CHARLOTTE — This weekend’s ice storm is expected to be the most impactful ice event that Charlotte has experienced since December 2002 when falling trees and power lines knocked out power across the city.
[ ‘It was terrible’: Looking back at the ice storm of 2002 ]
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management officials are concerned because if we do see a major storm like that, it could shut down the Queen City for days.
Channel 9 covered the major weather event.
“Feel how cold it is in here?” Charlotte resident Cameron Strickland told Channel 9 in 2002. I’m staying in a hotel, right now. It’s too cold in there. We’ve got hot water but that’s about it."
It could be deja vu 24 years later.
“For those of you that were here in 2002, that was up until that time, the busiest day the Charlotte Fire Department has ever experienced,” said Chief Wike Graham, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management, on Friday.
Graham was a rookie firefighter at the time and said it was so busy they couldn’t keep track of the calls.
“I remember walking in the fire station three at three or four in the morning, and all the firefighters were laid out on the floor, because they’ve been up all night,” Graham said.
Duke Energy officials said over the past two decades, forecasting has gotten better. The electric grid and poles have been strengthened, and technology is in place that can automatically detect power outages and quickly reroute power to restore service faster.
“We’ve installed self-healing technology and that technology can automatically reroute power around a problem to restore service faster when an outage occurs,” said Jeff Brooks, Duke Energy spokesperson.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management report from 2020 found the 2002 ice storm caused $40 million worth of damage in Mecklenburg County, alone.
VIDEO: Coverage of the 2002 ice storm in Charlotte
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