Saturday storms in Charlotte knock out power and delay flights
Severe storms that rumbled through the Charlotte area on Saturday afternoon caused 3,000 power outages, 584 flight delays and an order for fans attending the Charlotte FC game at Bank of America Stadium to “shelter on square “.
The stadium gates opened at 5.30pm, but the shelter in place remained in effect until it was got up around 6 p.m. Fans were not allowed into the bowl until an approaching storm was “within a safe distance”, officials said on Twitter.
On July 30, the team’s game against the Columbus Crew was postponed after a whirlwind 4-hour delay, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
As of 5:40 p.m., power outages dropped to around 1,000 in the Charlotte metro area, according to Duke Energy’s outage map.
At Charlotte Douglas International Airport, at least 584 flights were delayed as of 9:45 p.m., including 319 departures. About 50 flights have been canceled, according to FlightAware.com. The site tracks flights at airports across the country.
Storms across the region packed up winds of 40 mph to 60 mph and dumped hail the size of a pea to a penny, the National Weather Service office in Greer, South Carolina, posted on Twitter.
This story was originally published August 6, 2022 6:18 p.m.