Month: December 2018

Carolina Hurricanes searching for answers By December 31, 2018 10:47 AM Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour addresses the problems with the power play — 0-for-23 in the past six games — after the team practice at Raleigh Center Ice on Dec. 30, 2018.

Workers are preparing a Florida hospital for demolition more than a year after it was destroyed by Hurricane Irma. Florida Hospital Oceanside spokeswoman Lindsay Cashio tells The Daytona Beach News-Journal that preparations have begun but the demolition won’t be complete until summer. The hospital on Florida’s Atlantic Coast sustained wind and water damage and one of its exterior walls was compromised by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The hospital, which sits across A1A from the…

Miami coach Mark Richt has announced he will retire, a stunning decision made after three years leading his alma mater and with five years remaining on his contract. Richt says he told Miami athletic director Blake James of his decision Sunday. He says the decision was his. Miami struggled to a 7-6 record this season, falling to Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Hurricanes have lost nine of their last 16 games going back to…

Rookie goalie MacKenzie Blackwood stopped 37 shots for his first shutout and Pavel Zacha scored short-handed as the New Jersey Devils beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 on Saturday. It was the second straight victory for Blackwood, giving the Devils their first two-game winning streak since Nov. 13-15. Andy Greene added an empty-netter to seal the win. Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves for the Hurricanes who have lost four of their last five. Zacha broke a…

Strewn in gnarled piles from Florida’s Gulf Coast up through South Georgia, the livelihood of timber farmers is on the ground. And, after the ravaging buzz saw of Hurricane Michael in early October, it will be a while until they begin to bounce back to prominence. Michael’s path carved though a part of the state where Floridians are most reliant on timber. More than 2.8 million acres of timber were damaged by Michael’s powerful 155…

Georgia’s contentious race for governor and a hurricane that ruined cotton, pecans, and other crops were among the state’s top stories of 2018. A state law requiring motorists to drive hands-free and a cyberattack on Atlanta’s computer network were also among the Top 10 stories in Georgia for the year. 2018 was also a big year in sports, with Atlanta United winning the Major League Soccer championship among the highlights. $20 for 365 Days of…

Lake Wylie is up a foot in two days, lakes upstream and downstream are spilling and it isn’t clear yet just how high waters will rise from heavy rain in this basin. On Friday morning, Duke Energy issued a new round of notifications warning residents and recreational users along Catawba River lakes to use caution. Duke manages the 11-reservoir system and uses it for power generation. The latest notifications state a major lake downstream of…

The Latest on storms and flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi (all times local): 7:15 p.m. Rain continues to fall in parts of southeastern Louisiana and south Mississippi, prompting calls for residents to avoid flooded roadways and evacuate low-lying areas. The National Weather Service has declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Mississippi including Hattiesburg, citing more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain that have fallen in the area. $20 for 365 Days of…

By Deborah Strange, WRAL Digital journalist The most memorable on WRAL.com throughout 2018 told stories of devastation, tragedy and human perception. The most viewed videos were about Hurricane Florence, which hit North Carolina in December and took homes, land and lives in its path. In one video, WRAL anchor and reporter Brad Johansen explained how he and a WRAL photojournalist, Chad Flowers, were shot at when they found a group of people raiding a Family…

Officials say no long-term water damage is expected after a sprinkler pipe broke, flooding a Fairbanks theater. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the flooding occurred last week at the Pioneer Park Centennial Center for the Arts, which contains a theater, a civic center and an art gallery. Matt Want, a DJ who was working an event at the civic center, says an alarm went off Friday night, and he noticed water pooling in a stairwell….

By Rosalia Fodera, WRAL multimedia journalist Durham, N.C. — Two families in Durham went back to their fire-damaged homes on Christmas Day to find that thieves had taken what the fire didn’t ruin. The McLean family lives in a home on Spring Creek Drive that was destroyed in a fire while they visited family in Greensboro on Christmas Eve. They said they returned home to find that their five pit bulls, who had been in…

The public schools in eastern North Carolina that did not suffer major damage from Hurricane Florence played a central role in the response and recovery in their communities serving as shelters and distribution sites. Florence revealed to our local communities and state a population of vulnerable people that is not unlike what public school teachers see every single day. Florence also revealed years of neglect to the infrastructure in many schools. As a public school…

Hurricane Florence, one of the costliest storms ever to hit the U.S., damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes when it made landfall in September. Not all of them belonged to humans. Days of wind and torrential rain snapped or toppled trees throughout the Croatan National Forest and on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, both near the coast. Among the trees felled were long leaf pines that were home to some of the forests’…

A woman who lost her home in California’s most destructive wildfire ever says she and her husband are humbled to have received pardons from Gov. Jerry Brown for old drug crimes. Heather Steels Burnett said Tuesday the pardons were bright spots in what has been a difficult period. Brown on Monday wiped away her conviction for possessing ephedrine with intent to make methamphetamine nearly 20 years after she was sentenced for the crime. The governor…

By Emmy Victor, WRAL reporter Ellerbe, N.C. — Christmas will be different this year for a Richmond County family. The McBrides traditionally celebrate the holiday at the family homestead outside Ellerbe. But the home is no more after a Dec. 8 fire. “I used to remember us getting up,” Phillip McBride said Monday. “We’d sit here waiting for the sun to come up so we can see what we got for Christmas.” McBride and several…