Thousands without power after damage

Thousands of people are without power after major power lines were damaged in western North Carolina, Duke Energy reports.

Updated: 3:07 AM EST July 8, 2024

Breaking news. This is WYFF 4 today, breaking down barriers. How two churches in South Carolina are coming together after years of division. Plus a weekend full of outdoor markets. Showcasing some of the best in our area. Good morning. I’m Peyton Furtado. Thank you so much for joining us here on Sunday morning. If you’re. You’re getting up and getting ready to go, let’s take a look at the weather you have right now. Get ready for today. It’s our Lawrence Skycam at 73 degrees. There you see some clouds in the sky, but behind that is a beautiful blue sky. We have Sydney Sullivan in the studio with us today. Sydney, I know a lot of people are getting up and getting ready for the morning. What do they need to know to get ready? Well, we’re still looking at a pretty typical summer pattern with mild temperatures and the potential for some scattered showers and storms in the afternoon and evening. You’ll notice today that the temperatures won’t be as high as they were in the afternoon, so we’ll be feeling a little bit of relief. However, it will still be humid, so we won’t feel very comfortable, but we’ll take advantage of what we can get. Right now, it’s 74 degrees in Anderson, 75 degrees in Greenville, 73 degrees in Spartanburg, and 71 degrees in Asheville. So it’s still a mild start. Not quite as warm as some of the mornings we’ve seen the past few days, but overall, it’s still expected to be a very warm start to Sunday as we look toward dry conditions right now according to the Super Doppler Four. We have a little bit of additional cloud cover this morning, but some sunshine is starting to come in, so it sets the stage for a nice start to Sunday. If you’re trying to get out and about today, I’d say early in the day would be a good time to do it. There’s still a slight chance that you might see a spotty shower or two, but once we get into the afternoon and evening, that’s where we’ll see a better chance for more scattered showers and scattered storms. We need that rain. So that’s going to be a big help for us. It might affect your plans for Sunday. So keep a close eye on our forecast if you’re going to be out and about, as you’ll likely need an umbrella, especially in the late afternoon and evening. But later, I’ll take a closer look at our temperature trend from here and the latest storm timing. Peyton. Thanks, Sidney. Saturday, people in Corpus Christi, Texas, are boarding up their windows in anticipation of Hurricane Baril, which is expected to bring hurricane-force winds and several inches of rain. People camping on the Gulf Coast are also preparing, packing up, and moving to higher ground. Hurricane Baril has already torn through parts of the Caribbean and Mexico, killing at least nine people. Back here locally, we have some breaking news to report this morning. This is in Union where officers are investigating a shooting that left one person dead. They say it happened around 11:30 at a residence on Cottage Avenue last night. When officers arrived, they said they found a man lying in the grass who had died from a gunshot wound. The coroner says the victim’s name is Rodney Weidner. He is 34 years old. He lived at that residence. No arrests have been made at this time. The Union Department of Public Safety contacted Sled to assist with this investigation. In Pickens County, deputies are investigating after another body was found. They say they found human remains in the woods on Shivers Lane around 10:00 a.m. yesterday. Deputies tell us they received a report from people who work in the area. They say the body was found near the home of 34-year-old Justin Gaspar, who went missing earlier this year. So far, deputies say there is no sign of foul play. The coroner is working to identify these people. Anderson County deputies have also arrested one person and charged him with a stabbing. Deshawn Johnson was taken into custody on Snow Road around 715 last night. Officers say Johnson and the victim were arguing when Johnson apparently stabbed him. It happened at the Raintree Apartments on Marchbanks Boulevard yesterday morning. Officers say the stabbing was part of a domestic incident at last check. Police say the victim is in stable condition and remains in Anderson County. The Williamston Police Department is asking the public to identify this vehicle involved in a hit-and-run at a fast food restaurant. Police say the Dodge Charger struck the order box, causing $1,000 in damage at a Hardee’s restaurant on Beaver Dam and Highway 20. If anyone has information, please contact Williamston Police and Spartanburg County Deputies. Teen arrested for allegedly setting two church attendees on fire. Deputies say 18-year-old Brandon Green is accused of setting two Ford Transit vans on fire at the Philadelphia Baptist Church after deputies received a call about a suspicious person on church property who had left in a van. Green is charged with two counts of arson. Two churches on James Island, South Carolina, are breaking down racial barriers in a very real way. Reporter Sophia Radebaugh shares their stories of hope after decades of division. There are decades of history between James Island Presbyterian Church and St. James Presbyterian Church. The two churches used to be one church here. As you know, blacks and whites worshipped with African Americans on the porch and whites on the ground. But after James Island Presbyterian Church burned down, the church split, and the whites went to one of the church members’ homes, a farm. But the blacks couldn’t come. So they walked down the