In storm’s wake, hundreds remain without power in Charlotte and downed trees block roads
Some problems from Sunday’s strong storms persisted Monday morning as hundreds of Duke Energy customers were still without power and fallen trees in Mecklenburg County caused local traffic detours.
There was no activity in Mecklenburg County on Sunday, according to Paige Grande, a spokeswoman for Mecklenburg County Emergency Management. There were, however, potential tornadoes spanning from Union County in South Carolina to Mooresville in North Carolina, Grande said. The string of storms did not cause any major damage to public infrastructure, Grande said, and the largest impact in the county is fallen trees on roads.
Ahead of Sunday’s storms, the National Weather Service warned that tornadoes and other strong wind activity as well as hail could hit the Carolinas. The largest impacts in the Carolinas were felt early Sunday and largely subsided by 11 a.m. according to a post by NWS on X.
NWS confirmed at least 38 tornadoes formed throughout six states.
The NWS sent survey crews to the Carolinas Monday morning to speak to officials and look for signs of activity, and is expected to release a report Monday evening, according to a forecaster from the NWS’ Greenville-Spartanburg station.
Tree down on Monroe Road
The strong winds resulted in numerous fallen trees in Mecklenburg County, Grande said, including one on the typically busy Monroe Road. The tree is in the process of being removed, she said, but it is unclear how long that will take.
In the meantime, there are a few local traffic detours residents could encounter when navigating roads Monday.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department managed detours at the site of the fallen tree Monday morning, she said.
There were no reports of traffic delays in the county as a result of the fallen trees Monday, Grande said, and traffic was lighter than usual likely due to the holiday.
Hundreds still without power
At 11:30 a.m Monday, nearly 350 Duke Energy customers in the Charlotte area faced power outages, according to the Duke Energy outage map. Throughout the Carolinas, nearly 1,000 customers were without power Monday morning.
The figure has dropped since Sunday when Duke Energy reported around 20,000 outages in the region at the height of the storm.
1 dead in North Carolina, 4 total in the South
One man in North Carolina was killed Sunday morning while driving when a tree fell on his pickup truck on NC 152 near Brumley Road in Iredell County, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. He was identified by authorities as 70-year-old Matthew Ronald Teeple.
Elsewhere, two people died from storm-related causes in Mississippi, and one in Texas.
This is a developing story
This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 12:05 PM.
