Charlotte North Carolina News

Florence was downgraded from a category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 p.m. update. The storm dropped to sustained winds of 70 mph. A category 1 hurricane must have winds of at least 74 mph. The “erratic” storm made landfall Friday morning near Wrightsville Beach, as North Carolina first responders and the governor reported the first four deaths associated with the storm. Wilmington police reported that a tree…

Heavy rain is expected to bring weekend flooding to Charlotte, and it’s the city’s oldest neighborhoods that could face the highest risks. More than 2,400 properties sit in areas that the city’s storm water experts consider at the “highest risk” of flooding. Many of these properties are in floodplains that border waterways and that make a massive ring around uptown. Tim Trautman, the city’s storm water engineering and mitigation program manager, said there are floodplains…

As Hurricane Florence makes its way over the Carolinas, dumping rain that in some places is being measured in feet rather than inches, the flooding danger presented by overflowing rivers grows greater. The worst flooding will likely start Saturday night or Sunday morning, according to predictions from the National Weather Service, and will continue for at least several days. The Triangle will not be as affected as much of eastern North Carolina. “Life threatening, catastrophic…

As Hurricane Florence rumbled across the Atlantic Ocean last week, a group of North Carolina officials left an annual dam safety conference in Seattle to begin monitoring the roughly 5,700 dams across the state. They reached out to dam owners, asking that they check the integrity of their structures and lower water levels if need be. Now a group of state dam safety officials are huddled in the emergency operation center in Raleigh. They’re in…

SOUTHPORT, N.C. (KTVU) – When a hurricane begins pummeling your restaurant, there’s not much you can do other than close up shop, hunker down and pull out your iPhone 10 to document the storm. And that’s exactly what Craig Sblanks, 44, general manager of the Frying Pan restaurant and American Fish Company in Southport, N.C., did. “I did it during Matthew two years ago,” Sblanks said by phone Friday, referring to the Category 5 hurricane…

From Sandy to Maria, Irma and Harvey, David Tepper has had his share of experience with responding to devastating hurricanes. If history is any indication, the Carolinas can expect a similarly significant response from the new owner of the Carolina Panthers as Hurricane Florence ravages the coast and brings torrential rain and wind farther inland. In a statement Thursday evening, the Panthers and Tepper said they are engaging with local and state officials, as well…

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) – Apple CEO Tim Cook announced Friday his company will make a large donation to assist with Hurricane Florence relief efforts. Cook wrote in a tweet that “Apple is donating $1M to the Red Cross” to help those impacted by the powerful storm that rolled ashore in North Carolina early Friday with roaring 90 mph winds. He also asked all Apple employees in the Carolinas, and everyone in the hurricane’s path, to…

RALEIGH, NC (FOX 46 WJZY) – Dangerous conditions from Hurricane Florence have already claimed three lives, including a mother and her newborn child.  According to authorities, one person was killed in Lenoir County while plugging in a generator. The two other people, a mother and her baby, were killed in New Hanover County when a tree fell on a home. Hurricane Florence made landfall at Wrightsville Beach about 7:15 a.m. Friday as a Category 1 hurricane…

NEW BERN, N.C. – People and their pets were forced to evacuate from floodwaters as Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina on Friday. Video shows a woman in a pink raincoat carrying her rottweiler above the rising waters in New Bern, North Carolina.  Preparing for the worst, about 9,700 National Guard troops and civilians were deployed with high-water vehicles, helicopters and boats that could be used to pluck people from the floodwaters. At 2 p.m.,…

The Wilmington Police Department is reporting what it believes to be the first two fatalities in Wilmington caused by Hurricane Florence. A tree fell on a house on Mercer Avenue, killing a mother and her infant, said the department in a tweet. The father was transported to a local hospital with injuries. Identities of the victims were not released. A third person died in Pender County, according to Pender County Emergency Management Director Tom Collins….

Power outages have hit the Charlotte area as Hurricane Florence makes its way across the Carolinas and hundreds of thousands have already lost power in the eastern parts of both states. Duke reported 1,600 without power in Mecklenburg County just before 3 p.m. on Friday. Statewide, Duke reported more than 400,000 without power. Another 241,000 N.C. electric cooperative customers were also without power on Friday afternoon. Even more outages are expected as Hurricane Florence makes…

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – A  neon sign was no match for Hurricane strength winds. Video shows the sign torn apart as Hurricane Florence made landfall in Jacksonville, North Carolina Friday morning. The storm was downgraded to a category one Thursday evening, but is still packing winds of at least 85 miles per hour.  At 11 a.m., Florence was centered about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 55 miles (90 kilometers) east-northeast of…

In the face of ferocious winds that could pelt it with flying debris, French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle’s “Firebird” — the 18-foot-tall uptown sculpture covered with about 7,000 pieces of mirrored glass — might as well be a sitting duck. And so on Thursday morning, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art took steps to safeguard the rather fragile artwork from the possible effects of Hurricane Florence this weekend: It wrapped up the top portion…