Getty An aerial view of Hurricane Irma.
Now that Hurricane Irma has come and gone through the southeastern United States, the focus turns to assessing the damage from the storm.
Irma, which made landfall in the Florida Keys on Saturday night as a Category 4 storm, left at least eight people dead in the U.S. and almost 6 million customers without electricity. There have been reports of massive damage caused by the storm — primarily in the southern Florida area — and flooding has taken its toll on some areas outside of Florida.
In Charleston County, South Carolina, residents felt the effect of a massive storm surge. The city of Charleston was placed under a flash flood warning Monday as water flooded the historic streets of the city. Also on Monday, authorities also reported the first death in S.C. when a 57-year-old man in Abbeville County was cleaning the mess of downed trees around his home and a large branch fell on top of him.
While Irma didn’t directly hit North Carolina, some areas are cleaning up the mess from strong winds and torrential rains.
One of those areas is in Charlotte, where the powerful winds tore down multiple trees and power lines on Monday. Irma was a tropical storm when it left Florida and was downgraded to a tropical depression Monday night. A wind advisory was in effect for the Charlotte area until 4 a.m. Tuesday as winds howled at speeds of 15-25 mph with gusts touching upward of 40 mph.
According to WSOC-TV 9 News, Duke Energy has reported “thousands” of power outages across the Charlotte area. Emergency crews were out in the area surveying the damage as of Tuesday, and placed red tape around downed trees and power lines. Some roads in the area were closed Tuesday as crews cleaned up the mess.
UPDATE: A look at South Blvd. which is CLOSED in both directions at East Blvd. due downed lines #cltraffic #clttraffic #clt
Here are some photos and videos of the damage caused by Irma in the Charlotte area:
Just arrived on the scene of a massive tree that fell on a home in Lancaster @wsoctv
Falling debris in Midtown on 12th near Piedmont and Juniper. #Stormwatchon2 #TrafficAlert
You can see why Oakwood Elementary is on a three hour delay in Hickory. Huge tree down with power lines right next to the school.
Homeowner tells me she was relaxing on her porch having a cigarette when her tree came falling down. Now neighborhood has no power @wsoctv
Riverside Rd in Lancaster Co is a mess- covered in debris @wsoctv
Homeowner tells me he was at Walmart when the tree came down. No injuries. The tree survived Hugo- not Irma @wsoctv
CMPD at Redbod St near Beatties Ford Rd. Street is blocked off. Duke Energy on the way @wsoctv
