entire area from south of the county in chesterfield to the north, didn't see any damage. one other concern this afternoon, some viewers were concerned about the schools letting out because the tornado warning happened at the time schools were getting out. they were concerned some students were being put on buses at the time the warning was issued but i got off the phone with the school district and they told me all procedures were followed. that students that were not let out of school were taken to center hallways and everything was stopped and they weren't allowed to leave. and some students on buses followed the normal procedure which is to continue on their route and to be alert to dangerous conditions. and by the way, they said all the schools that were under the tornado warning were issued weather radios to follow the forecast as well. live from chesterfield county, greg suskin, channel 9 eyewitness news. we turn to eyewitness news anchor brittney johnson who has been surveying the damage across charlotte and she's live

>> reporter: this is one of many areas across town where heavy winds knocked down massive trees. check out the root of that tree. road. this is edge hill drive. we watched as crews wrapped up trying to clear this tree. minutes. but they had been here for about four hours. we talked to homeowners and neighbors across charlotte. a tree fell on a condo in the will more area. it caused so much damage inside, that structure has been deemed unsafe. we saw crews working to clear a tree that fell on a vintage seen power outages, two gas leeks, and trees down within a three block radius. a nearby homeowner told us the impact knocked down one of the trees in her yard and damaged her fence and she described the moment it happened.

he started barking. we heard a loud rustling. it wasn't even a boom. it was a big rustling. this. >> reporter: you can see that area right there where that tape is still blocked off. damage occurred. she told us that a woman was driving and got right in front of that area before the tree fell. thankfully she was not hurt but crews told us people need to watch out because as long as the ground is saturated they need to look out for leaning trees because that could happen again and cmpd is asking people to watch out for downed power lines. live in south charlotte, brittney johnson, channel 9 eyewitness news. protons this tree closed down two ramps and the right lane of 277 outer near the carson

expects the lanes to reopen around 6:00 tonight. wind gusts brought down trees in the foothills. eyewitness news reporter dave faherty spoke with one couple who was inside their home when a tree came down on their roof. dave? fortunately they're all right tonight. even after that line of storms moved through around the lunch time hour. we saw some very strong winds here in catawba county. let me step out of the way real quick. you can see the work ongoing now near newton where they're trying to get the lights back on after these lines came down because of a fallen tree. i was inside my live truck when the storm barreled through the foothills this morning. nearby this tree blocked one lane of interstate 40 in connelly springs. a few miles to the east in long view, paul perkins and his wife were in their kitchen when they heard a tree come down on their home. perkins had just gotten a

when it happened. we could see the damage where this tree knocked out the power. state troopers hey the road will be closed until midnight. the winds didn't let up much as we struggled to get this video this afternoon. in hildebrand, fire investigators backed out of the old school that caught fire earlier this week because of strong winds. deputies say this sink hole opened up over night and continued to grow in size while we were there. >> the wind is actually effecting some of the fire to breathe that's in there. and it's not worth putting somebody's life in jeopardy over you know the building. >> and the temperature has been a real roller coaster ride today in catawba county, we started off in the mid 40s and climbed into the 70s. but it's now fallen back about falling again. but i'm hearing in the high tonight. reporting live from catawba

i'm here in the severe weather center with meteorologist john ahrens and you're saying as the storm moves out it'll be the strong wind gusts that people need to be concerned about. the past three hours, we were tracking 60 miles per hour wind gusts in monroe. and the storm had been long gone well out towards fayetteville. and look at the wind gusts that we have right now. and i don't think they're going to be relaxing any time soon. certainly throughout tonight. it's going to be gusting up to at least 20 to 30 miles per hour. these are some of the latest numbers that we have. very strong in monroe. and even though we don't have a storm, there's no more rain to talk about, these winds are capable of knocking down these trees. we've had so much rain the past couple days. live early warning doppler 9 near the silver city community in richmond county, that area of rain moving on. no more severe weather. here's something interesting. more rain is developing on the backside of this near crowders mountain moving into gastonia.

in mcadenville and belmont. through mountain island lake showers possible between now and 6:00. you heard dave talk about it. we're going to turn on some cold air in the high country. we're mapping out how much snow we're in for in minutes. there have been scary situations across north carolina because of these storms. a mother and her three children raced to escape from this mobile home in wayne county. strong winds tore off more than half of the roof you see there. the red cross is there and using tarps to try to help seal up the mobile home. all four of them are doing okay. and they have some place else to stay tonight. in the mean time in virginia, the storms turn deadly there. authorities say two people died when the storms hit the eastern part of the state in the town of waverly. that now brings the number of people killed from these powerful storms to five. a weather team has been keeping

as the storms have been triggering tornado warnings all day. follow them on twitter, twitter,@wsoc-tvweather. schoolassignment. local towns are exploring the idea of leaving cms after complains about the district's controversial plan. john paul spoke with the mayor of matthews who says this move is all ready in motion. >> as charlotte mecklenburg schools considers the next step in the student assignment plan, the mayor of matthews is busy trying to come up with a plan of his own. >> if the goal is to redistribute the population of mecklenburg county, i can see some of the results, some of our better schools going down. i don't want that to happen. >> the mayor has all ready expressed interest. and taylor is reaching out to other towns to look at what it

