Helene kills person in Charlotte as a million North Carolinians went without power Friday
The storm that came ashore as Hurricane Helene knocked out power to a million Duke Energy customers in the Carolinas on Friday, including 119,000 in Charlotte and tens of thousands more in surrounding counties.
A total of 75,318 households in Mecklenburg County were still without power at 9:15 p.m. Friday, according to North Carolina Emergency Management.
At 2:30 p.m. Friday, emergency officials urged Mountain Island Lake residents in flood-prone areas to prepare to evacuate, along with others who live along the Catawba River to South Carolina.
Duke Energy needed to move large amounts of rainwater through the Catawba River system from Lake Norman to Lake Wylie through Mountain Island Lake, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management officials said in a flash flood warning on social media.
“Flood waters will rise RAPIDLY and conditions will change quickly,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management wrote in a social media post. “Prepare to EVACUATE the affected area.”
A shelter is open at Tuckaseegee Recreation Center, 4820 Tuckaseegee Road. It will remain a shelter through Sunday evening.
Helene toppled trees onto roads across the region, including on Interstate 85 southbound at the U.S. 321 exit in Gastonia, where a wreck involving a tractor-trailer was reported.
The intersection of Providence and Queens roads in Charlotte was closed Friday morning. In York County, U.S. 21 is closed at Coltharp Road because of downed trees, the sheriff’s office said.
Just after 8 a.m., Haywood County in the mountains said residents should consider all roads in the county closed because of treacherous conditions.
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.
Four people were critically hurt when a tornado associated with Helene touched down in in Rocky Mount in eastern North Carolina, emergency officials said.
Rescues were underway in the North Carolina mountains, where the National Weather Service expected up to 20 inches of rain in some areas and “catastrophic flooding.” The highest recorded amount, 29.5 inches, fell in Busick Raws, Yancey County, Gov. Roy Cooper said.
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.
A 2-year-old and a 12-year-old in the vehicles were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, Casey said. Both drivers were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Gov. Cooper: “Consider all roads closed”
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.
At 11 a.m. Friday, Cooper urged North Carolinians to consider “all roads closed unless you are seeking higher ground,” especially in the mountains.
Over 100 swift-water rescues have occurred, “although we know there will be many more,” Cooper said at a news conference.
He said 359 roads were closed, mainly in Western North Carolina, “although more are closing as we speak.”
Statewide, 879,000 people were without power, Cooper said.
“This will be one of the most significant weather events to happen in the western portions of the area in the modern era,” the National Weather Service for Spartanburg and Greenville posted on Thursday. “Record flooding is forecasted and has been compared to the floods of 1916 in the Asheville area.”
Burke County emergency crews rescued a person injured in flooding in the N.C. 126 area north of Lake James, Christopher White, assistant county 911 director, told Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC.
In Black Mountain, truck drivers were stuck late Friday morning in a warehouse on Highway 70 where rising floodwaters threatened to carry them away in their big rigs, Telemundo Charlotte reported.
The 1916 flood brought death and property damage to western North Carolina. At least 50 people died. Streams and rivers, already full from previous rains, surged across low ground with startling speed in mid-July of 1916. Dead horses and chickens, hogsheads of tobacco and bales of cotton, moonshine stills and whole houses sailed down the Catawba, Yadkin and French Broad rivers, The Charlotte Observer reported.
More than 50 traffic crashes were reported Thursday in Mecklenburg and that continued Friday, according to MEDIC.
Flooding in Mecklenburg
Some areas of western Mecklenburg County received up to 4 inches of rain as of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, officials said. Rainfall totals were less on the eastern side of the county. No flooding to homes was reported during the day Thursday.
By Friday evening, some areas of west Mecklenburg had received over 6 inches of rain in the previous 48 hours.
Mecklenburg issued a voluntary evacuation order Thursday for areas around Riverside Drive, Lake Drive, Riverhaven Drive and parts of Beagle Club Road and Hart Road, north of the airport, because of the risk of flooding. Charlotte firefighters were in the area to monitor rising water.
“Mountain Island Lake is spilling,” according to a Duke Energy alert Friday morning. The lake is expected to reach or surpass 110 feet Saturday morning, or 10 feet above the full pond, officials said. That would mark the highest level ever at the lake.
Prepare for flooding and closely monitor lake levels, Duke Energy urged Mountain Island Lake residents.
Floodwaters could rise quickly in areas surrounding Mountain Island Lake, Lake Norman, Lake Wylie and along the Catawba River, emergency officials said.
Charlotte was under a flash flood warning until 2 p.m.
