Severe thunderstorms slammed the Carolinas on Monday afternoon and evening as they sliced up the East Coast.
Flooding, violent winds and tornadoes tore through North and South Carolina, flipping tractor-trailers and small planes, breaking storefront windows and pushing at least one house off its foundation.
At least 98,000 homes and businesses lost power, forcing some schools and parks to close Tuesday.
No deaths have been reported from the storms. Spartanburg Regional Hospital said it had treated eight people with minor injuries.
The western part of North and South Carolina was slammed by severe thunderstorms on Monday afternoon and evening. Drone footage shows aerial views of the flooding and damage
Flooding, violent winds and possibly tornadoes tore through the Carolinas flipping tractor-trailers and small planes, tearing down power lines and breaking storefront windows
A photo taken in Hickory, North Carolina, shows an SUV flipped on top of another car
Planes and hangars at Hickory Regional Airport were destroyed by the storm. Hickory was one of the hardest-hit towns in North Carolina
A graphic shows different areas where storm damage has been reported in North Carolina
As many as nine tornadoes were reported in the Carolinas, leaving trails of damage, but the National Weather Service is checking to confirm those reports.
Many trees and power lines were brought down by the violent weather on Monday afternoon and evening across the western part of the states.
Small planes were flipped over and their hangars crumpled at the Hickory Regional Airport.
JoAnn Perez arrived home shortly after the storms passed to see her home pushed off its concrete slab, but her dogs and cat inside it were unharmed, in Shelby, North Carolina.
JoAnn Perez, right, hugs friend Melissa Porter in front of her damaged home in Shelby, North Carolina, that had been pushed off its foundantion by storms on Monday. Her two dogs and cats were the only occupants when the storm hit. All three pets were uninjured
A truck was crushed by a tree that was blown over by storms in Polkville, North Carolina. The driver, WIlliam Mark Fox, was on his way home to when the storm hit. Fox left the scene with no injuries, but was taken to the hospital as a precaution
Daily rainfall records were reported in Asheville and Charlotte in North Carolina, as well as the Greenville-Spartanburg area in South Carolina.
Totals ranged from about two inches in Charlotte to more than three and a half inches in Asheville.
Streets were under water in Asheville and Boone, and firefighters rescued drivers from flooded roads in Pickens County in western South Carolina.
The weather service office in Greer, South Carolina, said Tuesday morning that one crew was working to confirm tornado damage in Spartanburg and Cherokee counties in South Carolina and Cleveland County in North Carolina, while a second crew was focusing on the rest of western North Carolina.
The worst problems appeared to be in Spartanburg, South Carolina and Hickory, North Carolina.
The storms closed two state parks in North Carolina, spokeswoman Katie Hall said. Chimney Rock State Park was closed while crews dealt with damage that included a landslide.
Stone Mountain State Park in Roaring Gap, North Carolina, was also closed because of downed trees.
‘You could hear it howl through downtown,’ Michael Parsons, whose Michael’s Jewelers store in North Wilkesboro was damaged when a nearby roof blew off, told WXII News 12, the local NBC affiliate.
Rescue crews in Pickens County, South Carolina, can be seen helping a group of people who were stranded in their motor homes by the deep floodwaters
At least 98,000 homes and businesses lost power, forcing some schools and parks to close Tuesday. No deaths have been reported from the storms
Duke Energy said by late Tuesday morning, its crews were still working to restore electricity to more than 78,000 customers.
About 66,000 were without service in North Carolina and another 12,000 were powerless in South Carolina.
In South Carolina, an apparent tornado crunched buildings, flipped tractor trailers, downed trees and wrecked homes in the Spartanburg area.
The Highway Patrol reported approximately 20 accidents in Spartanburg County, as well as traffic light malfunctions and trees down in roadways Monday afternoon.
After sweeping through the Carolinas, the storms headed up the East Coast, pouring rain on New York and Connecticut on up to Maine.
A weather map shows the thunderstorm moving up through the Northeast on Tuesday
By Wednesday the storms will be downgraded to rainfall in the Northeast