>> we want to send our children and kids to local schools. >> it won't be easy to leave cms. it would require legislative action from raleigh but the exploring. he's looking at funding and facilities and what parents think. it's not a new idea. it's been looked at before. but the mayor says student assignment gives this new life. the idea is to split the towns. we did the math, around 7500 kids go to school in pineville, matthews, and mint hill, in the north it's 10,000 in davidson, cornelius, and huntersville. parents seem open to the idea. elementary. she says the plan should be district. >> i'm not opposed to keeping it together either. >> at this point the ball is rolling and the mayor says it didn't have to go this far. >> the fact that cms hasn't

home school. i think if they had done that parent's minds. that task force should be up and running over the next few weeks but this requested ground. last night a school board assignment. they're very broad goals. provide choices and equal access for all children. maximize resources to reduce over crowding. reduce schools with a high concentration of poverty, provide options for students in under performing schools and preserve and expand successful schools and programs. channel 9 asked the charlotte mecklenburg school leaders how charlotte's new nondiscrimination ordinance will impact local schools. on monday, leaders passed that controversial ordinance that's designed to protect charlotte's lgbt community. a key part of it allows people to choose which bathroom they identify with. today cms leaders sent us an

the process of reviewing the city ordinance. opponents of the nondiscrimination ordinance say it proves the importance of voting and voter turn out. when the ordinance failed last year, a coalition of lgbt groups launched their turn out campaign and they worked to put proequality candidates on city council. on monday, many of them knew going into the meeting that it would likely pass. opponents are hoping that it would motivate outraged community members to vote to have their voices heard in local elections. >> we made a strategic commitment to endorse and elect proequality candidates to city council. and we did that. >> i think it's a tremendous message for voters. and people that take the position that i take on this issue, it's a wake up call really and truly. >> voter turn out for the municipal general election was

>> this storm is now 80 miles away from charlotte. coming up, team coverage with christine rapp. condemned buildings, abandoned homes, neighbors waiting for them to be demolished. some are safety hazards. all are eye sores. then a touching story about the puppy fighting to recover after being shot 18 times.

reunion wiotional it was an emotional and adorable reunion for a man who saved a six week old puppies

two teenagers shot little brody the dog 18 times with a bb gun and threw a knife at the dog. >> eyewitness news reporter ken lemon was there for the reunion and talked to the man about how he saved that little puppy. >> brody is still recovering from that attack. but even as i feel him and look right now i can still see and feel those scars. one of his biggest steps in recovery came this morning when he got to meet the man who helped to save his life. >> they look like old friends in this picture. darrell kissing brody. the pup who survived 18 shots with a bb gun. >> for some reason, when i knew me. >> one of the owners at the hospital nursing brody back to health said the same thing. >> animals foe when someone's important to them. and that meeting, you could tell brody felt that way about darrell. 17-year-old demonte douglas

some of the bbs were lodged under the dog's skin. a young boy tried to stop the attack but couldn't. he ran to maintenance man darrell for help. >> he kept saying mr. d you have to help the puppy. >> he got there as the attackers began to throw knives at the dog. it destroyed me when i touched his head and said are you going to be all right little buddy and he looked up. i'm happy he's alive. that says a lot to me. brody is going to a good home because of him. >> that definitely saved brody's life. >> he's going to remain in the hospital for a couple days before he goes to his new home. in rock hill, ken lemon, channel 9 eyewitness news. good for brody. you can see a raw video and a slide show, pictures from today's reunion with that guy who saved brody. and for more information about

it's inside the story at wsoctv.com. the strong storm that hit the area hours ago wreaked havoc on the deep south before making it way here. it's now blamed for three deaths in louisiana and mississippi. and it produced more than two dozen tornadoes around the gulf coast. the storm wrecked this rv park in saint james parish louisiana. and in prairieville louisiana, there were people inside a golds gym when a twister ripped off the wall. >> they had about 35 people here working employees and people just working out. they had about eight kids in the daycare. definitely a scary situation. >> in pensacola florida, neighborhoods were destroyed. look at that. florida's governor has traveled there this morning trying to get a firsthand look at the damage. with all the rough weather that we saw today, we just had to show you this. it's an amazing shot that reporter dave faherty sent to us of this double rainbow this

just gorgeous. quite a sight to end the storm. john ahrens is standing by. >> this is perfect rainbow weather. the air is so tropical. when you get breaks in the clouds, the sunlight reflects. there's a lot of moisture in the atmosphere. and it shines like a prism. and you get those gorgeous colors that dave was able to capture. live early warning doppler 9. we're dealing with residual rain. the storm's long gone. you get up near baden lake. passed rich field. some of those communities. there's a couple rain drops. and maybe more steadier showers. dallas into gastonia now. back through kings mountain. also light rainfall in addition to gusty winds. these are the communities that will get involved between now and 5:30. a heads up across highland creek and maybe kannapolis later on. the top threat is the wind speeds.

