Month: August 2020

By WRAL Severe Weather Center Raleigh, N.C. — Six counties, including the Triangle are under a flash flood warning until 9 p.m. Monday. “This will likely cause some minor flooding, and it may be a little bit more noticeable in locations that tend to flood,” said WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze. WRAL meteorologist Kat Campbell said most of the rain Monday has been from Johnston County and points west. “We’ve been dryer for our eastern communities,…

By NOMAAN MERCHANT and SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press LAKE CHARLES, La. — In a matter of hours last week, Hurricane Laura tore through the tire shop Layla Winbush’s family started just under a year ago, reducing most of it to rubble and scattering hundreds of tires across the lot. The storm also damaged her home, which now reeks of mold. Federal and state officials are on the ground to help residents with home repairs and…

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana — Despite the raging winds and rain outside, leaky windows and no air conditioning or running water, nurses and other staff at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital kept their most critical baby patients safe and sound. The team of 20 stayed behind while Hurricane Laura tore through the region. They cared for 19 babies in their ICU. Some of the infants were on respirators and ventilators. Others had been born extremely premature. RELATED:…

By BRIAN MELLEY and ARON RANEN, Associated Press HEALDSBURG, Calif. — With an early harvest already underway, a wildfire a few miles west of John Bucher’s ranch added new urgency to getting his pinot noir grapes off the vine. If flames didn’t do any damage to the delicate fruit, ash and smoke certainly could. Bucher hired an extra crew, and they finished the task before dawn Wednesday in the quaint wine country destination of Healdsburg,…

By Julian Grace, WRAL anchor/reporter Samaritan’s Purse volunteers have been on cleanup duty in Louisiana. The group helped clear a path there after Hurricane Laura. Volunteers chopped up downed trees, repaired roofs and lent a helping hand. “Our goal overall is to love and help people in Jesus’ name, let them know that God loves them. We are using this storm to go see people who need help,” said Lorenzo Torres, the program manager in…

ROME — Hurricane-force winds toppled a tree Sunday during a storm in northern Italy, killing two children in a tent at a campground. The victims, sisters aged 3 and 14, died in the hospital, while another sibling was slightly injured and their parents were unharmed, Italian news reports said. Most of the other campers near Marina di Massa, a town on Tuscany’s coast, had fled the campground after storm warnings on Saturday. Winds up to…

By WRAL Severe Weather Center The severe threat forecast for North Carolina seems to be diminishing and shifting into eastern counties. The latest update now shows most of the Triangle area out of the level 2 threat for severe storms. Due to the rain that moved through on Saturday morning, the remnants of Laura and severe weather seems to be receding. However, meteorologists warn the Triangle may not be out of the woods yet and…

By GERALD HERBERT and NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press CAMERON PARISH, La. — Residents in southwestern Louisiana embarked Saturday on the epic task of clearing away felled trees, ripped-off roofs and downed power lines after Hurricane Laura tore through parts of the state. The U.S. toll from the Category 4 hurricane rose to 16 deaths, with more than half of those killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from the unsafe operation of generators. The latest deaths included…

August 29 marks the anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Waveland, Mississippi, not far from New Orleans. The powerful hurricane hit Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005. It forced a storm surge that breached a system of levees built to protect New Orleans. The storm would go on to cause significant damage to the Gulf Coast from Texas to central Florida. It would ravage New Orleans while displacing countless residents. The 13th anniversary…

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana — The destructive storm surge has receded, and the cleanup has begun from Hurricane Laura, but officials along this shattered stretch of southwestern Louisiana are warning returning residents they will face weeks without power or water amid the hot, stifling days of late summer. The U.S. toll from the Category 4 hurricane rose to 16 deaths Saturday, with more than half of those killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from the unsafe operation…

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Tropical Rainstorm Laura will pass through the mid-Atlantic today as it migrates to the east out of the Tennessee Valley. The majority of heavy rain will remain to the north over Virginia and Maryland, but a cold front building off Laura will sweep to the south into the Triangle, producing thunderstorms throughout the area. Some of these storms that pass through the region will be capable of producing damaging wind gusts…

August 29 marks the anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans. The powerful hurricane hit Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005. It forced a storm surge that breached a system of levees built to protect New Orleans. The storm would go on to cause significant damage to the Gulf Coast from Texas to central Florida. It would ravage New Orleans while displacing countless residents. The 13th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina came just…

Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005, leaving behind a trail of destruction and death in its wake. But even a decade after the costliest hurricane in U.S. history made landfall, it’s still difficult to interpret the massive impact the catastrophic storm had.Here are facts and figures on the impact and recovery of Hurricane Katrina: AP AP AP AP AP AP AP AP AP Sources: The Data Center, The University of New Orleans, National…

August 29 marks the anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans. The powerful hurricane hit Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005. It forced a storm surge that breached a system of levees built to protect New Orleans. The storm would go on to cause significant damage to the Gulf Coast from Texas to central Florida. It would ravage New Orleans while displacing countless residents. This year the anniversary comes just days after…

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Tropical Rainstorm Laura will pass through the mid-Atlantic today as it migrates to the east out of the Tennessee Valley. The majority of heavy rain will remain to the north over Virginia and Maryland, but a cold front building off Laura will sweep to the south into the Triangle, producing thunderstorms throughout the area. Some of these storms that pass through the region will be capable of producing damaging wind gusts…

By WRAL Severe Weather Center Starting at noon, eastern North Carolina is under a Level 2 risk for severe weather and the rest of the state is under a Level 1 risk for severe weather. We could see heavy rain, 40 to 50 mph wind gusts and isolated tornadoes Saturday afternoon. The severe weather risk is in place because of a cold front that is rolling in, which Hurricane Laura’s remnants are bringing us. The…

By WRAL Severe Weather Center Starting at noon, eastern North Carolina is under a Level 2 risk for severe weather and the rest of the state is under a Level 1 risk for severe weather. We could see heavy rain, 40 to 50 mph wind gusts and isolated tornadoes Saturday afternoon. The severe weather risk is in place because of a cold front that is rolling in, which Hurricane Laura’s remnants are bringing us. The…

By WRAL Severe Weather Center Eastern parts of North Carolina are under a Level 2 risk for severe weather on Saturday, and the entire state is under a Level 1 risk for severe weather. We could see heavy rain, 40 to 50 mph wind gusts and isolated tornadoes on Saturday because of the storm. The severe weather risk is in place because of a cold front that is rolling in, which Hurricane Laura’s remnants are…