Tropical storm to bring wind, rain, may temporarily close fair

As Tropical Storm Ian makes its way north, Cleveland County can expect to feel effects of the storm through the course of the weekend.

After Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida Wednesday leaving flooding and destruction in its wake, it downgraded to a tropical storm that will bring wind and rain with it.

Gov. Roy Cooper issued a state of emergency Thursday, ahead of the bad weather.

According to a press release, the State Emergency Response Team activated Thursday at the State Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh and planned to move to 24-hour operations by Friday morning.

North Carolina’s price gouging law against overcharging in a state of emergency was put in effect statewide.

Trisha Palmer, meteorologist with the national weather service, said weather conditions will begin deteriorating Friday.

“Things will start going downhill a little during the day,” she said. “We'll have rain moving in, kind of a cool breezy day with highs in the lower 60s.”

Rain will begin late morning and into Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

“Heaviest rain moves out by Saturday morning, but we'll have some lingering showers off and on through the weekend,” Palmer said.

She said Thursday that they expect around four to six inches of rain over the course of the weekend, but it could be more.

In addition to heavy rain, people can expect gusts of wind.

“We are looking at some gusty winds off and on during the day Friday,” she said. “Remnants of the tropical system will be moving through the area overnight Friday night and into Saturday morning and falling apart Saturday.”

She said breezy conditions will continue into early Saturday.

Although there is some uncertainty about wind gusts, they are predicting 35 to 40 mile per hour winds.

“We want residents to be prepared for some strong wind gusts,” she said. “As it starts raining, it might be able to tap into those winds and bring those winds down with the rain and as the ground gets saturated, trees may be coming down too.”

Flash flooding is possible, and Palmer reminded people to not drive through flooded roadways or through barricades.

Perry Davis, Cleveland County emergency management director, advised people to continue to monitor the weather and be prepared.

He said Cleveland County is on the east side of the storm as it was tracking as of Thursday morning, which is not good because that's where all the wind and rain come from.

“We see the track continuing to change day by day and as of right now we’re anticipating four to six inches of rain over a 48 hour period, which is a lot of rain,” Davis said. “The wind could cause trees to fall, and sometimes power lines are impacted by that. Stay clear of any downed power lines. Leave that for the experts to deal with.”

He said people need to call their power provider for updates on outages and not 911.

Localized flooding is expected in low lying areas prone to flooding.

“My recommendation is for people to stay put,” he said. “Don't get out and travel until the storm passes and the water recedes. And take care of pets and make sure they have adequate provisions and are not left outside. Check on your elderly residents and make sure they're in good shape.”

The arrival of the storm coincides with the long awaited Cleveland County Fair and could mean the fair will be closed this weekend.

Bobby Jenks, Cleveland County fair manager, said no decision had been made Thursday as to if the fair would continue on schedule or not. He said they were waiting to see what the weather does and expected to announce a decision Friday.

One of their biggest concerns was preserving the condition of the parking lot.

“If it is bad, we would close until the rain stops and hopefully the parking lot is in better shape,” Jenks said.

The announcement will be posted to Facebook, and Jenks advised people to check social media and local news outlets for updates.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Tropical Storm Ian to bring rain, wind, may temporarily close fair