Latest: Heavy rain creates minor flooding, crashes on major routes in Triangle

Reports of fallen trees and crashes accompanied heavy rain falling across the Triangle on Wednesday, a WRAL Weather Alert Day. Much of the area is under a flood watch all day.

Live updates

8:50 a.m.: Traffic is at a standstill on Interstate 40 East in Raleigh after a crash near Exit 299 for Hammond Road. One person was transported to a hospital. The crash has since cleared.

8:30 a.m.: The Durham Police Department posted photos of flooding on N.C. Highway 147 near Hillandale Road, which has reduced traffic to one lane.

The post on X read: “Durham Police would like to remind people to slow down in heavy rain and never attempt to drive through flooded roads.”

A flash flood warning has been canceled for Durham and Orange counties. A new flood advisory is in effect for Granville, Vance, Warren and Franklin counties until 11:45 a.m.

7:45 a.m.: More than 1,000 customers are without power in Raleigh. Duke Energy’s outage map shows an outage impacting more than 800 customers in the area of Lake Boone Trail and Wycliff Road. Hundreds of others are without power in northwest Raleigh near Pleasant Valley Road. WRAL News is working to learn the cause of the outages.

7:15 a.m.: Four people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a crash on Western Boulevard near Ashe Avenue. According to police, a wrong-way driver hit another car head-on, and two people from each car were transported. 

6:55 a.m.: A flood advisory is in effect for Wake, Chatham, Durham and Franklin counties until 10 a.m. As much as 1.5 inches of rain have already fallen, and additional 1 to 2 inches is possible.

6:30 a.m.: Durham police are blocking Duke Street and Horton Road, where a car and a Person County EMS vehicle were involved in a crash. Another crash was reported on Western Boulevard near Hunt Drive in Raleigh.

6:15 a.m.: The heaviest rain is moving into Wake County, according to WRAL meteorologist Chris Michaels, and we’ll see the worst of the rain moving out of Durham and Orange counties. 

6 a.m.: Duke Energy’s outage map shows about 750 customers without power in Raleigh in the area of Lake Boone Trail, near UNC Rex. WRAL News has received multiple reports of downed trees. 

5:35 a.m.: The WRAL Breaking News Tracker saw a tractor-trailer that crashed on I-40 East in Durham near Davis Drive. The road was partially blocked.

5:30 a.m.: Parts of Orange County, including Hillsborough and Efland, have already seen 2 inches of rain. A flash flood warning in effect for Durham and Orange counties includes some areas hit hard by Chantal, including areas around the Eno River in Durham and East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.

5:15 a.m.: Crashes were reported on I-440 East near Wake Forest Road in Raleigh, where a man was hit by a vehicle, and on I-40 West at Harrison Avenue in Cary. WRAL News is working to learn if the crashes are weather-related.

5 a.m.: Power has been restored to hundreds of customers in the area of South Roxboro Street in Durham.  Power was restored to most by 5 a.m. A crash was reported Utility crews on Wednesday were working to repair a power outage impacting hundreds of customers in Durham.

4:45 a.m.: A flash flood warning is in effect until 7:45 a.m. for areas like Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Durham, where 1 to 2 inches of rain have fallen. An additional 1 to 2 inches are possible.

4:30 a.m.: Duke Energy’s outage map showed 650 customers without power in the area of South Roxboro Street. According to Duke Energy’s website, the outage was caused by fallen trees or limbs damaging equipment.