continuing in charlotte and 39 miles per hour winds through lincolnton and rockingham. and even though we don't have any more storms per se, these damage. and we've had that all around. well. for that here's meteorologist christine rapp. i had the chance to be out in storm cam earlier. the wind was intense. we had gusts up to 60 miles per hour. daniel. you can see the storm. the strong winds blowing that flag straight out. we've been getting pictures and videos like this all day from our channel 9 viewers across the carolinas. rhonda sent this in. a tree leaning on her house in mooresville because the wind and heavy rain were the biggest problems from this storm. it caused a lot of trees to come down this afternoon. here's another one in mount holly. this one hit the house there. thank our viewers for sending in reports and pictures. share yours on our facebook and

parties get going later on this evening. it's going to be breezy outside with strong winds. and they're still capable of damage to the trees that are all ready weak from the rain that we've had. future cast, the strong winds need to stay around. a bad hair day today, probably tomorrow won't be better. strong winds are a high concern on our threat tracker. but the rain will not be. and the cold temperatures won't be either. although we'll start to go down as far as that goes. no more 70s. we cool off right now. in charlotte 64. 50s in the mountains. your neighborhood forecast at 55 tomorrow. but it'll be brighter. just windy. it's a different story in the high country, snow and wind. we're going to show you future cast at 5:30. the snow will get going later on tonight. we'll talk about accumulations at 5:30, your five-day forecast on wsoctv.com. it'll be breezy tomorrow even

these winds are grabbing everyone's attention. the still ahead, homes damaged and left in pieces. a close call for families right under today's storm. paying for your trash collection twice. we're asking charlotte leaders why they want to take away your service. then air bags blamed for ten deaths and more injuries. the new evidence that suggests

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newly released documents suggest takata may have known about its dangerous air bags for years. the air bags have been blamed for nine deaths. now the senate congress committee is going over internal takata documents. even after exploding air bags had killed these innocent people the company employees continued to manipulate safety testing data. some lawmakers are calling for a bigger recall. so far 30 million vehicles have all ready been recalled. we told you earlier this year investigators said a man from

takata air bag. the government says joel knight died in december after metal shrapnel hit him in his neck. we have a link to the website that allows you to check and see if your vehicle is part of that takata recall. a new pole shows the front runners who want to be president have a lot in north carolina ahead of next month's primary. the elan university pole shows that donald trump has 28% report from republicans. ted cruz came in next at 19%. and rubio at 16%. mean time hillary clinton is leading the democratics with 47% to bernie sanders 37%. north carolina voters say they 47-41. trump's big wins lately may make him seem unstoppable.

the last chance for opponents to try to slow his momentum. all new stories, channel 9 investigates hundreds of homes and buildings across charlotte sitting empty and abandoned, neighbors are fed up. >> it's an absolute mess. i can't even imagine what it looks like inside. >> the delay is leaving safety hazards and eye sores in the middle of local neighborhoods. a proposal to cut trash service to some charlotte residents, how leaders say it could save the city millions of dollars. and then damage stretches across our area tonight after powerful storms ripped through,

clean up and the close calls up and the cl tonight families across the area are out of power and homes are damaged after a powerful storm came pushing through the damage stretches from the foothills to charlotte and down to south carolina. i'm scott wickersham. and i'm alison allison we have team coverage. but first we start with eyewitness news reporter ken lemon. >> reporter: you can see how that huge tree smashed this truck. look at what it did to that car

when you pull back a little bit, you can see how big this tree is. it fell from the other side of this house on green circle. the owner of the house saw the powerful storm that flew through the neighborhood and he thought the worst was over but then strong winds followed it. he heard a tree tipping over. it started falling as he sat against a chair. it landed outside of the front door, three feet away from him. >> i feel very lucky. because if that thing had hit three foot in, it would have hit my dogs and me, and if somebody had been at the this door. >> we found damage like this throughout the county. a downed tree split a home in half. fortunately no one was home. at one point, fire departments scrambled to work 20 calls related to downed trees. they say the strong winds should continue this evening. they want to caution people to stay away interest downed power lines.

one woman almost drove right into downed power lines dangling over a road. i'm ken lemon, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> we're staying on top of power outages throughout the area, duke energy now is reporting more than 112,000 customers without power in both north and south carolina. in mecklenburg county, more than 18,000 outages. in union county, over 2,000 power outages. rutherford county, 2600. in anson county, 1500 outages. we have pictures out of south carolina of a possible funnel cloud there. we showed this picture to our meteorologists and they see rotation. authorities say they have not had any reports of storm damage. now the storms here quickly moved east and brought heavy winds and rain to raleigh and the winston salem areas. >> it sparked tornado warnings and forced unc chapel hill to