street and started worshipping under an oak tree in that direction, where the church still stands. The white members of James Island Presbyterian Church live, and the black members formed their own church, St. James Presbyterian Church. Since that split, the cemetery where the members of the two churches are buried has been separate for decades, separated by a fence. That’s where the barrier used to be. Well, right here. But in the past few months, the pastors of both churches, the Rev. Tricia Petrov and the Rev. Dr. Brian Henderson, decided that the barrier between the churches had to come down. The two church bodies came together. One Saturday, they took down the barrier within an hour. All the poles were gone. All the cables were cut. Now the churches are erecting peace poles where the fence once was, with words like remorse, truth, and partnership written on the poles. It’s a long list of words we think are needed to describe this relationship. Both pastors say that while the pain of the past can’t be changed, it can be a focus for healing. “When people walk by, they’ll see what has been done to foster the unity we call for in our faith,” reports Sophia Radebaugh. If you were at Travelers Rest yesterday, you wouldn’t miss the farmers market. It was a huge effort to add over 85 local vendors right off Rabbit Swamp Road. Live music and free activities. You can shop for locally sourced meats, vegetables, fruits, and more. We have bakeries, farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. We also have a really cool program called Young Entrepreneurs, so they can get really young kids from the area to come and apply to be vendors. So we have some kids selling earrings and deli plates and stickers, and they’re all under the age of 15, which is really cool. And if you missed it, don’t worry. The market is every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon throughout the month of September, and we also had another local market here in Greenville, and everyone had a great time. Check this out. It looks like fun. It had a carnival feel to it with face painting and games and cotton candy. There was also a live performance by AP and SOULFUL TUSH. Over 20 women and minority entrepreneurs had a great time, and they were all great at this event. I think it’s really important, especially for our ecosystem. Well, to make sure that those dollars are circulating in the community. We have entrepreneurs who have amazing ideas. But they’re not getting the attention that they need. So we’re acting as a catalyst to get those ideas out to people. And that was in Greenville. The school supply drive also helped some local students there in Pickens County with their annual Independence Day celebration yesterday. It was a lot of excitement and entertainment. Fun for the whole family. Our university has that in common. Red, white and blue. We love America and it’s a great thing for the community. It’s an Independence Day celebration at the Pickens Coliseum. It’s great because we live a mile away. I mean, it’s a lot of fun. There’s live music and food and rides for the kids and of course the fireworks. We chose today because a lot of people did things on the 4th and we thought, well, let’s do it on a Saturday night. And then, you know, we can take it from there and see how it goes. So it worked out really well. It’s a family event that you can’t miss. It’s so easy. You know what I mean? And all the people you couldn’t ask for better than this event attracts people of all ages. We have something for everyone. That was our JAMYA JAMYA report on that. This event was free and we were told it was the biggest crowd they’ve ever had at this point. And later this morning, we’ll continue our series with Four Ways We’re Winning for a Record, and we’ll be discussing some education. Nigel Robertson is talking with leaders from the United Way about the trajectory of Greenville County Schools and Greenville County. We have an incredible school system in Greenville County Schools that serves nearly 80,000 students. And of course, we know that about 60% of them are on free and reduced lunch, and that’s not a complete indicator of what they may be facing at home or in the community. We certainly know that our kids come to school needing more than just an education. Join us this morning at 11:30 for that full conversation about education in Greenville County.

Thousands of people are without power after major power lines were damaged in western North Carolina, Duke Energy reports.

Updated: 3:07 AM EST July 8, 2024

Update: As of 3 a.m. Monday, approximately 100 customers are still without power. Duke Energy reports thousands of customers are without power in western North Carolina. (Video above: WYFF News Channel 4 Morning Headlines) More than 3,000 customers are without power in Fletcher, North Carolina and surrounding areas. Duke Energy reports the outage is due to damaged main power lines. According to Live Super Doppler 4, severe thunderstorms passed through the area around 2-3 p.m. Sunday, July 7. Duke Energy estimates power will be restored by 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Fletcher, North Carolina —

to update: As of 3 a.m. Monday, about 100 customers were still without power.

Duke Energy Thousands of customers in western North Carolina were reported without power.

(Video above: WYFF Channel 4’s morning news headlines)

More than 3,000 customers are without power in Fletcher, North Carolina and surrounding areas.

Duke Energy said the power outage was caused by damage to main power lines.

According to Live Super Doppler 4, severe thunderstorms hit the area around 2-3 p.m. on Sunday, July 7.

Duke Energy expects power to be restored by 7:30 p.m. Sunday.