Month: January 2019

Gov. Roy Cooper has waded into a dispute between East Carolina University and Virginia Tech over a football game that the North Carolina team canceled for safety reasons as Hurricane Florence approached the coast last September. After ECU backed out of the game in Blacksburg, Va., Virginia Tech canceled games that were scheduled to be played in Greenville later this year, in 2023 and in 2025. Efforts to reschedule last year’s missed game failed, the…

Disaster recovery funds for victims of California’s wildfires and other natural disasters has emerged as a bargaining chip in the battle to build President Donald Trump’s border wall. Members of Congress formally launched negotiations Wednesday on a spending deal to keep the government from shutting down against on Feb. 15, a discussion that hinges on Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build a wall — “or Physical Barrier,” as he tweeted Wednesday — on the…

Florida Panhandle authorities say scam artists are targeting Hurricane Michael survivors looking for rental homes. In a statement Wednesday, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office warned that several schemes are circulating in communities trying to recover from the October storm. The sheriff’s office says that because so many people are looking for rental homes due to the hurricane, many units are being falsely listed as available for rent. When potential renters try to move into those…

By Kasey Cunningham, WRAL reporter Raleigh, N.C. — The first payments to farmers from a $240 million fund state lawmakers set up last fall to help with Hurricane Florence recovery were issued Wednesday, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said. “This money is going to go directly into the hands of farmers,” Troxler said at a news conference. “It does not make farmers whole. The damage is so deep, and we think there’s about $1.2 billion in…

A U.S. judge berated Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. on Wednesday, accusing the nation’s largest utility of enriching shareholders instead of clearing trees that can fall on its power lines and start fires and making “excuses” to avoid turning off electricity when fire risk is high. Judge William Alsup in San Francisco did not immediately order PG&E to take any of the dramatic measures he has proposed to try to stop more wildfires. But he…

By Richard Adkins, WRAL Photojournalist Raleigh, N.C. — Jim White stares at the large tree trunk lying in his Raleigh front yard and thinks about how it got there. “Well, Michael came and our big oak fell,” White says. Michael, in this case, is Hurricane Michael, which hit the Triangle area in October of 2018. The tree fell across Carroll Drive near Five Points, blocking the entire street for three days. “It surprised the heck…

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) — It’s no secret that Hurricane Florence survivors have been through a lot, but things are starting to get better for dozens of victims in Fayetteville thanks to Carolina Panther’s star Julius Peppers. “He’s been giving back in other areas but still knew that Cumberland County was the hardest hit,” said United Way of Cumberland CEO, Robert Hines. ABC11 was with Peppers back in October when he helped rebuild a Lumberton Police…

California wildland managers said Tuesday that they want to speed up logging and prescribed burns designed to slow wildfires that have devastated communities in recent years. After the deadliest and most destructive blazes in state history, officials are scrapping 12 years of efforts and starting anew on creating a single environmental review process to cover projects on private land, such as cutting back dense stands of trees and setting controlled fires to burn out thick…

The Latest on the bankruptcy filing by Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. (all times local): 4:15 p.m. Jeffrey Hammond’s family home in Northern California was destroyed in an Oct. 8, 2017, blaze that state fire investigators say started when an oak tree fell onto a Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. power line. Hammond believed the Napa County house could have been sold for $500,000, but his insurance company paid only $100,000 — the most recent…

Faced with potentially ruinous lawsuits over California’s recent wildfires, Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday in a move that could lead to higher bills for customers of the nation’s biggest utility and reduce the size of any payouts to fire victims. The Chapter 11 filing allows PG&E to continue operating while it puts its books in order. But it was seen as a glimpse of the financial toll that could lie…

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Among the boys practicing at the Raleigh IcePlex last Friday was goalie “Boom” Williams. Here’s the thing — Boom isn’t a boy. “My cousin was a beer league goalie, so he inspired me to be a goalie” Boom explained. Boom is actually Mikayla Williams. The nickname is from another sport. “I got the nickname from softball because I would always get the home run hits for the team,” Mikayla said. Raised…

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN and ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press HAVANA — Neighborhood brigades and teams of government workers hacked at fallen trees and hauled chunks of concrete out of collapsed homes Monday as the Cuban capital attempted to recover from what officials called the strongest tornado to hit Cuba in nearly 80 years. Three people were dead and hundreds injured, at least 12 in critical condition, after the tornado touched down with estimated winds of 200…

Insurance claims from California’s deadly November 2018 wildfires have topped $11.4 billion. State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Monday that more than $8 billion worth of damage comes from the fire that leveled the town of Paradise and killed 86 people. About $3 billion more is from two Southern California wildfires that ignited the same week. The $11.4 billion is just shy of the claims filed in a series of 2017 wildfires, including deadly blazes…

