165K without power in Charlotte area as Helene-swollen lakes threaten to flood
At least 165,000 Charlotte-area Duke Energy customers remained without power Saturday morning, including 45,000 in Mecklenburg County, after former Hurricane Helene knocked down trees and power lines across the region on Friday.
The risk of flooding remains a threat. “Those who live along lakes or rivers or in flood-prone areas should follow directions from emergency management and pay close attention to changing conditions,” according to a Duke Energy statement.
It could take until noon Monday for power to be restored in all parts of Mecklenburg County, according to the company outage map.
Duke Energy crews cut the number of Mecklenburg County outages in half overnight, from 90,000 on Friday, company spokesperson Logan Stewart said.
“Due to the severity of damage experienced and ongoing flooding challenges, we expect a multi-day restoration effort,” Duke Energy officials said. “We greatly appreciate the patience of all those affected and will continue to provide updates.”
At 7:45 p.m. Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management warned that floodwaters will continue to rise, even without rain, as Duke Energy moved water from Lake Norman to Lake Wylie.
A shelter opened Friday at Tuckaseegee Recreation Center, 4820 Tuckaseegee Road. It will remain a shelter through Sunday evening. Emergency officials released no update Saturday morning.
Mountain Island Lake saw rising water levels and flooding Friday evening when the floodgates at Cowan’s Ford Dam opened around 7 p.m., according to the county. Lake Wylie in South Carolina and the Catawba River would be hit next, emergency officials said.
The storm that came ashore as Hurricane Helene knocked out power to a million Duke Energy customers in the Carolinas on Friday.
Western North Carolina was especially hard hit. All roads “should be considered closed” Saturday in the mountains, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Helene deaths
One person was killed in northwest Charlotte and a second had life-threatening injuries when a tree fell on a house in the 4200 block of Brookway Drive, MEDIC reported shortly after 6 a.m. Friday.
A 4-year-old girl died in a Catawba County head-on wreck during heavy rains Thursday morning, State Highway Patrol Trooper Christopher Casey said.
Children ages 2 and 12 who were passengers were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, Casey said. Both drivers were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Helene has killed at least 43 people across five states since making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane that rapidly changed to a Category 2, The Associated Press reported. At least 13 people have died in South Carolina, 11 in Georgia and seven in Florida.
Over 100 swift-water rescues have occurred, “although we know there will be many more,” Gov. Roy Cooper said at an 11 a.m. news conference Friday.
Outages remained widespread in the mountains on Saturday.
In Buncombe County, where Asheville is the county seat, 102,000 of Duke Energy’s 149,000 customers had no power at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
EnergyUnited, the Statesville-based electric coop, said Saturday that crews have restored power to 20,000 of its member customers, while 10,000 remained without electricity.
Power should be restored to customers in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus and Rowan counties by 11 p.m. Monday. Restoration will take until 11 p.m. Tuesday for customers in Iredell, Gaston, Lincoln and six other counties, according to the company.
This story was originally published September 28, 2024 at 9:55 AM.