Severe storms that swept across the area Wednesday and overnight are blamed for one death in Gaston County, and tens of thousands remain without power Thursday morning.
Officials in Gaston County have declared a state of emergency.
All county buildings are closed Thursday as are schools in both Gaston and Cleveland counties. At least 20 in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, including several high schools, are closed for power outages (full list below).
Downed trees and power lines have hampered the efforts of emergency crews, particularly in Gaston County where Chad Brown, chairman of the Gaston County Board of Commissioners, spoke at a briefing Wednesday night. He said the storm's timing, during rush hour, made it even more dangerous.
"We're very thankful for our first responders and the way they reacted. But like I said, when you have 270,000 people running around the same time, trying to get to one place is very difficult in what we do. So we're very happy to be able to manage that," he said.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Jacqueline Morrison-Donald of York, South Carolina, was killed Wednesday when a tree hit her car on Dixon and South New Hope Roads at about 4:30 p.m. A passenger in the vehicle was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Meanwhile, Gaston Emergency Medical Services personnel helped deliver a baby during the storm, according to Chief Mark Lamphiear.
"Personally, I was on my way to that call and we got blocked by trees across the road. So someone else came to that, from an another direction. A...nd then we went on to a tree on a car. And I heard just a little bit later on the radio, they announced the time of the birth. So, we were kind of excited about that," he said.
About 31,000 Duke Energy customers were without power Thursday morning in northern Mecklenburg County and 23,000 more were out in Gaston County. The Red Cross has opened an emergency shelter at the Gastonia Adult Recreation Center at 519 West Franklin Blvd.
At Charlotte Douglas airport, 22 flights have been canceled and 52 more are delayed, according to FlightAware.com
Full list of CMS closures for Thursday:
- Albemarle Road ES
- Briarwood Academy
- Cochrane Collegiate
- Devonshire Elementary School
- Garinger HS
- Harding University High School
- Hidden Valley Elementary School
- Independence High School
- Lincoln Heights Montessori
- Merry Oaks International Academy
- Montclaire Elementary School
- Oaklawn Language Academy
- Paw Creek Elementary School
- Phillip O. Berry High School
- Rocky River High School
- Steele Creek Elementary School
- Thomasboro Academy
- Villa Heights Elementary School
- Westerly Hills Elementary School
- Wilson STEM Academy
