Charlotte area sees heavy rain, some flooding

CHARLOTTE — Idalia made landfall in Florida Wednesday morning as a Category 3 storm. It was downgraded to a tropical storm later in the afternoon.

As the storm moved toward the Carolinas, people in our area prepared for the worst.

Fortunately, there was no severe weather around Charlotte associated with the storm that lost its power as it moved across the Southeast.

Idalia concerns: Flooding, power outages

There was still the risk of flooding.

Local officials are worried that waterways, including McAlpine Creek, would flood.

There were reports of downed trees and power lines. There have not been any reports of injuries.

Nevertheless, residents in rural locations, including Anson County, were prepared.

“Live out in the country so we get a lot of power outages,” said Benjamin Cabrera, of Peachland. “Make sure we got a lot of food and propane to keep everything running.”

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management said earlier they didn’t have plans to activate the county emergency operations center at this time, but they are monitoring conditions.

However, on Wednesday morning, a busy ramp in west Charlotte was forced to close because of flooding after Tuesday night’s storm. North Carolina Department of Transportation crews had to unclog a drain that was causing standing water on the ramp.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services was out Wednesday checking high-priority areas. But with more than 100,000 storm drains in Charlotte, they asked that residents clear debris -- if they can safely -- from drains in their neighborhoods.

MEDIC’s mass casualty bus and Charlotte Fire are sometimes asked to send support to the coast. Channel 9 checked and at this point, they’ve not been asked to go.

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TRACKING IDALIA: Hurricane Idalia makes landfall as Category 3 storm

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