RALEIGH, N.C. — A National Weather Service team confirmed Tuesday that two tornadoes touched down in South Carolina and another in North Carolina during an outbreak of severe weather that flipped tractor-trailers and small planes, washed out roads and left thousands without electricity.
The survey team from Greer, South Carolina, viewed damage in Cherokee and Spartanburg counties from Monday's storms and said both places were hit by EF-2 tornadoes. On the Enhanced Fujita Scale, an EF-2 tornado carries winds of between 111 mph and 135 mph.
According to the weather service, additional damage was to be surveyed and the tornado rating could be adjusted.
Another survey team went to Cleveland County, North Carolina, to look at damage there, and confirmed an EF-2 struck the southern part of the county. Officials were still determining if a tornado hit other areas of the county, near Lawndale and Polkville.
The National Weather Service also visited Caldwell County Wednesday and determined there ws tornadic activity around the lake and in the Grace Chapel Road area surrounded by straight-line winds.
More than 36 hours after the storm, 15,000 people in the county were without power.
Channel 9 visited a neighborhood off Grace Chapel Road which saw a lot of damage, and many roads were still closed Wednesday morning.
Dozens of trees were uprooted and power poles had been cut in half, with their wires lying across the neighborhood streets.
At least 332 homes and other buildings in the county were damaged in the storm. Some families lost part of their roofs, while others dealt with trees and limbs on top of their homes.
Officials said 41 homes had major damage and one was destroyed.
In Alexander County, resident Martha Bowman showed Channel 9 the tree that is forcing her out of the home that she's lived in for nearly 50 years. When the storm hit Monday afternoon, she had just enough time to get to her basement.
Now, she can barely open the door to one of her bedrooms.
"I really didn't come to look right away. I was so shaken that I didn't know what to do," Bowman said.
Like many people in Alexander County, Bowman is getting help from family members and neighbors. Her grandson, daughter and niece all worked together packing up her belongings and food from her kitchen on Wednesday. The family believes it was a tornado that struck the foothill counties.
“Everything is just kind of leveled," Kelly Rough, Bowman’s niece, said.
Bowman’s daughter, Christa Griffin, said she is glad that her mother and no one else was hurt.
"We're just very pleased and thankful that we have so many friends and family and neighbors who stopped by and checked on my mom,” Griffin said. “It just shows that God is working through all of this."
More storm damage coverage:
- Officials to survey possible tornado in Caldwell County
- Storm damage forces area schools to close, delay opening
- Hangars damaged, small planes flipped as storms slam Hickory
- Family monitoring Channel 9 storm coverage: 'Thank you for saving our lives'
- Harsh winds peel roof off Lawndale post office in Cleveland County
- Red Cross opens shelters for families affected by storms
Several stretches of the Blue Ridge Parkway were closed because of heavy rainfall. A news release from parkway officials said several storm-related closures were still in effect Tuesday. Park engineers are assessing the site for any additional undercutting of the road and needed repairs.
Officials for Chimney Rock State Park said that the wall at the top of a parking lot fell during Monday's heavy rainfall. The statement said some debris from the collapse was washed onto a road below. The park said the section will remain closed until further notice.
[READ MORE: Part of road, wall collapse near Chimney Rock State Park]
Stone Mountain State Park in Roaring Gap, North Carolina, was also closed because of downed trees.
"You could hear it howl through downtown," Michael Parsons told WXII-TV in Winston-Salem. His jewelry store in North Wilkesboro was damaged when a nearby roof blew off.
JoAnn Perez arrived home in Shelby shortly after the storms passed to see her home pushed off its concrete slab, but her dogs and cat inside it were unharmed.
States of emergency were declared in Catawba County and the city of Hickory, where airplanes were flipped and two hangars damaged at Hickory Regional Airport.
In South Carolina, the storm crunched buildings, flipped tractor trailers, downed trees and wrecked homes in the Spartanburg area. The Highway Patrol reported approximately 20 accidents in Spartanburg County, as well as traffic light malfunctions and trees down in roadways on Monday afternoon.
Daily rainfall records were reported in Asheville and Charlotte in North Carolina, as well as the Greenville-Spartanburg area in South Carolina. Totals ranged from about 2 inches in Charlotte to more than 3.5 inches in Asheville. Streets were underwater in Asheville and Boone, and firefighters rescued drivers from flooded roads in Pickens County in western South Carolina.
No deaths have been reported from the storms. Spartanburg Regional Hospital said it had treated eight people with minor injuries.
Thousands still without power after Carolinas tornadoes
Thousands of people are still without electricity after storms that sparked at least two tornadoes swept across the Carolinas earlier this week.
Duke Energy reported nearly 29,000 customers were without service Wednesday morning.
Nearly 26,000 customers were without service in North Carolina while nearly 3,000 South Carolina customers had no electricity Wednesday morning.
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Associated Press
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