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Storm damage reported in Union County, NC
Photos shared with WCNC Charlotte show downed trees and structural damage to buildings.
INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — More than 800 Union Power Cooperative customers are without electricity after severe storms caused damage in Union County, North Carolina on Wednesday.
WCNC Charlotte viewers have informed our newsroom about storm damage near Porter Ridge High School, which is in Indian Trail. Photos shared with Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich show downed trees and an outhouse that experienced damage.
WCNC Charlotte’s Austin Walker is on the scene along Lawyers Road and Highway 106 where the storm snapped power poles and toppled power lines.
Panovich shared the photos with the National Weather Service, who said they would travel to the area later Wednesday to investigate the storm damage. There was no confirmed damage to the school itself.
The locations of the photos help show the path of the possible storm. Damage reports sent to WCNC Charlotte show a northeast path from US 74 east along roads including Unionville-Indian Trail Road West, North Rocky River Road, Popline Road and Lawyers Road.
Around 8:30 a.m., the same National Weather Service meteorologists had issued a tornado warning for Union County. At the time, a severe thunderstorm was moving through the area and was capable of producing a tornado.
The storm investigators will examine the damage Wednesday to determine if a tornado touched down, and if so, how strong the tornado was. If the damage is found to be inconsistent with tornado damage, National Weather Service storm investigators will still work to determine the strength of the thunderstorm winds that caused the damage.
Union County Schools was open Wednesday with students and staff heading to class at the time of the storms on Wednesday. Other area schools, including neighboring Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, were closed Wednesday.
The line of storms that produced the damage are moving east across the entire Carolinas. Before sunrise, the storms pushed into North Carolina and South Carolina. The storms are strengthening as they head east toward the coast.
Immediately after the storms cleared the area Wednesday morning, it was the Union County area that was reporting any of the most significant storm damage around the greater Charlotte area.