Flash flood warnings issued in Mecklenburg, surrounding counties

Flash flood warnings have been issued for most counties in the Charlotte region Thursday morning due to Tropical Storm Debby with many of those lasting into the early afternoon. Southeastern North Carolina has seen some of the worst of the storm with double-digit rain totals already. Will Ray is North Carolina’s Director of Emergency Management. He says all 17 water rescue crews are in position.

"The large majority of our teams are located either forward deployed into counties that that may be planning for significant flooding or staged at a regional location. Same with the teams in our central branch right now with the rainfall that we're seeing again. I would also remind folks that we are seeing this is going to be a statewide impact so very much there are western parts of the state that are also looking at and evaluating some of these flooding threats," he said.

State officials warn that flooding could still occur after the rain ends, impacting the region into the weekend.

Power outages were spiking on Wednesday in the region as well. Duke Energy shows nearly 20,000 customers without power in Mecklenburg County, 10,000 in Gaston County, 3,500 in Rowan County, 2,700 in Cabarrus County, 2,200 in Union County and 1,200 in Iredell County.

Charlotte Douglas Airport shows 60 flights delayed and nine canceled so far this morning

While rain is swamping much of the state, it may not last quite as long as expected according to Aaron Swiggett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh. He says Debby will pick up speed as it moves inland to the north.

"It may actually be a blessing that it's going to start increase its speed as it moves over top of central North Carolina. That will then not allow those heavy rain rates to stay over one location for too long.]

Rain is forecast for most of Thursday, heavy at times, with thunderstorms in the afternoon with winds approaching 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.