Now at 4, Hurricane Ian making landfall
in southwestern Florida within the last
hour before churning up the East Coast.
Right now, the category four storm is.
Battering floridae's. Coast.
And we are tracking Hurricane Irma's
approach to the Carolinas after leaving
that path of destruction in Florida.
You're taking a live look at Charleston.
You see the Ravenel Bridge while the
camera is shaking because of that wind.
But that is nothing compared
to what is to come.
Charleston expected to take a
direct hit from Hurricane Ian.
Thanks so much for joining us for the
news at four, we have a lot to get to.
I'm Carolyn. Brooke.
This is all happening after
what's been a devastating.
24 hours in Florida.
We've all seen the images on TV
and online showing horrific damage.
Now, one of the areas that have been
hardest hit is Santa Belle Island.
You're looking at a bridge
there that just collapsed,
leaving people stranded.
Please tell me you were recording.
And that just shows you
the power of this storm.
This is further north in Jacksonville where
that that's a sign on a shopping center.
And it just takes a tumble down.
And in the midst of all this destruction,
you're seeing moments of
overwhelming kindness.
Take a look at this one reporter in Orlando,
rescuing a nurse who was driving
through those floodwaters,
trying to get to work.
That reporter named Tony Atkins,
he carried that woman out of the high water.
On his back. Just incredible.
And even as this was downgraded
this morning to a tropical storm,
Ian, it's it's still massive.
So you're probably asking,
what am I looking at right now?
Well, this is Ian from space.
It's the view of the storm from
the International Space Station.
It shows you just how massive it is.
To prepare, we're learning that CMS
students will be at home tomorrow.
It will be a remote learning day.
Several school districts in South Carolina
will also be learning remotely tomorrow,
and that includes Fort Mill,
Rock Hill schools and also
the York School districts.
We've got a full list of all the schools
that have decided to go to remote learning.
You can find that right now on wcnc.com.
And as our area braces
for the impacts of Ian,
we are learning that more events
are now being cancelled or postponed
as a result and that includes the
Concord International Festival,
the MOO and Brew Festival and the
Autumn Jubilee in Rowan County,
Carowinds also will be closed tomorrow.
You can find a full list of all
the events being impacted by Ian.
Just go to our website,
wcnc.com chief meteorologist, Brad Panovich.
Well, Brad,
you have been in the weather center.
We've seen all the destruction
that Ian has left.
Behind what can we expect as
it heads our way?
You
know, Friday is gonna be a rough day
here with strong winds and heavy rain.
We won't see nearly the destruction
we saw in Florida, but this is still
a significant system heading our way.
It's a tropical storm right now.
It has reemerged off the
East Coast of Florida.
You could see it kind of jogging to the east.
And this is an interesting trend.
If this continues to push to the East,
this actually is better news for us
up here in the Western Carolinas,
not great news for coastal South
Carolina and North Carolina.
It is drifting to the North
NE right now at 9 miles.
Four, again, tropical storm strength,
70 mile per hour winds are much weaker.
System doesn't really look
like a hurricane right now.
It's kind of lopsided.
We've got some dry air on the on the
southern side of the system and kind
of looks more like a northeastern and
that's kind of what it's transitioning
to because the wind field is huge.
These are the tropical storm force winds.
They extend well off to the north
and east of the center and that's
what's already battering the coast
of South and North Carolina.
The winds we have today not directly
associated with the system yet.
It's more the cold front and
high pressure over us.
But as it tracks the North,
those strong winds.
That could reinter Y to a minimal
hurricane moving inland around
Charleston and then up towards
the Charlotte area as it weakens.
But it's moving quick enough that it's
going to bring those strong winds inland,
as well as the threat for heavy rain.
We are now under a tropical storm
warning basically because we expect
Tropical storm force winds 39 mph
or higher for most of tomorrow
afternoon and tomorrow night,
and that heavy rain 3 to 6 inches.
And because of the heavy rain,
you can couple that with the flash flood.
Watch for most of the Piedmont
for tomorrow up until noon.
Time on Saturday it will not
feel like a tropical system.
It'll feel like a nor'easter,
which is cold and windy.
Look at those temperatures,
mid to upper 50s with gusty winds and
heavy rain through most of tomorrow.
Coming up, though,
there's some good news.
The weekend looks better.
I'll explain why coming up in that
detailed forecast.