Tropical Storm Helene has brought death and destruction as it made its way through North Carolina Friday.

4:55 pm update: A confirmed tornado in Rocky Mount has left 15 people injured, damage to 14 buildings, and overturned an 18-wheeler.

4:45 pm update:  From Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management – Duke Energy needs to move large amounts of rainwater through the Catawba River System from Lake Norman to Lake Wylie through Mountain Island Lake. Flood waters will rise rapidly, and conditions will change quickly. Prepare to evacuate the affected area. A shelter is set up for those who need a place to stay at Tuckaseegee Rec Center at 4820 Tuckaseegee Rd. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

The storm is occurring just a few weeks after eastern North Carolina saw flooding and roads washed away by heavy storms. According to the National Weather Service, the storm, at almost 700 miles across, is big and causing big problems for residents.

At a briefing this morning with North Carolina Emergency Management officials, Gov. Roy Cooper said the storm has tragically taken two lives. The first was in Catawba County, due to a motor vehicle collision on a flooded roadway, and the second was in Charlotte due to a tree falling on a home.

Life-threatening flash flooding, numerous landslides, and downed trees have caused power outage, primarily over western parts of the state.

Even though the storm will move out of the state by the end of the day, the dangerous effects will continue throughout the weekend and beyond.

“This is one of the worst storms in modern history for western North Carolina,” Cooper said. “The end of the rain is not the end of the threat.”

A severe weather threat to central and eastern North Carolina will also continue throughout the day as heavy downpours are expected, along with the possibility of tornadoes, as the storms bands continue to swing through the Carolinas.

As of 2 pm, there were over 945,000 power outages across the state. Over 290 roads are closed in western North Carolina, a number that is expected to rise.

North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray said there are currently four spots on I-40 that are closed to traffic. There has also been a landslide at the top of Old Fort Mountain that has covered all four lanes of the highway, closing it, and there are several spots on I-40 that have reporting high water conditions.

I-26 is also flooded at two locations, at Mile Marker 55 and Mile Marker 38. US 74 at I-40 is completely underwater, plus many more locations; Ray expects there will be more as conditions change rapidly.  

For the most up-to-date road conditions, people can visit drivenc.gov.

He urged people not to drive through standing water or around barricades and road-closed signs, which are there to protect people and their families.

Currently, there are 25 county, and 43 municipal states of emergency.

There have also been over 100 swiftwater rescues since the beginning of the storm.

Ray said the North Carolina State Emergency Operations Center has deployed 30 swiftwater rescue teams and added additional swiftwater rescue teams from New York, Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Michigan, in addition to five urban search and rescue teams to assist with any structural collapses that occur. FEMA has also deployed four search and rescue teams, and additional teams are being requested at this time, as well as the US Coast Guard.

Adjutant General of the North Carolina National Guard, Major General Todd Hunt, said there are 385 soldiers and airmen on duty with 131 vehicles, and those numbers are expected to grow. They are currently stationed in Asheville, Charlotte, Morganton, Concord, Burlington, Greensboro, and Rockingham. Thirteen aircraft are ready to deploy when the weather breaks, and Maryland and Connecticut will provide additional support.

He said they have high-water-type vehicles and pallet vehicles that can produce commodities and bring commodities to the affected areas. They also have some chainsaw and debris removal teams.

Ray urged the public, especially those in Western NC, to take the storm seriously and have a plan in place if local officials urge them to evacuate.

There have been evacuations in several areas, including Mountain Island Lake along the Catawba River northwest of Charlotte. Duke Energy said the lake could reach water levels of 110 feet, 10 feet above its capacity. Lake Lure, Rutherford County residents have also been ordered to evacuate as the dam’s failure appears imminent. There was also a mandatory evacuation of the Swannanoa River Valley near Asheville.

Lake James and Lake Rhodhiss, both in western North Carolina, are also above capacity.

Ray said 14 local shelters have been opened in multiple counties. For updated shelter information, people can visit readync.gov.  The website is a one-stop information center for all emergency information in North Carolina.

He also said the North Carolina Office of EMS has deployed ambulance buses, additional EMS units, and additional medical personnel to assist in sheltering operations and to support healthcare facilities, and will continue as long as needed.

Ray said they are starting to see some degradation of cell service in parts of western North Carolina, specifically Buncombe County, where people have been calling 911 and not getting a response. He said 911 centers are beginning to initiate fallback plans where unimpacted centers would be able to receive 911 calls on their behalf, and the plans in those areas are ongoing.

In addition, he said they are also working with those jurisdictions that are reporting major infrastructure impacts to get state assistance, or through some of the state’s private sector partners the ability to safely move some additional support into that area to assist with cell coverage.

Before making its way to the Tar Heel State, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a catastrophic Category 4 storm Thursday night, battering the area with winds around 140 mph. At least 22 deaths have been reported so far, including the two in North Carolina, 11 in Georgia, seven in Florida, and two in South Carolina.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect ongoing storm damage.