Severe storms leave thousands without power in the Charlotte area, Duke Energy says
Severe storms with hail, heavy rain and winds up to 60 mph barreled through the Charlotte region Friday and left 21,000 Duke Energy customers without power.
At least 17,000 customers in Charlotte, 3,000 in Gaston County and 1,000 in Fort Mill had no electricity at 4 p.m., the Duke Energy outages map showed. Repairs and damage assessments were underway.
A tornado warning was issued for Hickory, Newton, and Conover in Catawba County until 7:30 p.m., after radar indicated a possible tornado and pea-sized hail, according to the National Weather Service.
At 6:15 p.m., 20,000 customers were still without power, including 4,000 in Gaston County and 13,000 in Charlotte. About 2,000 of the Charlotte customers were in South End and 2,000 in the Park Road-Kenilworth Avenue areas.
Traffic lights were out in some places, such as North Graham Street and University City Boulevard in Charlotte.
Power lines were down near West Boulevard and Remount Road, a Charlotte Observer journalist reported.
At 5:40 p.m., at least 480 incoming and outgoing flights were delayed at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, according to tracking site FlightAware. Federal aviation officials issued a ground stop.
In Davidson, North and South Main streets were closed between Chairman Blake Lane and Griffith Street after power lines and large trees fell near the intersection of Concord Road, town officials said on social media at 4:30 p.m.
“All lanes of travel in this area are closed due to dangerous conditions,” officials said. “We have notified the utility company, but there is no ETA for repairs at this time.
Huntersville firefighters responded to numerous storm-related calls, “especially calls for trees down,” department officials said on social media with photos of a tree on a home in the Wynfield community. “Fortunately no injuries, but significant damage to the home.”
In Gastonia, police on social media reported “heavy rain moving through Gaston County. Please slow down and drive carefully.”
A storm warning issued by the NWS for uptown Charlotte, south Charlotte, north Mecklenburg, Concord and Kannapolis expired just before 4 p.m.
“If on or near Lake Norman, get away from the water and move indoors or inside a vehicle,” the NWS said in a storm warning bulletin. “Remember, lightning can strike out to 15 miles from the parent thunderstorm.”
This is a developing story.
Reporters Mark Price, Noah Vinsky, Desiree Mathurin and Zaire Breedlove contributed.
This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Severe storms leave thousands without power in the Charlotte area, Duke Energy says."