News

2023 goes out ... not like it came in

Flooding forced the closure of a few roads in Hendersonville Tuesday including at the intersection of Greenville Highway and White Street near the Haus Heidelberg Restaurant. [AMY B. MCCRAW/Hendersonville Lightning]

By Bill Moss, Published: December 26, 2023

An unusually dry 2023 came to an end with a weather event that's been far more the usual in recent years — heavy rain causing flooding, downed trees and blocked roads.

A power outage knocked out power to 862 homes and businesses in the Flat Rock-Zirconia and 112 more outages were reported in Mountain Home, according to Duke Energy's outage map. It was unclear whether the rainstorm or another event caused the outages. Power was restored to most customers by mid-afternoon. A rain gauge on Williams Street in downtown Hendersonville measured 6.24 inches Monday and Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The power outage in southern Henderson County might have been caused by a tree that fell at North Highland Lake Road and Greenville Highway, a dispatcher with Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said.
A call of a tree down at the intersection came in at 10:35 a.m. and while initial reports did not include powerlines, traffic lights were reportedly out immediately after the call, the dispatcher said.
An electrical fire on Merrimon Road that burned itself out was also reported at 10:38 a.m., the dispatcher said.
A firefighter at Mountain Home Fire and Rescue said the department responded to numerous reports of trees and limbs on power lines on Tuesday. He said he was unsure which incidents might have caused the power outages in the community.
Flooding closed Jackson Park on Tuesday and led to road closures at White Street and Greenville Highway, a section of Seventh Avenue and part of South King Street, emergency officials said.

The chance of rain persists until around noon Wednesday. Thursday should be mostly Sunday with a high of 51, the NWS said.