Work is still underway to find missing people, restore power and rebuild roadways across western North Carolina, but some of the same areas struck by Helene could be getting snow just weeks afterward.
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00:00Our top story is the recovery forecast in the southeast after Hurricanes Bilton and
00:04Helene.
00:05But before we get to that, the North Carolina Governor gave an update on recovery efforts
00:08earlier today.
00:09Governor Roy Cooper says power outages are now a little under 13,000 down from a million
00:16at the beginning.
00:18And closed roads are at 580 down from about 1,200.
00:24Some parts of the area are open and ready to welcome visitors, which is critical for
00:30the revival of Western North Carolina's economy.
00:34So if you're considering a visit to the area, consult DriveNC.gov for open roads and reach
00:42out to the community and the businesses you want to visit to see if they are welcoming
00:48visitors back yet.
00:50Governor Cooper says as of this morning, 92 people are still unaccounted for in North
00:55Carolina after Hurricane Helene's devastating impacts.
00:59However, he stresses that that number continues to change, kind of implying that some people
01:03are being found safe and well.
01:05That's not the case for everybody, though.
01:07Right now, we want to get to the latest recovery forecast in the southeast.
01:10And look at this.
01:11Here comes some rain shower action.
01:12And tonight, we're going to get cold enough for some of this to transition over to snow
01:16in the southern part of the Appalachians.
01:18We're looking at western North Carolina, eastern sections of Tennessee, far eastern Kentucky
01:23as well.
01:24An update on the schools in Florida.
01:27Pinellas County back open on Wednesday.
01:29It's a big change compared to where we've been over the past four or five school days.
01:33We did have a holiday in the rearview mirror on Monday.
01:35Now, in Hillsborough County, staff is reporting back to school tomorrow.
01:40Students will be waiting until Thursday to get back to school.
01:44But staff is coming back.
01:46Some of you in Hillsborough County may have seen school buses out today.
01:48School officials say that they sent the school buses out just to kind of do a dry run, so
01:53to speak.
01:54No pun intended, after all that rain and the flooding.
01:57But they were running their routes just to see what kind of slowdowns they may encounter
02:01ahead of Thursday's return to class.
02:04Look at that footage there on the right.
02:06That was one of these solar farms in Silver and Shores.
02:08And a tenacious tornado tore right down the spine of that, right through the middle.
02:13And some of the debris was lofted up there in the form of glass panels from those solar
02:18panels.
02:19Incredible stuff.
02:20There were 17 confirmed tornadoes so far among the storm surveys.
02:23Some of these had, well, about 20 tornado warnings for an individual cell because one
02:29or two of these moved 50 to 70-plus miles, long-track tornadoes for a tropical threat.
02:34The coastal hazards over the next few days, we're looking at coastal flooding due to stronger-than-normal
02:39high tides because of that onshore wind.
02:41Now, into the southern Appalachians.
02:42I mentioned the rain that will change over to some snow, believe it or not.
02:46Eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, above 3,000 feet tonight.
02:49Some of you in places like Boone will see an inch or two of snow.
02:53And here's AccuWeather's Wintercast.
02:54We're breaking it out for the south here in Boone, above 3,300 feet in elevation.
02:59You're looking at an inch or two of snow.
03:01Still chilly on Wednesday.
03:02Rain showers taper off.
03:03Snow showers end.
03:04Then the coldest night will come for some of you into Wednesday night, Thursday morning,
03:09with some record-challenging lows in Bluefield, Asheville, and Danville, other areas a little
03:13shy of record-challenging.
03:14But it's going to be chilly out there.