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SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES: Storms slam Carolinas, leave path of destruction behind

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Strong storms moved through our area on Thursday, prompting tornado and flash flood warnings. Our expert team of meteorologists were tracking the line of severe weather that toppled trees, tore off roofs and flooded roads.

>> Scroll below for real-time social media updates

The National Weather Service will be in our area on Friday to confirm if tornadoes did indeed touch down and where. Meteorologist Jaclyn Shearer will be tagging along with them and have live updates on Eyewitness News at 5 p.m.

While the rain subsided, the threats did not. The big issue Friday morning was the flooding of our rivers and creeks. Several school districts have canceled or delayed start times for classes Friday.

The storms killed at least two people in our area and thousands of people remain without power Friday morning.

[MAP: Duke Energy power outages]

[CLICK HERE FOR THURSDAY’S STORM COVERAGE]

Areas under states of emergency:

  • Union County
  • Iredell County
  • Catawba County
  • City of Hickory

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[LIST OF CLOSINGS AND DELAYS]

Rockslide closes North Carolina highway after heavy rain

A North Carolina highway was expected to be closed during the day Friday while crews cleared debris from a rockslide that may have been triggered by heavy rain.

Removal of mud and debris from the slide began Thursday on U.S. Highway 19/74 in the Nantahala Gorge, the North Carolina Department of Transportation said in a news release.

The location of the cleanup was near Hewitts Road, which NCDOT said was a “troublesome location” that closed the highway a month ago because of a landslide.

The transportation department had set up a marked detour that was expected to add about 20 minutes to a commute.

The area experienced excessive rain and flooded streams leading to road closures, news outlets reported.

REAL-TIME SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES:

As folks around the region begin to clean up after such widespread damage, our crews will be there. Scroll below for real-time social media updates from Channel 9:

#Breaking: Woodleaf Firefighters in Rowan County rescued several people and their birds from a home surrounded by water. Gina Esposito is live there --> https://bit.ly/2v9VDf4

Posted by WSOC-TV on Friday, February 7, 2020