before things begin to calm down. and in the mountains, we're going to see this lasting for quite a while as well. the timing will be how long it lasts in the mountains. how much it adds up. the warmup we're tracking here for the weekend. >> the impact is still being felt across charlotte. this big tree about to take down power lines. right off randolph road. that same outage has shut down the charlotte surgery center across the street. 26 surgeries had to be canceled there today and rescheduled. and the power could remain out for sometime. >> there's like a whole city block that is down. so we are on standby. they're telling us maybe tomorrow night, around 10:00 is when the earliest will be. we may be canceling more surgeries as well. >> duke said many of those are in small pockets across town. and that takes time and manpower to make repairs. we'll have more on eyewitness news, starting at 5:00.

reports of fallen trees since this morning. on this massive tree in south charlotte. eyewitness news reporter, vicki graf continues our team coverage there. vicky, what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, this massive tree fell on this home -- or in this yard, in elizabeth, around 9:00 last night. you can see this tree is in the yards. thankfully, nobody was jmpletd the tree barely scraped the front side of the house and fell on top of this car. it could have been a lot worse. we talked to one woman who was home when the tree fell on her yard. >> everyone is fine. but my car is totaled. but yeah, luckily nobody was hurt, which is wonderful. >> reporter: and megan also told me she had owners come out at this time last year to check on her yard and they said this tree was fine.

heavy rains led to 131 wind damage reports across the carolline as, including this one in elizabeth. and as you can see, it's still windy right now i was just looking at the wind gusts on our wsoctv weather app. and winds were gusting to 25 miles an hour. we expect more wind later today. could see more images of trees falling over. and what you can do to check on trees in your yard. live on channel news. >> and this blocked a major road here. we brought you live pictures of the damage on queens road, throughout daybreak. you can see how massive the roots are, sticking up out of the ground. the contractor told channel 9, the road is expected to reopen any time now. we're also seeing snow and high wind in the mountains. our coverage continues, with a

dave? >> yes, i'm getting blown country. we're getting a mixture of snow and sleet right now. we have seen wind gusts in excess of 40 miles per hour. this is a secondary road up here. it is snow-covered right now. take a look at some of this ago. this was on our trip up here. this is down in the lenore area, where you can see the strong winds, knocked out power to two schools. the district actually moved all of their food out of the high school this morning, into a warehouse because of concerns that they weren't going to get the power back on until this afternoon. here in avery county, that snow- sleet mixture has made the roads very slick. we still have -- saw the d.o.t. out, with several trucks this morning. not only plowing the road, but with salt. one put cable wires on its wheels this morning because of the slick conditions. >> it wasn't a surprise. we watched the weather and knew what we were getting into. came prepared.

and we'll continue on. we'll get going. >> reporter: and every once in a while, i get hit with one of those blasts of winds up here. i can tell you, huge temperature difference from this time yesterday, when it was nearly 30 degrees warmer. reporting live from beach mountain, i'm dave faherty, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> dave, thank you. just in the past half hour, the national weather service confirms, an ef1 tornado touched down from virginia. it is from that same storm system that slammed our area yesterday. four people, including a toddler, died yesterday in waverly. survivors say they are still shaken today as they survey the damage the. and you may be hiring someone to do storm damage to your home. action 9's jason stoogenke said, make sure you research the contractors first. make sure the person is licensed, bonded and insured. and do not pay the full price up front. jason posted a full checklist on his facebook page.

damage -- see video and damage on our web page. former president bill clinton is campaigning for his wife. he is hosting a get out the vote rally. you can see, he is speaking live now from that event. he's at the podium. this actually just started in the past 15 minutes. eyewitness news reporter greg suskin is inside there right now. this, of course, comes just two days away, from the state's democratic primary. hillary is also stepping up campaign efforts in north carolina. her campaign will open its charlotte's office tonight. mayor roberts will help celebrate that opening at 7:00. he. carolina. he's campaigning in ohio today. tonight, the republican candidates will square off in the final debate, ahead of super tuesday. donald trump has already said, he will no longer be nice to marco rubio. experts say the slew of primaries on march 1st, could be the gop's last chance to

