Overnight Storms Cause Flash Flooding, Outages In NC

NORTH CAROLINA — A line of torrential storms moving through North Carolina Tuesday evening, prompting swollen rivers and downed power lines throughout the state.

Western North Carolina, along with much of the greater Charlotte metro was under a tornado watch overnight until early Wednesday morning. A tornado watch is issued when conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes.

The tornado watch was in effect in 29 counties in the state until 2 a.m. Wednesday morning.

By daybreak, however, many in the state were still dealing with the effects of the passing storm. Wednesday morning, more than 22,000 homes remained in the dark due to power outages in western North Carolina.

"The remnants of Fred caused severe widespread flash flooding, rises on main stem rivers, landslides and multiple reports of tornadoes in portions of western NC yesterday," North Carolina Emergency Management said Wednesday morning. "Portions of western NC saw 3 to 7 inches of rainfall with locally higher amounts up to 10+ inches."

Those rain totals will likely rise by the end of the week, as scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue throughout the state, according to forecasters.

"Shower and thunderstorm chances will increase, especially across wester North Carolina, Thursday and Friday, which could lead to additional localized flooding concerns due to saturated soils," NCEM said.