Charlotte Motor Speedway opens campground to Ian evacuees

CONCORD, N.C. — The Charlotte Motor Speedway is opening its Rock City Campground at 9 a.m. Wednesday for Tropical Storm Ian evacuees. The Rock City Campground is located behind the Hendrick Automotive dealership at 7501 Hendrick Auto Plaza NW in Concord. According to the speedway, evacuees will have access to bathhouse facilities on the property.

Evacuees are asked to check in at the Camping World Racing Resort office at 6600 Bruton Smith Blvd. in Concord, which can be accessed at the entrance to zMAX Dragway. After-hours arrivals can park at Rock City Campground and check in the following morning.

The campground will remain open for as long as needed, according to the speedway.

Evacuees from Florida head to Charlotte

As many Florida airports close and evacuation orders are enacted, many evacuating Floridians are calling Charlotte a temporary home, or stopping in the Queen City on the way to their destination.

Evacuees from Florida head to Charlotte seeking refuge from Hurricane Ian

Florida resident Lisa Hanson was on one of the final flights out of Tampa into Charlotte. She’s heading to her sister’s house for the next few days to work but her thoughts are with everyone back home.

“My company sent me here to get out of the area,” she said. “My husband and my mother are still at home, so they are hunkering down at my house and hopefully they come out OK.”

Karen Ianello took a flight into Charlotte from Sarasota. The Longboat Key resident was planning to come to Charlotte this week to babysit her grandkids. She’s expecting her home in Longboat Key to experience severe flooding.

“I was a little nervous leaving,” she said. “I’m praying for the whole state of Florida that it somehow makes a sharp turn left or right and it won’t be as devastating as they say it will be.”

While some took to the air, others are getting away by car.

Marilyn Ward, also from Longboat Key, made a pit stop at the North Carolina rest area on Interstate 77 on her way to Morgantown, West Virginia. She’s praying she’ll be able to return to her house soon and that everything will be OK.

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“We brought important papers and family items and that kind of stuff,” she said. “It’s scary because we sold our other house and we could end up without a home.”

Hurricane Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday morning as the storm continued along its path across Florida and the southeastern United States.

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