channel 9 is dedicated to bringing you complete coverage of the election. right now, greg suskin is live, tweeting former president clinton's visit to rock hill. following all of the campaign action. charlotte will soon have to look at new candidates for city manager. current city manager, ron carly announced yesterday he will not renew his contract. we reached out to carly and city council, but no one would comment. so we took our questions to mayor jennifer roberts. she said she was surprised since leaders were in talks for him to stay on. >> expected to work through his contract, which expires at the end of next month. it is not clear if he will continue in an interim role until a new city manager is named. take a look at this. gras prices at $1.28. where we found prices -- the lowest prices we have seen in 10 years. and how long it could last. plus, we are getting a new look this midday, at how

really is this year. effective the flu vaccine really is this year. take a look at the strong wind. this is a pleasability day -- pleasant day. wind, relax for the moment in charlotte. but going to be gusting for a while. we'll talk about the dying down

of the wind tire all -- all new this midday. the cdc says the flu vaccine is much more effective this year than last year. it is 59% effective. last year, it was just 23% effective because it did not include the flu strain that made most people sick. right now, just 13 states are seeing a spike in cases, but

>> the only thing you can predict about the flu season that it's going to be unpredictable. >> experts say it is not too late to get the vaccine and say it takes 1 to 2 weeks to kick in. so far this flu season, three people have died from the flu in north carolina. last year, a record 209 people died throughout the entire flu season. in south carolina, 10 people have died since the season start in october. the states will release updated totals today. new at noon, the wild swings in the south market are not causing employers to cut jobs. 10,000 more people applied for jobless benefits last week. there are 272,000 still well below the 300,000 benchmark. it suggests employers are confident enough in the economy to hang to their workers. the jobless rate is also at an eight-year low of 4.9%. that report is not having an

dow is up 16, the nasdaq is up little change. i'm john paul, live in indian land. i want to show you something right here. $1.28 a gallon. i'm going to show you exactly where we're seeing. and how long it's been, since we had prices this low. >> i've been thinking like everybody else, why? >> the family of the suspected

now, this is a welcome site. gas price at just under $1.28 a gallon. anchor ron paul is here to show us where he tracked down that low price. john? >> how about that, stephanie? i'm pretty sure i saw a few drivers do a doubletake. this is why. $1.28 a gallon. that is cheap. i was talk to chiple a and experts there tell me they haven't seen prices like this since 2002. we watched the prices drop, along with the oil prices. since last year really. about three stations around here that i've seen have it alt $1.28 a gallon now. just up the street, it's about 1.30. and across the state line in north carolina, the $1.60. drivers will take it. they love seeing the prices down this low. >> we didn't think it was going to get below $1.50.

and now to $1.40 and now this. >> reporter: but these prices may not last very much longer. i talked to some experts who think there is a spike coming in our near future. we'll tell you why we think that here coming up tonight starting at 5:00. live in indian land, john paul, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> thank you. new at noon, the family of the michigan man, accused of killing six people, is speaking out today. >> what's important to them is remembering the people who were hurt. >> police say jason dalton shot eight people, killing six this weekend. the family's lawyer says they are as shocked as everyone else at the crime. >> he's been acting different the last couple of days. i had his wife ask him, and he said he was tired. >> what made her think that he was acting different? >> just his demeanor. he seemed depressed and down, which is not his normal character. >> the motive for the shooting

they said he was well known and well liked. police say they went after the first shooting -- dalton said his car had been sideswiped and needed to switch cars. he took their car and left. several hours later, police showed up at their house. a witness gave these weekends -- these pictures to eyewitness news reporter dave faherty. you can see smoke pouring from that home on horse rook road -- horse rock road in the community. it took several fire departments to put that fire out. a company just announced plans to invest $40 million. they want to build a facility near mid land that would create 49 jobs. our partners at the independent tribune tells us, the county has been working on a tracking company in the arrow space and automotive industries.

unveiling a new cyber crime. the state will work with south carolina to train government workers and business owners about cyber security. they're also working on adding cyber security programs in schools. hackers stole tax returns from nearly 4 million people in 2012. it also included unencrypted social security numbers. right now, p. taking to the skies. helicopter pilot are at this event. one of the original aviation unit members, officer phil hollyfield is there. that event runs through:00. meteorologist keith monday, keeping an eye on the strong winds at the house. causing a lot of issues in severe weather center 9. >> winds still blowing and causing severe snow showers here. likely, temperatures are warming up.

