Possible tornadoes flip planes, destroy hangars at North Carolina airport
Severe weather is threatening 30 million people across the Northeast. A powerful line of storms is expected to bring heavy rain, wind, and flooding. The system already has battered the Carolinas and parts of Virginia. Intense wind flipped planes and crumpled hangars at a small airport northwest of Charlotte.
The National Weather Service says at least nine possible tornadoes were spotted across the region, reports CBS News' DeMarco Morgan
Small planes are flipped over, cars are piled on top of each other and two hangars are destroyed at what was a fully-functioning airport on Monday. The storm sent airplanes flying out of control and into each other. Strong winds damaged buildings at the Hickory Airport burying planes and cars in mangled steel.
An amateur video showed the storm's power – bringing blinding rain and intense wind gusts. At an auto plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, tractor trailers were tossed and the building caught fire. A cluster of trees were sliced off along I-85.
"My neighbor's house over here, it knocked four five holes in her roof, knocked her whole deck off the back of her house," said one Spartanburg resident.
Many folks ventured outside to discover downed trees and power lines. Further north – in Boone, North Carolina – flash flooding swamped cars.
"Waves of water washed over the hood and stalled out," one man said.
Hickory Regional Airport is still operating, even in the midst of all the damage, but no one there was reported hurt.
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Recovery, assessment efforts continue in Hickory area after severe storm
Kevin Griffin
Oct 25, 2017 Updated 11 hrs ago
HICKORY – Emergency management officials still were assessing damage late Tuesday while crews cleared roadways in the aftermath of Monday afternoon’s severe storm.
The National Weather Service has not confirmed a tornado or tornadoes in Catawba or Burke counties as of press time, however the severe weather downed trees and created widespread power outages.
The NWS survey team from Greer, S.C., viewed damage in Cherokee and Spartanburg counties in South Carolina and said both places were hit by EF-2 tornadoes, according to The Associated Press.
A NWS survey team is present in the Hickory area and is still assessing damage.
Damage in Hickory
Two hangars at the Hickory Regional Airport were damaged by the storms.
“The airport is open and functioning and, to my knowledge, flights are not being affected,” Hickory Communications Specialist Sarah Prencipe said via email.
Several traffic lights also were out, with police officers directing traffic on U.S. Highway 321.
When traffic lights are out and there are no officials directing traffic, the North Carolina General Statutes dictates all drivers are to treat the intersection like an all-way stop.
Catawba County Communications and Marketing Director Amy McCauley said in a phone interview Tuesday evening that officials were still assessing the damage.
Both Catawba County and the City of Hickory declared states of emergency Tuesday morning.
In northwest Hickory, city crews were out late Tuesday morning attempting to remove obstructions from the roadways.
Crew leader David Sloope said the biggest challenges the crews encountered were downed power lines.
“We’ve got power lines down everywhere, and we can’t move debris knowing that the power lines are hot,” Sloope said.
When the crews encounter power lines, they must wait for Duke Energy workers to turn off the power before they can clear debris.
The crew went to a few different obstructed locations only to find they were unable to clear the trees because of downed lines.
The crew did eventually find an area they could clear, and after taking a break for lunch, Sloope and his crew returned to remove the debris.
Although the northwest part of Hickory was the “hardest hit,” there were crews working in every quadrant of the city, Sloope said.
Workers were out clearing roadways until about 1 a.m. Tuesday, at which time they had to quit because the conditions became too dark and dangerous, Sloope said.
Widespread impact
A release from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office included information about the nature of the damage in Catawba County and the surrounding counties.
“Dozens of homes,” including “many…in the Grace Chapel area,” were damaged in Caldwell County, according to the release.
The Blue Ridge Piedmont Chapter of the American Red Cross is operating a shelter at South Caldwell High School, according to a release from the chapter.
McCauley said the shelter also is open to Catawba County residents.
In Burke County, “multiple buildings...in the Hildebran area” were damaged, according to the release.
About 10 to 15 homes were affected in Alexander County as well, according to the release.
Though the overall number of power outages has been decreasing throughout the day, many in the area were still left without power heading into Tuesday night.
Severe storm slams Catawba Valley
Severe weather impacted the area late Monday afternoon causing about 40,000 power outages in Burke, Catawba, Caldwell and Alexander counties.
Photos by Robert C. Reed and Kevin Griffin/Hickory Daily Record, Ross Chandler/For the Hickory Daily Record, Jonelle Bobak and Paulette Mojica/Morganton News Herald and reader submissions.
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There were 19,005 outages in Catawba, Caldwell, Burke and Alexander counties around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, with 9,981 outages in Catawba County alone, according to the outage map on Duke Energy’s website.
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, Duke Energy reported more than 54,000 customers were still without electricity. Of that total, 46,299 were in North Carolina and 7,908 were in South Carolina, according to The Associated Press.
The projected time for restoration of power was Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for Caldwell County and Wednesday at 11:45 p.m. in Burke County.
There was still no estimated time of power restoration for Catawba and Alexander counties because the damage was still being assessed late Tuesday.
Health and safety
Prolonged power outages raise concerns about the safety of food left in refrigerators.
Food that still has ice crystals or is less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit should be safe to eat, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website.
Food should be safe if the power is out for up to 4 hours and the refrigerator door has not been opened.
For more information on food safety following power outages, visit www.foodsafety.gov/keep/index.html.
City of Hickory crews would come around as soon as they could to collect yard waste and giving the public tips on how to handle that waste, according to a release sent Tuesday.
Residents are advised to place yard waste in the open, but not in the street, and away from vehicles, storm drains and low branches and power lines.
The city asks that residents cut limbs into segments less than 6 feet in length and that all branches be arranged with their butts to the curb.
Leaves, clippings and twigs should be put in either clear plastic bags or 32-gallon cans with the lid open or removed.