Strong winds from the remains of Hurricane Irma left more than 270,000 Carolinians without power on Monday and were expected to batter the Charlotte region until early Tuesday.
A wind advisory for the Charlotte area was in effect until 4 a.m. Tuesday, with forecasters predicting winds of 15 to 25 mph and gusts of up to 40 mph.
Winds blew limbs, trees and power lines onto roads across the Charlotte region on Monday, and onto homes in Burke, Gaston and Iredell counties. No one was hurt. Firefighters rescued a man pinned in his home on Brookridge Lane, off McKendree Road and Brawley School Road, in Mooresville near Lake Norman on Monday night, Observer news partner WBTV reported.
Trees are at risk of falling when soil is saturated and wind speeds reach of 32 to 38 mph, the
Irma was downgraded to a tropical storm early Monday.
Authorities reported the first death in South Carolina from Irma — a 57-year-old Abbeville County man who was cleaning limbs and debris outside his home in Calhoun Falls around 3 p.m. Monday when a limb fell on him. There were apparently no deaths in North Carolina from Irma as of 7 p.m. Monday.
Threats of damage from strong winds and flooding from heavy rains prompted a state of emergency to be declared in Caldwell County at 4 p.m. Monday.
The top wind gust reported at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Monday was 45 mph. At 5 p.m., Observer news partner WBTV reported a 55 mph gust in Lancaster, S.C.
Duke Energy reported more than 92,000 Carolinas customers without power by 7 p.m. Monday, with 70,000 of those in South Carolina. Mecklenburg County had 9,200 outages at 9:30 p.m. Duke said it had more than 4,500 workers poised to respond to expected damage in the Carolinas.
In the late afternoon, about 250,000 customers in South Carolina are without power, with most of the outages reported by the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina and South Carolina Electric and Gas.
Charleston County had about 60,000 outages, Beaufort County about 32,000 and Lexington County just west of Columbia about 27,000 without power.
Slightly stronger wind, gusting to 50 mph, was expected south and west of Charlotte, in South Carolina’s Upstate and western North Carolina.
The weather service also issued a flash flood watch through Tuesday morning for seven North Carolina mountain counties: Macon, Jackson, Transylvania, Henderson, McDowell, Rutherford and Polk. Three to four inches of rain was expected in those areas, with some areas seeing 5 inches.
The light rainfall in Charlotte on Monday afternoon was expected to intensify at night, with thunderstorms accompanied by heavy rain possible in some areas after 11 p.m. One to 2 inches of rain was forecast.
While Irma’s center was expected to veer far west of the Carolinas, gusty and expected deteriorating conditions late Monday forced several schedule changes.
American Airlines
Weather forecasters say the Charlotte area is wedged between the tropical storm conditions associated with Irma and a high pressure system to the northeast.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools canceled all high school and middle school athletic activities on Monday afternoon, including practices, and encourages students and coaches to stay off the roads. CMS will open two hours late on Tuesday but after school programs will operate on a normal schedule.
The city of Charlotte had crews on standby to respond to emergencies. CATS was expected to stick to regular bus, rail and streetcar schedules. On Sunday night, 29 people and two dogs stayed at a shelter the city and the American Red Cross opened at the old J.M. Alexander Middle School in Huntersville.
Flooding last October from Hurricane Matthew killed 31 people in North Carolina and forced thousands out of their homes.
In the mountains, high winds Monday morning prompted the National Park Service to close the Blue Ridge Parkway. That eliminated access to both Mount Mitchell and Chimney Rock state parks, which were also closed.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed Newfound Gap Road and Little River Road at 5 p.m. due to high winds. Gusts up to 58 mph were recorded at the park’s Clingmans Dome.
In the worst tidal surge since Hurricane Hugo, Irma’s wide, whirling bands thrashed coastal South Carolina on Monday with stinging rains and punishing floods that put vast swaths of the Lowcountry under water.
The storm tracked through Florida and Georgia, 200 miles away from Charleston as predicted, but its enormous reach still spawned tornadoes, downed power lines, killed at least one person and caused widespread disruption.
But it was Irma’s surge that put it in Charleston’s storied hurricane record book.
At its height, the storm generated a nearly 10-foot tide. That was 4 feet more than normal and among the worst tidal surges in 80 years after Hugo in 1989 and a storm in 1940. It was about 8 inches higher than last year’s Hurricane Matthew.
