Storm news round-up: flooding, power outages, dramatic rescue
Storm news round-up: flooding, power outages, dramatic rescue
Tuesday's heavy rain and wind left their mark
The following article appeared in the Jan. 10, 2024, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Big storm causes serious flooding and power outages
A Ledger reader who lives in SouthPark’s Governor’s Square neighborhood sent us these photos Tuesday of a flooded McMullen Creek behind her house. The creek is normally just a few feet wide with barely a current in that area, but on Tuesday it covered her 4-foot-high fence and swept a portion of it away.
Tuesday’s storm blew down trees and sent creeks flowing over their banks, and a suspected tornado touched down in Catawba County.
Some of the local highlights/lowlights from Tuesday’s storm:
Dramatic rescue video: Bystanders on a bridge over Briar Creek rescued a person whose car was being swept away by flood waters, in a dramatic video posted on X/Twitter by WSOC’s Joe Bruno (from Telemundo reporter Jorge Vélez).
Near-record creek levels: McAlpine Creek was near or above record crest levels, according to WCNC’s Brad Panovich on X/Twitter.
60,000 power outages: More than 60,000 Duke Energy customers in Mecklenburg lost power Tuesday, according to The Charlotte Observer — or about 11% of Duke customers here. The peak was around 2 or 3 p.m. As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, about 8,400 Mecklenburg customers still were without power, according to Duke Energy. Duke’s outage map shows a majority are in the Governor’s Square/Foxcroft/Landsdowne/Stonehaven areas in south Charlotte.
Record rain (for Jan. 9): Charlotte set a new Jan. 9 record for rain, with 2.48 inches as of about 5 p.m. That surpasses the previous record of 1.91 inches set on Jan. 9, 1921, according to Brad Panovich.
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