BELMONT, N.C. — The Belmont Drive-In announced it will be closed until further notice due to damage caused by Wednesday's severe weather outbreak.
The theater posted the update on Facebook, saying the owners are drawing up a plan of action to raise the money for repairs. The drive-in reopened last August to much fanfare after being shut down for nearly a decade.
"We are scheming ideas for fundraiser events but until we have power and the ground dries out, there is little to nothing we can do," the drive-in posted.
A line of severe thunderstorms caused widespread damage across the Charlotte area Wednesday, including numerous reports of downed trees and power lines in Gaston County. One person died and another was injured when a tree fell on a car during the storm on South New Hope Road.
Gaston County leaders declared a state of emergency Wednesday evening as crews began cleaning up debris.
Wednesday, Thursday storm damage in the Charlotte area
Dozens of people offered their support to the Belmont Drive-In on Facebook, suggesting ideas to help raise money and fix the damage. The drive-in said it will post updates soon about fundraiser events.
"Like my Mamaw Peggy told me as a little girl, one foot in front of the other and chin up high," the post reads.
While the National Weather Service determined there were officially two separate EF1 tornadoes in Gaston County on Wednesday, damage at the drive-in movie theater appears to have been caused by severe thunderstorm winds. The second of the two tornadoes, which moved east from Gastonia to Belmont, lifted off the ground before reaching the drive in.
Across the region, the extensive reach of thunderstorm winds produced damage outside the path of the tornadoes.
Residents were pitching in to help one another on Thursday, including neighbors of the O'Connor's Grove AME Zion Church on N Main Street. A huge tree on the church's property fell during the storm and the next day a crew of good neighbors with chainsaws began chopping it up and removing it.
"I called a couple of friends of mine and asked ‘em if we could do some work for the Lord," Mike Grayson told WCNC Charlotte.
Grayson is the general manager of the car dealership next to the church. While he couldn't work at the dealership Thursday due to the ongoing power outages, he instead worked to clean up the church.
"They’ve been really, really good to us, and we try to be good to them," Grayson said.
Grayson said it's a big blessing the tree fell extremely close to the graveyard but miraculously did not damage any tombstones.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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