08/30/2005

Associated Press

Counties in western North Carolina escaped torrential rain and flooding from Hurricane Katrina, but still can expect some rain from the edges of the tropical system, a forecaster said Tuesday.

"We're not having major weather problems right now," said Scott Krentz at the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C.

Some streams could flood, and one river rose to a bridge in Hot Springs before receding, Krentz said. Some creeks in Yancey County came out of their banks and schools were closed because of the warning.

The weather service issued a flood warning for Jackson, Yancey and Haywood counties as rain fell in the region. Flood warnings for Madison and Macon counties were canceled.

The warning also said some storm systems could bring strong wind gusts — as high as 31 mph — and some trees were down. A tornado watch was issued for some counties in the region.

About 1,700 Progress Energy customers lost power in east Asheville, but it was back by 8 a.m. Some 950 customers were without power in western Asheville.

In Henderson and Polk counties, Duke Energy said 685 customers lost power.