Month: November 2018

By Claudia Rupcich, WRAL reporter Raleigh, N.C. — A growing number of families are in need this holiday season, many because of Hurricanes Michael and Florence. According to the Salvation Army, more 7,800 families have signed up for the Angel Tree program in Wake County, which provides clothes and toys for children who otherwise may go without on Christmas. That’s 500 more angels than last year. “We actually had to host a late registration date…

Brad Weldon lost his home to fire when he was a kid, so when a deadly wildland blaze came roaring toward his ranch house in the pines where he lives with his 89-year-old blind mother, he wasn’t going to let disaster strike twice. Weldon and his mother’s caregiver, armed only with a garden hose and buckets, successfully fought the flames for 24 hours. At times, they had to lie down in the dirt to “avoid…

Volunteers in white coveralls, hard hats and masks poked through ash and debris Sunday, searching for the remains of victims of the devastating Northern California wildfire before rains forecast this week complicate their efforts. While the predicted downpours could help tamp down blazes that have killed 76 people so far, they also could wash away telltale fragments of bone, or turn loose, dry ash into a thick paste that would frustrate the search. A team…

Sunday’s pregame brunch was scheduled for the Carolina Hurricanes at 10 am and Justin Williams awoke from uneasy dreams long before that, restless thoughts leading to a restless night after a game – and a start to the season – that had gone unexpectedly sour. Williams figured he got about five hours of sleep at most after Saturday’s no-show loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the lowest point of his captaincy so far, the team’s…

Justin Williams and Micheal Ferland scored in the game’s first 30 seconds and the Carolina Hurricanes held on for a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. Curtis McElhinney made 33 saves for Carolina. Carolina’s two-goal outburst in the first half-minute is tied for fifth-fastest in NHL history. Pavel Zacha scored his second goal of the season late in the first period for New Jersey. Cory Schneider finished with 20 saves. Coming off…

In ancient times, Arab tribesmen dug diversion tunnels to protect their low-lying trading post of Petra against desert flash floods. More than two millennia later, an alarm system warns visitors if flood water rushes toward what has become Jordan’s main tourist attraction. Earlier this month, the alarms were activated for the first time, said Hussein al-Hasanat of the Petra Development & Tourism Region Authority. Sirens blared minutes before a torrent fed by heavy rains approached…

The Latest on California’s wildfires (all times local): 4:30 p.m. More than 50 people gathered at a memorial for the victims of the Northern California wildfire at a church in Chico. At least 76 bodies have been recovered in the fire zone about 170 miles north of San Francisco. At the vigil Sunday, Pastor Jesse Kearns recited a prayer for first responders as people hugged, some with tears in their eyes. “We ask for continued…

Burgaw, N.C. — It has been two months since Hurricane Florence drenched North Carolina, closing Interstates 95 and 40, cutting off many coastal communities and forcing the evacuation of thousands from their homes. Traditionally, this is a week of Thanksgiving, of family, of coming home. But for many of our neighbors, home remains unlivable, and their greatest holiday wish is for help. 42 North Carolinians died in the storm. 5,214 people and 1,067 animals had…