joe Volpe.

15 minutes later, Volpe said, the storm calmed down.

But when he and others looked out their windows and doors, they saw quite a mess.

“There was the tree and you could tell it crushed the telephone pole. Until they can replace the pole, there’s just no power,” he said. “Driving around Durham [Wednesday], felt like it was a war zone.”

Workers with Duke Energy traveled near and far to restore power to thousands of homes.

“We brought a thousand people in from outside of the area. They’re from Charlotte, Wilmington and some from South Carolina. They’re all helping local crews here get power restored,” said Jeff Brooks with Duke Energy.

He said there are a total of around 2,000 people working to clean up hard-hit areas.

It’ll be all hands on deck for the complicated cleanup.

“First, we have to get trees off the lines. So there’s a tree crew working to start to remove that. Then our crew will start to repair the pole, put a new pole in, and then add the new equipment,” said Brooks. “This is a several hours job and there’s hundreds of these all around the region.”