Tropical Storm Debby impacts roadways, electricity in Charlotte area (2024)

As of 2:30 p.m., there are over 109,000 outages across North Carolina and South Carolina. Of those, around 40,000 are in the Charlotte area, including around 19,000 reported outages in Mecklenburg County. More than 4,500 Duke Energy customers are without power in Gaston County, according to the utility's outage map.

Debby also took down trees across the Charlotte area, blocking roads and taking down power lines as it swept over the state.

Charlotte

Numerous trees fell across Charlotte and Mecklenburg County on Thursday, blocking roads. While the worst of the rain passed through by mid-afternoon, saturated soil will make it possible for more trees to fall over the next day or so.

A tree fell across the road at the intersection of Park Road and Osprey Drive, near Pineville-Matthews Road, as well. Duke Energy said it had dispatched crews to repair fallen power lines along Beatties Ford Road in northwest Charlotte.

A portion of Toby Creek rose over the banks around 9:30 a.m. Emergency Management officials confirmed that Championship Lane was closed due to flooding.

Stewart Creek flooded along West Morehead Street, prompting street closures Thursday morning.

Sugar Creek also hit flood stage by Thursday afternoon as steady rain continued to fall over the Carolinas.

Gastonia

Gastonia Police reported a downed tree that wiped out power lines on Union Road near Niblick Drive. Officials said Union Road was closed in both directions and urged drivers to avoid the area.

Matthews

In Matthews, Sam Newell Road, just prior to Independence Point Parkway, is closed due to flooding. Officials are urging drivers to use the alternate routes of Highway 51 or Sardis Road North.

York County

Fallen trees are blocking traffic in multiple places in York County, including a large tree blocking Mt. Gallant Road in Rock Hill.

Multiple roads in the Rock Hill area were closed due to flooding.

Also in York County, a tree is blocking the entire road at Springlake Road and Black Highway and another is blocking Hollbrook Road at Sun Valley Lane in Fort Mill.

Cabarrus County

Multiple roads in the Kannapolis area were closed due to flooding, including Trinity Church Road. A tree fell near Afton Run, blocking the road, fire officials said. Concord city officials said all downed trees were cleared but there was still some flooding at the Stough Road bridge, which closed the road until further notice.

The North Carolina DMV office in Concord is temporarily unable to service customers due to an internet outage. It's unclear if the outage is related to the storm.

WCNC Charlotte’s Weather IQ YouTube channel gives detailed explainers from the WCNC Weather Impact Team meteorologists to help you learn and understand weather, climate and science. Watch previous stories where you can raise your Weather IQ in the YouTube playlist below and subscribe to get updated when new videos are uploaded.

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.