Storms flood Cleveland County roads, down trees

Heavy rain and some gusts of wind Tuesday closed schools and caused damage to roads around Cleveland County.

Shelby Fire & Rescue posted a photo on social media around 4 p.m. Tuesday of a large tree that fell across the road on West Warren Street directly in front of the fire truck as it was on its way back to the station.

"While returning to quarters a large tree fell into the roadway on W. Warren St. in front of the truck where it collided with the tree," the post said.

According to the post, there were no injuries.

Perry Davis, Cleveland County emergency management director, said some areas of the county got four inches of rain, damaging roadways and closing streets.

As of Tuesday afternoon, he said several roads were under water or had been washed away, including Patterson Street, North Rollingbrook Court in Kings Mountain, Marshall Wolfe Road in Shelby, Shoal Creek Church Road, Jackson White Road, Brook Forest Drive, Gin Road, Rockford Road and others.

Davis said all of the roads are closed.

"We've had several trees down at various areas of the county," he said. "There were a lot of calls for trees down across the county."

He said there was a report of a tree on a house in Lattimore but hadn't gotten confirmation yet.

With strong winds expected until 10 p.m., Davis said there could be more damage.

"Hopefully that has shifted a little bit forward the east," he said. "Hopefully we wont get as severe wind as expected."

People around the county posted photos and videos of the storm on Facebook, showing flooded roadways and creeks overflowing banks. The First Broad River near the Carl Spangler Trail was raging Tuesday afternoon, the water several feet higher than normal and carrying debris and trees downstream.

The Cleveland County School System delayed school two hours Wednesday due to road damage and potential downed trees.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Storms flood Cleveland County roads, down trees