Heavy rain sends N.C. streams out of banks

Published: January 31, 2013 

Joel Cook ?@JoelBriggsCookWater is 2 feet deep at the intersection of 105 and 321 in Boone in the intersection In front of Wendy's. From Twitter JoelBriggsCook

In Mecklenburg, 8,800 sites without electricity; mountain counties see worst flooding

The storms are gone, but gusty winds, mountain snow and flooding remain Thursday morning in the wake of severe weather that battered the Carolinas and the rest of the Southeast on Wednesday.

In the Charlotte area, the main roads are in good shape, and there are no reports of traffic signal malfunctions due to power outages.

Duke Energy reports nearly 11,000 outages at 7:45 a.m., with nearly 1,300 of those in Mecklenburg County and another 1,400 in Rowan County.

Charlotte street crews spent much of the night picking up downed limbs and removing fallen trees from roadways. There were about 15 reports of fallen trees in Mecklenburg County, with additional reports from Cabarrus and York counties.

Emergency management officials said strong winds blew down trees and power lines in Concord at Spring and Blume streets. In York County, downed trees were reported near Sharon and in the Bethel community near Clover. Authorities reported wind gusts blew out windows in a house about 3 miles east of Rock Hill.

A reporter for News Channel 14 was injured when she was struck by a vehile while reporting from a Dilworth intersection where strong winds had caused traffic signals to malfunction.

Trees were knocked down across Charlotte. One tree landed on a house on Clyde Drive near Elm Lane, in northwest Charlotte. The residents were forced to find alternate housing overnight.

Downed trees also were reported on Ardrey Kelly Road at Blakeney Heath Road near Ballantyne; Brackenbury Road in southeast Charlotte; Cedarbrook Drive in northeast Charlotte; Colony Road near Myers Park High; Green Hill Road near Lake Wylie; and Wedgewood Drive, off Tyvola Road.

Conditions were worse in the mountains, where the line of storms stalled during the afternoon, allowing 6 inches or more of rain to fall. Severe flooding was reported in Boone, with part of the Appalachian State University campus reporting high water. Emergency management officials say a number of people spent the night in shelters.

Most of the flooding has ended, but temperatures tumbled below freezing and snow began falling in Watauga, Avery and Alleghany counties. Now the roads are icy in spots.

The strong line of storms triggered a tornado in northern Georgia, killing one man in the town of Adairville. There were no reports of tornadoes in the Carolinas, but the Storm Prediction Center received about two dozen reports of wind damage.

Mountain flooding was severe enough for Appalachian State University officials to cancel evening classes and warn students to move their vehicles from two parking lots in danger of flooding.

Law enforcement officials said flooding closed a number of roads in the N.C. mountains, and at least a few swift-water rescues were reported.

By Thursday morning, only scattered flooding was reported. Schools were closed in Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties, for several reasons -- flooding, road damage, and icy roads.

The Boone Fire Department reported mudslides on several roads. Shortly after 5:30 p.m., social media reported at least one person was being rescued from high water on Shulls Mill Road, in the Foscoe community.

The Boone Mall parking lot, which frequently floods in heavy rain situations, had about 3 feet of water at 6 p.m., according to several reports.

Streams also were out of their banks in Ashe County, and flash flooding was reported in Valle Crucis.

In Avery County, authorities reported flooding on N.C. 181 and on Mullen Hill Road, off N.C. 19.

The western edge of the foothills counties – western Caldwell, northwest Burke and northern Rutherford counties – also were included in the flash flood warning. Meteorologists reported nearly 3 inches of rain had fallen between 1 and 5 p.m. on the east side of the Blue Ridge.

Flooding was reported in Caldwell County at the U.S. 321 bridge over the Catawba River.

In Buncombe County, law enforcement officials reported high water had closed U.S. 70 near Black Mountain. Widespread flooding also was reported in Henderson County, near Hendersonville.

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