Duke Energy investigating thousands of power outages in Charlotte area as Hurricane Ian hits Carolinas

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According to Duke Energy, crews were currently assessing repairs and damage in areas near south Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nearly 5,000 Duke Energy customers were without power in the Charlotte area as of 3 p.m. as Ian landed on the South Carolina coast, according to Duke Energy’s outage map.

According to Duke Energy, crews are currently assessing repairs and damage in areas near south Charlotte.

Duke Energy said more than 400 customers were without power in northwest Charlotte due to fallen tree limbs.

WCNC Charlotte has reached out to Duke Energy for more details on when power is expected to be restored to the various areas around town without power.

MORE NEWS: 280+ cancellations at Charlotte Douglas as Ian draws closer to Carolina coast

A Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect for Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Chester, Chesterfield, Gaston Iredell, Lancaster, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Richmond, Rowan, Stanly, Union and York counties in the Charlotte area ahead of Tropical Storm Ian. The warning is in effect until further notice.

Panovich said the rain feels more like a nor’easter than a tropical system, with Charlotte’s temperatures in the low-to-mid 50s Friday. That’s good news for the severe weather threat, which is low in the metro area. 

RELATED: Charlotte could see 50 mph wind gusts as Ian drenches the Carolinas Friday

“The storm is not going to get much stronger. If anything, it looks like a hybrid system,” Panovich said. “It’s probably more of a subtropical storm, which doesn’t really matter for impacts, but it does mean that it’s not going to get that much stronger because we don’t have thunderstorms near the center.”

Our biggest impacts locally will be gusty winds and heavy rain, mainly Friday night through Saturday morning. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced all schools are remote Friday out of an abundance of caution. CMS joined several other districts in the Charlotte area that switched to remote learning Friday due to the forecast.

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 🌩️ If you like weather, watch Brad Panovich and the WCNC Charlotte Weather Team on their YouTube channel, Weather IQ. 🎥