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The Latest on Tropical Storm Michael (all times local): 6:20 p.m. Florida Gov. Rick Scott says a tropical storm heading for the Florida Panhandle could become a Category 2 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in the middle of the week. Scott said Sunday that he had issued an order for a state of emergency for 26 counties in the Florida Panhandle and the Big Bend area. He says winds in those areas could…

NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) — Tropical Storm Michael is expected to become a hurricane before it makes landfall at the Florida Panhandle early Wednesday. The storm will weaken as it tracks toward North Carolina but will bring heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday.So, what does that mean for us? Rain chances go up Wednesday and if the current speed holds up, Thursday will to be the wettest. This could change if the storm slows down. That…

When Hurricane Florence hit, Alex Carias took shelter in his pickup truck, riding out the storm with his terrier, Gus. With their mobile home ruined, he planned on living inside the truck at least temporarily, but a social worker found them and ordered them into a shelter in nearby Morehead City. On Saturday, he and dozens of others flooded into Ann Street United Methodist Church in Beaufort, filling out paperwork for rental assistance from FEMA,…

The storm brewing in the Caribbean strengthened to become Tropical Storm Michael about noon on Sunday, and experts now expect it to develop into a hurricane that could impact the Carolinas. “Nearly all of the intensity models bring the cyclone to hurricane strength over the Gulf of Mexico in 2 to 3 days,” the 10 a.m. Sunday forecast discussion by the National Hurricane Center said. The big picture on where the storm is expected to…

Over 700 firefighters are battling a forest fire in Portugal about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Lisbon, the capital. Portugal’s civil protection agency said Sunday the fire that started overnight in a national park has forced the evacuation of 47 people and injured eight firefighters and one civilian. Firefighters on the ground are being supported by 225 vehicles and six aerial fire-fighting units. Wildfires routinely blacken large areas of forest every year in Portugal….

MEXICO CITY — A disturbance off the Central American coast is likely to grow into a tropical storm that could bring heavy rains and flooding to parts of Mexico, Cuba and then the U.S. Gulf coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Saturday. Forecasters said Tropical Storm Michael is likely to form Sunday night and could reach the Gulf coast by Wednesday. A tropical storm warning was in effect for the western tip of Cuba,…

A tropical storm was forming in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday and could reach the Carolinas by Thursday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a 5 p.m. update. “This system is expected to produce heavy rainfall and flash flooding over portions of Central America, western Cuba and the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico during the next couple of days,” the National Hurricane Center said in its update. The system could become a tropical…

TRENTON — A few days after Hurricane Florence, home and business owners in Jones County began an unpleasant task: Cleaning out soggy, smelly flooded buildings and piling their merchandise, furniture and personal belongings outside on the curb. In an ideal world, filing an insurance claim would replace what’s lost and get life back to normal in Trenton and Pollocksville, two quaint towns of about 200 people along the Trent River near New Bern. But as…

Hundreds of displaced residents remained in eastern North Carolina shelters three weeks after Hurricane Florence’s eye reached the Atlantic coast. The state emergency management office says 11 shelters counted 625 people early Friday, compared with the 22,000 people in over 100 shelters when the storm arrived. Emergency management office spokesman Keith Acree said 1,000 other people are benefiting from a government program that provides temporary housing such as hotel rooms while more permanent housing is…

SPRING LAKE, N.C. (WTVD) — Relief efforts continue across Cumberland County as many communities work to recover from Hurricane Florence. MORE: Full coverage of Hurricane Florence A long line formed outside of the Spring Lake Community Center with Florence victims waiting to receive donated food, water, clothes, and personal hygiene items. The post-hurricane relief event couldn’t have come at a better time. “Florence took my house,” said Spring Lake resident Armelle Hall. “You feel like…

Sebastian Aho and Micheal Ferland each had a goal and an assist and Curtis McElhinney — picked up off waivers three days ago — had 31 saves in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. Jordan Martinook also scored to help give Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour his first NHL win and ruin the home opener for the Blue Jackets. The 35-year-old McElhinney was signed Tuesday as a backup after…

Sebastian Aho and Micheal Ferland each had a goal and an assist and Curtis McElhinney — picked up off waivers three days ago — had 31 saves in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jacketson Friday night. Jordan Martinook also scored to help give Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour his first NHL win and ruin the home opener for the Blue Jackets. The 35-year-old McElhinney was signed Tuesday as a backup after starting…

MEXICO CITY — Forecasters are predicting that Hurricane Sergio will do an about-face in the Pacific Ocean and head back toward Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Sergio is a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph). It was nearly 1,000 miles (more than 1,500 kilometers) from the southern tip of the peninsula Friday, and the center said its “ragged eye” was “wobbling” even farther away,…

Authorities say a California wildfire that killed two firefighters and destroyed nearly a dozen buildings in Northern California was caused by a vehicle. The U.S. Forest Service on Friday said investigators determined that a hot catalytic converter ignited dry roadside vegetation. However, investigators haven’t identified the vehicle. The so-called Ferguson fire began July 13 along Highway 140 in the Sierra National Forest, about 45 minutes northeast of Fresno. It was contained in August after burning…

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