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Winter storm leaves scattered power outages and icy roads

A street in Charlotte's Oakhurst neighborhood is seen after a winter storm blew through the area on Jan. 16, 2022.
Dashiell Coleman
/
WFAE
A street in Charlotte's Oakhurst neighborhood is seen coated in sleet after a winter storm blew through the area on Jan. 16, 2022.

Sleet, rather than snow or freezing rain was the primary disruptor in the Charlotte area with Sunday’s winter storm. Duke Energy reports just over 46,000 power outages across North and South Carolina this morning. WCNC TV meteorologist Brad Panovich says those without power need to be extra careful today

“Please, if you do not have power or a heat source make sure whatever you’re using has an alternative that is safe because sometimes after the storm we end up with more injuries and fatalities because people are trying to stay warm and generate electricity. ”

Temperatures are expected to reach near 40 this afternoon.

The American Red Cross has four emergency shelters open in the area for people who need a warm place to stay due to power outages after the winter storm. Mallard Creek High School and Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte along with Hopewell High School in Huntersville and the Crews Recreation Center in Matthews are all offering shelter.

Starmed Healthcare is closing all area locations today. The company says its call center and labs will be open to keep processing results but no testing or vaccines are available today.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is in catch-up mode today with over 1,200 flights canceled in the past 24 hours, including about 300 today according to FlightAware.com.

Woody is a Charlotte native who came to WFAE from the world of NASCAR where he was host of NASCAR Today for MRN Radio as well as a pit reporter, turn announcer and host of the NASCAR Live pre race show for Cup Series races. Before that, he was a news anchor at WBT radio in Charlotte, a traffic reporter, editor of The Charlotte Observer’s University City Magazine, News/Sports Director at WEGO-AM in Concord and a Swiss Army knife in local cable television. His first job after graduating from Appalachian State University was news reporter at The Daily Independent in Kannapolis. Along the way he’s covered everything from murder trials and a national political convention to high school sports and minor league baseball.