Union County officials assess storm damage after tornado

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — The National Weather Service is surveying damage from a possible tornado in Union County.

“Preliminary assessments indicate damage in the Porter Ridge area,” Union County Emergency Management officials said. “Additionally, there are reported power outages in the area. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.”

Channel 9′s Eli Brand was in Indian Trail Wednesday where he spotted a building off Friendly Baptist Church Road nearly destroyed by severe weather.

The walls were completely caved in and much of the things inside crushed. Trees in the yard were also snapped in half.

About half a football field away from that building, Channel 9 spotted a home under construction that was also seriously damaged.

Part of the roof almost caved in and fell over, and construction material was stuck in the trees right beside it.

Brand spoke with the owner of that home who said this is a major setback for him.

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Doug Simpson, the owner of the building that was destroyed during Wednesday’s storm, said his actual home wasn’t damaged and he’s thankful no one was hurt.

“It’s surprising. It’s kind of shocking,” Simpson said. “I’ve seen it on TV but I have never witnessed it by ourselves.”

Not too far away, on Lawyers Road, power lines were snapped by the high winds.

Schools on alert

Just across the street from where Channel 9 was in Indian Hill is Porter Ridge Middle School.

District officials said they were on alert Wednesday as severe weather moved through the area.

“We have been hearing reports about some damage near Porter Ridge campus,” Tahira Stalberte, Assistant Superintendent of Communications, said. “We are still assessing some of that at this time.”

Stalberte said there were thankfully no injuries reported and all of the county’s schools followed tornado protocols.

“I assume it’s kind of similar to what we all did in school – get in the hallways, get down, things like that,” Stalberte added. “It is important that they stay away from windows and doors and get to the inner spaces of the facility.”

Weather Impacts

Channel 9 Meteorologist Keith Monday predicted rain totals could add up quickly to close to 1″ on Wednesday.

Hundreds of flight cancellations were reported at Charlotte Douglas International Airport Wednesday morning. Just before 11 a.m., FlightAware showed 170 cancellations and 112 delays.

You can check the status of your flight, or visit your airline’s website, on FlightAware.

Traffic Team 9′s Mark Taylor monitored impacts on highways and roads across the state Wednesday. Heavy rain was expected to overwhelm storm drains and lead to minor street flooding.

A bridge engineer from the N.C. Department of Transportation dispatched a crew from Raleigh to inspect two bridges over I-85 in Gaston County after they were struck by a vehicle around 5:30 a.m.

Both the Belmont-Mt. Holly Road overpass and a train bridge sustained damage, resulting in their closure, as well as the ramp from southbound I-85 to exit 26.

The right lane of I-85 was also closed and expected to reopen before the afternoon rush hour. Thankfully, MEDIC said there were no injuries.

The severe weather moved out by midday but winds were expected to gust over 30 mph through the afternoon.

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