main streets in the mountains. secondary roads in the mountains, pretty snow covered up there. and the wind and the snow in the mountains will be with us the rest of the day today. other than a few clouds in the high country. that's all we'll see. but see the snow showers lasting well into the night for tonight. this is going to continue to add up. early tomorrow morning, we'll start to get the snow to wrap up. but i still expect travel issues. and there may be a few more leading to school delays another expected around boon. higher mountains. maybe up to 3 inches in banner elk. seeing close to 3 inches or more. at this particular event. so you will see spots of 6 inches or more we're@50 degrees or more. not that cold now but once we go into the nighttime hours.

in the mountains. late tonight more of a calm wind here. breezy to the morning. looking at more of a cold start to the day tomorrow, simply because of the wind beginning to relax. even as you head out there for this evening's plans for the tournament town. mid-40s by 9:00. as the sky will remain mostly clear. so look ahead to a beautiful evening out there. wake up tomorrow morning, around freezing here in the city of 31. 28 at hickory. lower 20s in the mountains. so there's the problem in the roadways for tomorrow morning. going to have much more of a travel issue early on friday, than we diderm for the day. snow in the mountains will end tomorrow. we all get the sunshine. still in the 50s for tomorrow and again for saturday. but sunday, not too shabby. we're back in the mid-60s. beautiful sunshine will be around all weekend long. and wind should also be pretty much a nonfactor. so stay on top of the current conditions as we head into the weekend. and of course, the latest

wc tv weather app. -- wsoc tv weather app. sunshine is going to be hanging around for the next several days. wind and warmup. going to take a couple of days. going to get back in the 50s and 60s. couple more nights to go. but this sunday is looking good for you. >> and that's more like it. that's what we like to see. all right, keith, thanks. mecklenburg county health inspectors spend every day, checking out the sanitation of local restaurants for your safety. we went through and found a long list of restaurants in the 70s with long list of violations. find out. some may surprise you, but also asking why those restaurants allowed to stay open. our investigation today at 5:00, on channel 9 eyewitness dave gedleman. the role critics say the player had in the team's super bowl

and we're taking another live look at former president bill clinton, posting a get out the rally -- the vote rally. greg suskin is there now. live tweeting the event. and of course, we will have full coverage today, starting at 5:00, on eyewitness news. >> the carolina panthers' general manager is defending the team's right tackle. many said, he did not protect cam newton as he should. but at the nfl sounding combine

pointed out, the team has won 22 of the last 25 games with rivers. he also talked about how excited he is, for wide receiver, kelvin benjamin to come back from an acl injury next season. >> taken the bull by the horns, like any other young kids. took him a couple of weeks over the whoa is me for understanding it's time to go. but he's done a great job. >> he said benjamin will be ready to go by training camp in august. and take a look at this. the charlotte hornets are giving a first look at what the scoreboard will look like next season. crews will install the $7 million board over over this. the city is pitching in over $18 million to help the team pay for upgrades over the next four years. the new scoreboard would be 180% of the current one. and will be one of the largest in the nba. tonight, people in belmont can meet the new police chief. holding a meet and greet to get

he started on the job early this month. he previously was the police chief. the meet-and-greet runs from 5:00 to 7:00 tonight. it's on chronicle street. there will be live refreshments served. new details. 32 cases of the zika virus have now been reported in florida. including three pregnant women. thethey say all were contracted outside the u.s. the mosquito- born virus is suspected of causing severe birth defects. the cdc is reporting more than a dozen reports of sexually transmitted cases. wind gusts at up to 40 miles per hour, and took down trees and power lines. one told channel 9, they were inside their house, when a tree came crashing down on it. >> i heard a loud crack. the wind was blowing all the trees over. and the tree just snapped. and all you hear was crashing. >> the strong winds also forced

back out of the old school they were inside, trying to figure out what sparked that fire but we're not in the clear just yet. >> it's really tonight when things will die down much more. we warm into the 50s. freezing tonight as the winds begin to die down. coming up into the weekend, a lot less wind and even warmer temperatures will start to return across the region. so there's a nice silver lining coming our way after we get past the last part of the storm that came through from yesterday. >> all right, keith. thank you. thanks for making channel 9 your choice for news this midday. have a great afternoon,

(phone ringing)you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise)

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