Hurricane Ian prompts Charlotte-area warning: Stay home amid pounding weekend rains

Hurricane Ian’s projected path and amount of rain in the Charlotte area change with every new forecast, Charlotte-Mecklenburg emergency officials said Wednesday. So, follow their advice and stay home, they urged.

“If you don’t have to get out in severe weather, please don’t,” Maj. Dave Johnson of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said during a news conference. “We don’t want to have to come out and rescue you from a flooded roadway.”

Charlotte could see 3-4 inches from the storm this weekend, preceded by gusty winds Thursday, said Division Chief Robert Graham of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management Office.

”Be prepared for downed trees and power lines,” Graham said.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday declared a state of emergency, in part to activate the state’s emergency operations plan and protect consumers from price gouging. The move also waives size and weight requirements for vehicles providing relief and temporarily suspends the weighing of vehicles carrying livestock, poultry or crops ready to be harvested.

2 weather systems to converge, NWS says

The first signs of Hurricane Ian in the Charlotte area could arrive as gusty winds after daylight Thursday, well ahead of this weekend’s expected deluge from the storm, a National Weather Service meteorologist agreed Wednesday.

Gusts up to 28 mph are forecast throughout Thursday in Charlotte, according to a peak wind gust map by the NWS office in Greer, South Carolina, late Tuesday.

Gusts could reach 29 mph in Rock Hill, 28 mph in Monroe and 26 mph in Concord, the map showed.

The gusts will form as two weather systems begin to converge, a strong high pressure system that was over the northeastern U.S. on Wednesday and a “very strong area of low pressure” from Ian, meteorologist Justin Lane of the NWS Greer office told The Charlotte Observer.

“The difference in the pressure between the two systems is what produces the wind gusts,” Lane said.

It typically takes gusts of at least 50 mph to topple power lines, Lane said.

The Charlotte area could see gusts strengthen to 40 mph or 45 mph late Friday afternoon and Friday night, he said. That could topple “a power line or two and some trees,” especially as Ian’s rains weaken the soil, according to Lane.

Here’s more about the hurricane and its expected impacts:

Ian’s expected rain dump

The heaviest rain is forecast to spread east to west across North Carolina beginning Friday afternoon and continuing into Saturday night, according to the North Carolina Emergency Management Office.

“The best chance of gusty winds, potential coastal flooding, and isolated tornadoes will also be during this timeframe,” the state agency said on Twitter on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, an updated rainfall prediction map from the National Hurricane Center showed uptown Charlotte and Rock Hill getting 2-4 inches, along with the area to the north and northeast of Mecklenburg County stretching to Raleigh.

Like a horseshoe ringing that Rock Hill-to-Charlotte-to-Raleigh stretch, every other part of the Carolinas could see 4 to 6 inches, the map showed. That includes the North Carolina foothills, mountains and eastern part of the state.

The storm could weaken to “extra-tropical” status by its arrival in the Carolinas, Lane said, meaning far less intense winds than a tropical depression. Tropical depressions carry winds less than 39 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Where is Ian?

At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Hurricane Ian was still battering the Florida Peninsula with catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Ian is a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, after reaching Florida as a Category 4 flirting with Category 5 status.

Two people have been reported dead in Cuba, where the storm brought down the country’s electrical grid on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

Packing 115 mph winds, down from 155 mph, the storm was about 30 miles northeast of Punta Gorda, Florida, and about 95 miles south-southwest of Orlando, National Hurricane Center officials said. The storm was moving at 8 mph.

The storm should emerge over the western Atlantic by late Thursday, turn northward on Friday and approach the northeastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts late Friday, center officials said.

CLT airport delays, cancellations

At least 91 flights were canceled between Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Florida airports by 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to FlightAware.com, a flight-tracking site. At least 100 flights scheduled for Thursday have been canceled.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other carriers are letting passengers rebook without change fees if their flights are affected by Hurricane Ian.

American, which has a hub in Charlotte, issued a travel alert for 20 airports in the western Caribbean and Florida on Monday, allowing for the no-change-fee rebookings.

American is the dominant airline at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Southwest and United also issued travel waivers for many Florida-bound passengers.

Anyone headed to CLT airport should allow extra time for dropping off or picking up passengers. The airport closed its upper-level roadway for two weeks Tuesday night so crews could begin work on a new canopy.

Drivers should expect to see safety fencing and signs directing them to the lower level for arrivals and departures, the Observer previously reported.

Speedway opens campground for evacuees

As preparations continue for the Oct. 7-9 Bank of America Roval 400, Charlotte Motor Speedway opened its Rock City Campground on Wednesday for Hurricane Ian evacuees.

The campground is behind the Hendrick Automotive dealership at 7501 Hendrick Auto Plaza NW in Concord, just off of Interstate 85.

Evacuees can use bathhouse facilities at the speedway.

Evacuees should check in at the Camping World Racing Resort office, 6600 Bruton Smith Blvd., which can be accessed at the entrance to zMAX Dragway.

After-hour arrivals should park at Rock City Campground and check in the next morning at the camping office. For more details, call 704-455-4445.

Duke Energy mobilizes 10,000 workers

Charlotte-based Duke Energy mobilized nearly 10,000 line workers, tree professionals and damage-assessment and support workers to locations in Florida this week to restore power.

Additional Duke Energy line and other workers were arriving from the Carolinas, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana and Kentucky throughout the day.

On its news website Wednesday, the company reported having “crews and resources located strategically throughout the Carolinas” as well, near areas likely to be affected by the storm. Duke Energy said additional help can be called in as needed.

“Supporting our communities is our top priority, and we have thousands of Duke Energy crew members and contractors ready to respond should outages occur,” Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy’s Carolinas storm director, said in an announcement on the site.

Charlotte forecast

Wednesday’s partly sunny skies in Charlotte are predicted to give way to clouds on Thursday, a 60% chance of heavy rain and breezy conditions Friday morning and afternoon and a 90% chance of those conditions late Friday and early Saturday, according to the NWS forecast at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Saturday has a 90% chance of showers through the morning and afternoon, a 70% chance at night and early Sunday, and a 60% chance through Sunday afternoon, the forecast showed.

The chance of showers drops to 50% late Sunday through Monday afternoon and to 40% Monday and 30% late Monday and early Tuesday, the NWS Greer office predicts.

Temperatures should continue to bounce around, from an expected high of 69 Wednesday to 70 Thursday and 63 Friday and Saturday. Then we’re expected to warm again, to a high of 66 Saturday, 65 Sunday and Monday, 67 Tuesday and 72 Wednesday, according to the NWS forecast.