Raleigh North Carolina News

By NATHAN HOWARD and SARA CLINE, Associated Press BLY, Ore. — Fierce wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are threatening Native American lands that already are struggling to conserve water and preserve traditional hunting grounds amid a historic drought in the U.S. West. Blazes in Oregon and Washington state were among some 60 large, active wildfires that have destroyed homes and burned through about 1,562 square miles (4,047 square kilometers) in a dozen mostly Western states,…

By JOHN ANTCZAK and CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Wildfires that torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states on Tuesday, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened California’s power supply. Nearly 60 wildfires tore through bone-dry timber and brush from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Arizona, Idaho and Montana accounted for more than half of the large active fires. The fires erupted as…

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press Firefighters were working in extreme temperatures across the U.S. West and struggling to contain wildfires, the largest burning in California and Oregon, as another heat wave baked the region, straining power grids. The largest wildfire of the year in California — the Beckwourth Complex — was raging along the Nevada state line and has burned about 140 square miles (362 square kilometers) as of Monday morning and state regulators asked…

By COREY WILLIAMS, Associated Press DETROIT — Massive amounts of green are being spent to find “green” ways to prevent basements, yards, streets and freeways in Detroit from flooding during heavy storms like one last month. Of $100 million pumped each year into infrastructure upgrades for the city’s aging water and sewer systems, $10 million goes toward installing detention ponds, bioswales, rain gardens and permeable pavement. Called green stormwater infrastructure, the features hold and slowly…

FORT MYERS, FL — A newly trained K-9 officer named Mercy tracked down a missing 12-year-old lost in the woods during Tropical Storm Elsa. “Reuniting a family with a lost child like that–especially in a tropical storm or hurricane and we got her home before any harm could come to her…it’s a home run for us. It’s a win,” local law enforcement officer Julio Lock said. The young girl went missing Tuesday night in Lee…

Raleigh, N.C. — Tropical Storm Elsa is finally gone. The last of the storm moved out of the WRAL viewing area Thursday night, but the storm’s impact will be felt by many for some time. Below you can read a timeline of the storm damage as Elsa moved through North Carolina: 7 p.m. Rainfall was the biggest impact from Tropical Storm Elsa across central North Carolina, WRAL meteorologist Kat Campbell said. Two to 3 inches…

By Gilbert Baez, WRAL Fayetteville reporter Hope Mills, N.C. — Tropical Storm Elsa came to North Carolina one day after Emmogene Berry-Perez did, and Berry-Perez doesn’t appreciate the welcome her fellow new arrival gave her. Berry-Perez moved to Hope Mills from New York on Wednesday. After spending her first night in the rented duplex on Middle Street, she went out to grab some coffee Thursday morning only to return to find a large branch on…

3:30 p.m. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for all of Granville, Vance and Warren counties, as well as northeastern Durham County, eastern Person County, northern Franklin County and northern Wake County until 6:30 p.m. This is in addition to another warning for the Raleigh and southern portions of Granville and Franklin counties until 5:30 p.m. Radar has recorded 2 to 3 inches of rain in the area, with abother 1…

3:10 p.m. The National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings for central Wake County, southeastern Granville County and west-central Franklin County until 5:30 p.m. Three to 5 inches have fallen in the region, and up to another 1.5 inches are expected, officials said. Flooding has closed part of the Walnut Creek Greenway in Raleigh, and rising waters have reached the underside of the bridge on Rose Lane, according to WRAL News anchor/reporter Adam Owens….

By Gilbert Baez & Adam Owens, WRAL Fayetteville reporters As Tropical Storm Elsa continued to pass through North Carolina on Thursday, the storm’s heavy rains and windy conditions toppled trees as along with it. Emmogene Perez, who had just spent her first night in her new Hope Mills home, returned to find a tree had fallen on her home. “I thought the house was on fire,” recalled Perez. “The firemen told me a tree had…

12:30 p.m. The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for southwestern Edgecombe County and northeastern Wilson County until 1 p.m. A storm near Farmville was moving north at 35 mph. WRAL meteorologists Elizabeth Gardner and Zach Maloch said radar showed debris near Farmville, suggesting a tornado may have touched down in the area. 12:15 p.m. The Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse has been evacuated because of a power outage, officials said….

12 p.m. The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for north-central Nash County and northeastern Franklin County until 12:30 p.m. A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was spotted over Nashville, moving northwest at 40 mph. “This entire area, east of the Triangle, is a place we will be watching over the next couple of hours,” WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said, noting an earlier warning had been issued for part of Wayne…

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Heavy rain and strong wind gusts associated with Tropical Storm Elsa are causing some damage across central North Carolina. The first rain drops in North Carolina fell around 5 a.m. but by 11 a.m. all of Elsa had arrived. Click here for continuing weather updates related to Elsa. So far, there have been no reports of serious injury or death in North Carolina associated with Elsa, but the storm has been…

11:30 a.m. Even after Tropical Storm Elsa moves on, some problems created by the storm’s rains could linger at the coast. North Carolina environmental officials advised people on Oak Island to be aware of floodwaters being pumped to the ocean surf there. The town has pumped water from area streets into the ocean, and officials said the floodwater could contain pollutants such as waste from wildlife and pets, oil and gasoline from parking lots and…