A Florida company accused of charging more than $37,000 to clear three trees after Hurricane Michael got shut down in North Carolina on Monday, part of an ongoing campaign against price gouging during emergencies. N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein’s office has now brought six complaints against tree-removal companies doing work since Hurricane Florence struck in September, forcing them to stop work. The latest case, against National Emergency Restoration Services, won a preliminary injunction from Wake…

The official death toll from Hurricane Florence in North Carolina rose to 43 last week, with the addition of a 55-year-old man from Carteret County who died of a heart attack in September while cleaning up after the storm. The number of storm-related deaths stood at 41 at the beginning of November. It was increased to 42 later that month when authorities realized that a 76-year-old man who died when he lost control of his…

A Florida Panhandle school district hit hard by Hurricane Michael stands to lose up to $51 million because so many students were displaced by the storm. The News Herald reports that Bay County school district officials said at a workshop last week that operational losses up to $17 million were expected for the current fiscal year, and operational losses up to $34 million were expected for the next fiscal year. Officials blamed the anticipated drop…

The Latest on Cuba’s deadly weather (all times local): 8 a.m. Leanys Calvo, a restaurant cook in Havana’s 10th of October borough, says she was working Sunday night despite heavy rain and wind when she heard a rumbling noise outside and looked out to see what appeared to be a tornado touching down. The 38-year-old says early Monday that “it was something that touched down, and then took off again. It was like a tower.”…

Cuba’s president says a tornado in eastern Havana has killed three people and injured 174 others. The Cuban capital was battered late Sunday and early Monday by powerful winds and heavy rains. A blackout hit many Havana neighborhoods around 9 p.m. Early Monday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel posted photos of himself on Twitter with rescue workers besides what appeared to be a vehicle overturned by the storm. Little further information about the storm appeared in state…

RALEIGH (WTVD) — Tyler Jacoby’s love for hockey started back in 2006, when the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup. “I’ve been a Hurricanes fan my whole life,” said Jacoby. “One day I was watching one of their games and I said ‘Hey, I want to play like them.’” Stay on top of breaking news stories with the ABC11 News App Tyler, 15, who was born with spina bifida, was determined to get on the…

Construction crews have begun more than $2 million in repairs in a southwest Georgia community two years after a deadly tornado outbreak caused heavy damage. WALB-TV reports repair work finally started on roads, sidewalks and a park in the Radium Springs community just outside Albany. The damage was inflicted by tornadoes that devastated the area on Jan. 22, 2017. The tornadoes killed 16 people in southwest Georgia and caused an estimated $2 billion in damage…

Piles of water-logged furniture show that people are still working to recover from flooding in eastern Mississippi. Mayor Cleveland Peebles says the 400-person town of Shubuta has had lots of help since heavy rains fell in December. Peebles tells WTOK-TV that churches have sent volunteers to help people clean out and repair their damaged houses. The local emergency management director, Edie Ivy, says more than 100 homes were affected. The Red Cross has provided aid,…

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The number of people killed after days of torrential rain triggered flash floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island has climbed to 59 with 25 others missing, a disaster official said Friday. Rescuers recovered more bodies as floodwaters and rainfall subsided in several areas, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman. He said 45 people died in floods and 14 others in landslides. Operators at the overwhelmed Bili Bili…

SPRING LAKE, N.C. (WTVD) — Businesses in Cumberland County are continuing to rebuild and recover after Hurricane Florence. Guns Plus is preparing to open after the Spring Lake business took in more than six feet of water during Hurricane Florence. It took the owner Chris Hatley three days to even get inside to see what was left. “Everything had just fallen apart. All of our paperwork had just melted basically so we didn’t know what…

Only you can prevent forest fires, as Smokey Bear says, and now you can help spot them, too — hopefully before they explode into California’s next devastating conflagration, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. An expanding network of cameras feeds video to the AlertWildfire.org site, where fire officials, utilities and ordinary people can keep an eye out for signs of trouble, The Marin Independent Journal reported. Each video feed has a Twitter button allowing viewers to…

Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and two assists, Nino Niederreiter scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Wednesday night. Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves for Carolina in his first NHL start. Greg McKegg and Dougie Hamilton each added a goal and an assist as the Hurricanes snapped Vancouver’s five-game point streak in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break. Sebastian Aho had two assists, and Carolina took…

The governor of an Indonesian province inundated by torrential rains says the death toll from flooding and landslides has risen to 26. South Sulawesi Gov. Nurdin Abdullah said in a TV interview Thursday that displaced people are still being evacuated. Nine districts in the province including the capital Makassar have been affected by flooding that began late Tuesday, forcing thousands to flee their homes. Adnan Purichta Ichsann, the chief of Gowa district near Makassar, has…