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CMPD responds to dozens of road blocks, accidents during wet commute Thursday

Thursday's commute got off to a rough start with CMPD responding to more than 40 wrecks and roadblocks across Charlotte due to slick roads caused by heavy rain.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With a large storm system dumping heavy rain on the Charlotte area, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers were called to dozens of wrecks and roadblocks Thursday morning.

By 8:10 a.m., CMPD records showed that officers responded to 54 accidents since 6:15 a.m. In addition to the wrecks, at least two trees fell in Charlotte. One of those trees shut down a section of Providence Road at Sardis Road around 7 a.m. Around 5 p.m., the outbound lanes reopened, but the inbound lanes were still shut down.

RELATED: Downed tree shuts down part of Providence Road in south Charlotte

Duke Energy reported just under 2,000 power outages in the area of Archdale Drive and Park South Station due to a downed tree or limb.

The entire Charlotte area is under a flood watch as the storm system moves through Thursday. First Warn forecaster Larry Sprinkle expected the heaviest rain to be finished by mid-morning and the remainder of the rain to be gone by around 3 p.m.

Up to two inches of rain is possible, and there could be ponding on roads in flood-prone areas. Afternoon highs will be around 40 degrees in the Charlotte area before warming up to the mid-50s for the weekend.

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