Wilmington North Carolina News

11 minutes ago The photo shows flooding on Interstate 95 in Lumberton after Hurricane Florence in 2018.  (Photo: NCDOT) RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) – A federal grant awarded Monday will enable state transportation officials to create a program that better guides the agency’s use of drones when it responds to natural disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Florence. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award of a $1.1 million grant to the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division…

6 minutes ago FILE – Hannah Woodburn holds an eastern hellbender salamander near its cage, where it will stay for 48 to 60 hours after relocation, on the Watauga River near Boone, N.C., June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File) You never forget your first time seeing a giant salamander, according to Andy Hill. He was a teenager, standing thigh-high in the Watauga River outside Boone, North Carolina, casting a line on an early fall…

7 seconds ago Asheville NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The town of Asheville, known for its artists and restaurants, is a tourist destination and the economic hub of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountain communities. In September, it was devastated by flooding from Hurricane Helene. Even businesses not physically damaged suffered weeks without power and water, and Asheville was essentially closed to tourists during its busiest season. Now, besides hoping that visitors will return for the holidays,…

12 minutes ago Photo: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0/ MGN FAIRVIEW, NC (AP) — Vice President-elect JD Vance on Friday assured residents of western North Carolina still cleaning up from Hurricane Helene that they haven’t been forgotten as he surveyed storm wreckage and talked to first responders in one of his first public appearances since the election. Vance said he was visiting because the holidays are approaching and he wants to provide some comfort to those affected…

7 minutes ago Hurricane Milton (Photo: NOAA) WWAY NEWS — Saturday marks the end of the Atlantic hurricane season. The season runs from June 1st through November 30th.  The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was a somewhat busy one. The Atlantic basin saw 18 named storms, 11 of which were hurricanes, meaning the winds reached 74 mph or greater.   Five of them strengthened into major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or greater.    Five hurricanes…

6 minutes ago (AP)—The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season comes to a close Saturday, bringing to an end a season that saw 11 hurricanes compared to the average seven, and death and destruction hundreds of miles from where storms came ashore on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Meteorologists called it a “ crazy busy ” season, due in part to unusually warm ocean temperatures. Eight hurricanes made landfall, in the U.S., Bermuda, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Grenada. Here…

10 seconds ago Flooding from Helene in Asheville, NC (Photo: MGN/WGRZ-TV) (ABC NEWS) — When Angela McGee fled her home in Asheville, North Carolina, on the night of Sept. 27 to escape the ravages of Hurricane Helene, she never imagined the destruction the powerful storm would bring. McGee and four of her eight children who were with her that night grabbed essential items from their trailer near the Swannanoa River in the western part of…

9 minutes ago RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen is expected to miss at least two months because of knee surgery. The Hurricanes announced Thursday that the 35-year-old netminder will have surgery Friday with a projected recovery time of 8 to 12 weeks. That comes roughly a week after coach Rod Brind’Amour said the team had originally hoped for Andersen to be week to week but was now facing a “way longer” timeframe with…

6 minutes ago FILE – Laura Hogshead, director of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, answers questions from lawmakers about delays in the state’s hurricane recovery efforts during a hearing at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C., Dec. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum, File) RALEIGH, NC (AP) — The top official for North Carolina’s efforts to rebuild communities after natural disasters is no longer working in the position just a few days after…

22 seconds ago The official White House Christmas tree, a 20-foot Fraser fir, is seen at the Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Newland, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco) NEWLAND, NC (AP) — The Cartner family had known since last year that one of their farm’s Christmas trees would be headed to the White House this winter. But then Hurricane Helene struck, unleashing a deadly deluge across western North Carolina, including Avery County, where Cartner’s…

6 minutes ago Photo: NOAA MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Sara formed Thursday in the Caribbean Sea and was expected to cause life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides across portions of Central America, including Honduras, forecasters said. The storm was expected to stall and meander near the coast of Honduras through the weekend, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Heavy rain also is forecast for Belize, El Salvador, eastern Guatemala and western Nicaragua. The storm is…

5 minutes ago Photo: Junaluska Fire Department WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A driver has died after going around a barricade and driving off the edge of a hurricane-damaged North Carolina highway that became a symbol of Hurricane Helene’s destruction. Photos of Interstate 40 with multiple lanes washed out by Helene near the Tennessee state line drew widespread attention after the storm as the region was largely cut off by numerous road closures. Emergency workers from Tennessee…

1 hour ago WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — One brewery in Wilmington is facing an uphill battle to stock their own beer after their brewing facility in Asheville was damaged by Hurricane Helene.  Asheville-based Hi-Wire Brewing has taprooms throughout the state, including in Wilmington. The facility where the company brews their beer in Asheville’s River Arts District was left devastated by ten feet of flooding.  The company’s Wilmington location is set to host the opening for the…

13 seconds ago Photo: MGN CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire northwest of Los Angeles burned out of control for a second day Thursday after destroying dozens of homes, but officials said firefighters could get a break with fierce winds expected to subside by evening. More than 10,000 residents remained under evacuation orders as the Mountain Fire continued to threaten some 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County….

8 minutes ago Photo: NOAA HAVANA (AP) — Rafael strengthened Wednesday into a powerful Category 3 hurricane ahead of its expected landfall in western Cuba, where it was forecast to bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds and flash floods. The storm, which knocked out power and dumped rain on the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, churned past the Isle of Youth and was expected to make landfall in the coming hours on Wednesday. Even before the storm…