Tracking flood levels after Wednesday morning rain

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Heavy wind and rain pounded our area all morning long, and we tracked its every move on Eyewitness News starting at 4:30 a.m.

The storm that passed through our area is the same one that claimed several lives in the Deep South.

We've had a crew at Freedom Park monitoring Little Sugar Creek since around 4 a.m.

Within a two and a half hour time span we saw the creek rise almost two and a half feet. Along with flooding concerns, the morning downpour caused headaches for many drivers.

"I took my husband to work and it was terrible," said Isabella Arenas.

With windshield wipers on their highest speeds, drivers in the Queen City battled torrential showers for most of the morning. On "Eyewitness News Daybreak," we used our storm cam technology to track the commute.

"It was coming down real bad. I could barely see," said Daryl Walton.

City streets were hit with rain for hours; we also reported lightning strikes and wind gusts close to 40 mph.

The wet roads accounted for several accidents; two on Hwy 16 north of Interstate 485 around 5a.m.

Just a half-hour later, two other crashes were reported, one on Central Avenue at Eastway Drive and another on Interstate 85 near Bessemer City.

No serious injuries were reported, but it put a damper on many people's mornings.

"I was worried that our trash cans were going to float down the street all of the boxes and Christmas wrap are just soaking wet on our back porch," said Lori Mountcastle.

In Matthews, about 700 homes were with without power. After the storm passed it left soaked yards and sidewalks flooded.

"I was worried East Boulevard was going to be flooded but fortunately it wasn't," said Mountcastle.

The heavy rain brought concerns of standing water and flooding in local creeks.

Trouble spots we reported were mainly around bridges.

When we checked with the city we learned none of the creeks were or above flood levels.

WSOC