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.
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