Drama started Thursday
At 10 a.m. Thursday, Charlotte Douglas International Airport was under a Helene-spawned tornado warning, along with Belmont and Mount Holly in Gaston County. Radar indicated a tornado, NWS meteorologists said, but there were no confirmed reports.
Charlotte resident Jacob Sprankle posted video on X, formerly Twitter, of a funnel cloud in Steele Creek. The NWS retweeted his post.
“This is an unusually dangerous storm that threatens to bring heavy rain and potentially catastrophic flooding tonight and tomorrow for central and particularly Western North Carolina,” the governor said at an 11 a.m. news conference Thursday. “It can be deadly. Beware and prepare.”
Drivers should stay off roads, especially in the mountains and foothills, Cooper said.
“We have lost too many North Carolinians who have driven around barricades and into floodwaters,” Cooper said.
Gusts of up to 50 mph were expected in Charlotte early Friday, NWS meteorologists said.
Tornadoes threatened the region through Friday morning, NWS forecasters said. By Friday afternoon in Charlotte, skies were clearing but windy conditions remained, and wind lessened in the evening.
Thursday, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for North Carolina. That allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help fund emergency protective measures in much of Western North Carolina, including evacuations and emergency shelters.
200,000 without power in NC mountains
Nearly 200,000 Duke Energy customers were without power in the North Carolina mountains at 9 a.m. Friday, according to the company outage map.
In South Carolina, at least 220,600 customers had no power at 9 a.m. in Greenville County and 30,100 in York County.
In the Carolinas’ mountains, “catastrophic flash flooding is expected along numerous streams, with possibly historic flooding near the Blue Ridge Escarpment,” the NWS said.
“Landslides/debris flows expected through at least Friday,” the NWS said.
Shelters opened Thursday in Avery, Buncombe and McDowell counties, emergency officials said.
Thursday morning, Helene became a Category 2 hurricane, “with significant additional strengthening expected before landfall in Florida,” and by evening it had become a Category 4 hurricane, according to National Hurricane Center bulletins.
Earlier Friday morning, the storm surged along the Florida coast and west Florida and penetrated Georgia and the Carolinas, according to the National Hurricane Center.
At 11 a.m. Friday, the center of Helene, downgraded to a tropical storm, was about 30 miles southwest of Bryson City, N.C., with 45-mph winds.
“Helene is producing historic and catastrophic flooding over portions of the Southeast and Southern Appalachians,” according to an 11 a.m. National Hurricane Center update.
Charlotte airport flight delays
American Airlines issued travel alerts on Wednesday for airports in the Southeast, including Charlotte Douglas International Airport. American accounts for about 87% of all flights out of CLT.
As of 9 p.m. Friday, Charlotte Douglas International had 746 flights delayed and 427 that were canceled, according to FlightAware, an online website providing real-time information.
Adding that total since airlines began delaying and canceling flights ahead of Helene on Wednesday, over 2,000 flights have been disrupted this week.
“Hurricane Helene is causing numerous flight delays and cancellations across the region,” a CLT spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer in an email. “We recommend passengers check their airline’s flight status before heading to the airport, including those picking up arriving passengers.”
Gov. Cooper declared NC State of Emergency
Cooper declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, activating the National Guard and deploying swift-water teams in advance of Helene.
“Helene threatens heavy rain, flash flooding, landslides, and damaging winds to the mountains and Piedmont areas of our state,” Cooper said in a statement. “Now is the time for North Carolinians to prepare, make sure emergency kits are up to date and pay attention to the weather alerts in your area.”
On Thursday, Cooper said Helene’s “path is wide, and its impacts will be felt far from the center of the storm.”
Duke Energy called in power line and tree crews from other states. Wind damage and flooding could delay restoring power, but its crews will do so “as quickly and safely as possible,” according to a company statement Thursday morning.
Charlotte Motor Speedway opened its campgrounds at noon Wednesday for Helene evacuees from across the Southeast. Evacuees should check in at the Camping World Racing Resort office at 6600 Bruton Smith Blvd. in Concord.
Caldwell County also declared a state of emergency. Haywood County in the mountains urged residents to prepare for possible evacuation due to flooding from Helene.
School closings
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials canceled in-person classes for the rest of the week. The district moved to remote learning on Friday, with classes to be completed asynchronously, meaning there won’t be any face-to-face instruction, according to a weather alert posted on the CMS website.
After-school activities for Thursday and Friday were canceled, according to the district. Athletic events will be rescheduled. CMS schools were to resume a normal schedule Monday.
Observer staff writers Chase Jordan and Evan Moore and Adam Wagner of The News & Observer contributed.
This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 9:53 AM.