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North Carolina tornado alert: List of areas impacted by power outages, flight delays and more
Strong storms moving through the Charlotte area triggered a tornado warning in nearby counties.
As strong storms moved through the Southeast on Monday, March 16, a tornado warning was issued for Cabarrus County and Mecklenburg County. Officials issued the alert as severe weather passed through the area.
The warning was issued by the National Weather Service and was set to expire at 10:15 am local time.
At the same time, a tornado watch was put in place for Anson County, Richmond County and Stanly County in North Carolina as well as Chesterfield County. The watch was scheduled to remain in effect until 2 pm local time.
A tornado watch means weather conditions are favorable for tornadoes to develop. And tornado warning is issued when a tornado has either been seen or detected by radar.
Power outages reported
According to Duke Energy’s outage map, severe thunderstorms on Monday have left hundreds of people without electricity in south Charlotte and the Shelby area.
At least 1,000 customers in the Montibello area are without power. The utility provider expects electricity to be restored by around 6 pm local time. The company said the cause of the outage is still unknown and crews are working to assess the damage and make repairs.
As of 11:20 am around more than 7,500 customers across North Carolina are without power. Around 4,000 of those outages are in the Charlotte area.
You can check Duke Energy’s outage map to see how many outages there are and how many customers are without power in the area.
Flight delays and cancellations
Severe weather moving through the Carolinas on Monday caused major travel disruption with hundreds of flights canceled at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
According to FlightAware, as of 11:30am on Monday, March 16, 354 flights were canceled and another 242 were delayed at Charlotte airport.
Around 8:30 am, a ground stop was issued through 11am with the possibility of an extension.
Total delays today at Charlotte/Douglas International: 242
Total delays within, into, or out of the United States today at Charlotte/Douglas International: 242
Total cancellations today at Charlotte/Douglas International: 357
Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today at Charlotte/Douglas International: 357
You can check the full list of cancelled and delayed flights at Flightware.
According to officials, Monday’s storms could also bring potentially damaging winds.
Severe storms continue to impact parts of North and South Carolina causing power outages and travel disruptions in several areas. Officials are monitoring the situation as strong weather moves through the region.
