CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clean-up efforts were underway Wednesday morning following Tuesday night’s torrential rain and flash flooding which caused massive trees to topple across yards and roads throughout the Charlotte region.
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Most of the rain had wrapped up by 5 a.m., with the exception of some steady showers just north of Charlotte. Those showers could lead to more minor flooding concerns in the High Country.
Homeowners along Lake Lookout in Catawba County were keeping a close eye on the rising water levels. Duke Energy is releasing millions of gallons of water through the Oxford Dam, which feeds into the lake.
Several residents showed up on Wednesday to make sure their homes were not flooded.
Water was also flowing over the Rhodhiss Dam after water levels quickly rose there overnight.
In Gaston County, the South Fork River was cresting near Cramerton.
Conditions will dry out throughout the morning though, with a mix of clouds and sunshine by Wednesday afternoon. Rain chances for the remainder of the day are quite low.
[IMAGES: Tuesday flooding in Charlotte]
Highs will warm into the lower 70s before the next round of showers arrives on Thursday. The wet weather could last into early Friday morning.
The rain will clear out just in time for your Friday evening and weekend plans though, and temps will stay in the 70s through both Saturday and Sunday.
During a two-hour span Tuesday evening, the Charlotte Fire Department responded to nearly 40 calls, including crashes, flood rescues, downed power lines and downed trees.
No injuries were reported.
Channel 9 spotted a large tree that had fallen across a front yard along Avalon Avenue in west Charlotte, a casualty of Tuesday night’s heavy rainfall. The toppled tree had knocked out power to roughly 80 homes in the area and Duke Energy crews hoped to have it fully restored by 9 a.m.
Overnight, Eyewitness News also found a large tree down across Milton Road and Barrington Road, which is west of East WT Harris Boulevard, as well as another tree which fell across Rumple Road, near University City Boulevard.
Along Morningside Drive in Plaza Midwood, a huge tree fell across a driveway, narrowly missing the home.
In Huntersville, Gilead Road was blocked at Bud Henderson Road while crews fixed power lines that had fallen across the roadway.
Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over some of the widespread flooding throughout the area Tuesday evening.
From the air, cars were seen submerged in the floodwaters near Freedom Park and Little Sugar Creek was overflowing near CPCC.
Water was also creeping close to many homes in Myers Park.
There were reports of ponding and localized flooding throughout the area and lightning strikes ramped up during the evening.
Emergency crews performed a water rescue after a car got caught in a flooded area under an overpass on North Tryon Street outside of uptown. Reporter Joe Bruno was there and witnessed the rescue.
Everyone was OK.
BREAKING- water rescue underway on North Tryon St WSOC-TV
Posted by Joe Bruno on Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Another area hit hard by the heavy rainfall was on Monroe Road at Briar Creek Road, and Interstate 77 northbound at Brookshire Boulevard also flooded, causing a traffic nightmare for evening commuters.
Chopper 9 was over the scene and there were no road crews directing traffic or placing cones on the flooded interstate. Only one lane was passable as drivers funneled into that area. Some vehicles could be seen braving the flooded road and traveling through the high water.
I-77 Mobility Partners, which operates and maintains the work zone, said crews were sent as quickly as possible to help drivers.
Flood concerns in High Country
Some of the low water bridges in Watauga County were flooded out Tuesday morning after all the rain.
[IMAGES: April 24 flooding in the High Country]
Watauga County Communications told Channel 9 that most of the low-water bridges in the Valle Crucis portion of the county are likely flooded because the Watauga River is moving pretty quickly.
Throughout the morning Tuesday, Channel 9 watched as driver after driver had to turn around as they approached low lying bridges on the Watauga River.
A number of the bridges along the Watauga River in the Valle Crucis area were underwater because of the amount of rain that has fallen.
"I was noticing how bad the water was on my way to work and I didn't even think about this bridge being flooded like this until I pulled up to it," said Beth Hodges.
In Caldwell County, emergency services had to close Brown Mountain Beach Road at Adiko Road because Wilson Creek flooded over the roadway. Old Johns River Road was also closed at the second bridge due to flooding.
In Union County, authorities had to close Lebanon Road because torrential rain had caused a failure of the culvert carrying a tributary to Sugar Creek.
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