Raleigh North Carolina News

The National Weather Service issued a tropical storm warning for Wake, Johnston, Chatham and Nash counties shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, as Hurricane Florence continues to come ashore along the southeastern coast. Durham and Orange counties were not covered by the warning, and that’s not likely to change, said James Morrow, a meteorologist at the weather service office in Raleigh. A tropical storm warning means that winds of 36 mph or higher are possible. But…

By Kelly Hinchcliffe, WRAL education reporter Raleigh, N.C. — Imagine being at home for five days straight with no power, no way to get anywhere in a car and no store nearby to get supplies. How would you prepare for that, and what supplies would you gather ahead of time? That’s what local emergency officials want you to imagine so you can prepare for Hurricane Florence. WRAL News interviewed local EMS and 911 center leaders…

Thousands of homeowners in inland North and South Carolina stand to be inundated by Hurricane Florence’s drenching over the next few days, but hardly any of them carry federal flood insurance, leaving them at risk of a devastating loss, with little prospect of help from the federal government. A McClatchy analysis of federal data shows that in the coastal counties, a relatively high percentage of households carry flood insurance policies, but the percentage drops off…

The storm surge from Hurricane Florence has begun to make some highways impassable in Eastern North Carolina. N.C. 12 is closed on Hatteras Island, and parts of U.S. 70 are shut down between Beaufort and Atlantic, as floodwaters covered the pavement in numerous places, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation. NCDOT said many secondary roads in Carteret County also are overtopped with water and that conditions were expected to get worse through the evening….

Hurricane Florence wasn’t expected to make landfall until Friday morning, but residents in coastal areas were already losing power as fierce gusts lashed the eastern edge of North Carolina. More than 181,000 residents and businesses, mostly in eastern counties, were without power as of 11:30 p.m., according to online updates from Duke Energy, the N.C. Electric Cooperatives and smaller utility companies. The surge in power outages along the coast was the result of gusts coming…

If you lose power during Hurricane Florence, you can still stay tuned to local TV stations to hear the latest from the Triangle’s top meteorologists. Here’s how to watch the three local stations online, on mobile apps and streaming services — and how to listen to their broadcasts on the radio. WTVD ABC11 ▪ Whenever the news team is on the air, the station will be simulcasting on its website — abc11.com — and on…

The Triangle will soon feel the impact of Hurricane Florence, despite its diminishing strength. This is the most important information you need to know on Thursday, the day before Hurricane Florence hits the Triangle: 1. Hurricane Florence began to affect North Carolina’s coast Thursday morning. The outer bands of Hurricane Florence began to hit North Carolina’s coast Thursday just before 6 a.m. Between Wednesday and Thursday, the hurricane downgraded from a Category 3 to a…

HURRICANE, W.Va. — A couple who planned to marry on the Outer Banks in North Carolina has moved their wedding to another state to avoid an uninvited guest: Hurricane Florence. WCHS-TV reports months of planning were swept away as Florence approached, so Marsha Bradbury called the mayor of Hurricane, West Virginia, to see if he could help. Mayor Scott Edwards says this a rare exception as the city hasn’t allowed people to reserve City Hall…

By Jake Seaton, WRAL.com digital product manager If you are evacuating your home to escape Hurricane Florence, or perhaps a loved one or friend from the eastern part of North Carolina is hoping to get out its path, you may be concerned about what to do about your fur family. Our pets are as much a part of our families as the humans who share our walls, so it’s understandable that you want to keep…

As Hurricane Florence hurtles into the Carolinas and residents gear up for what’s now a Category 1 storm, our reporters and photojournalists are on the coast and around the region. Their Wednesday reports from the coast are here. You can follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/newsobserver/lists/hurricane-mcclatchy New Bern, NC: Rescues from floodwaters 2:43 a.m. Friday: Despite a mandatory evacuation ordered Tuesday, Craven County emergency crews reported rescuing multiple residents from Hurricane Florence floodwaters through the…

By Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief Knightdale, N.C. — A shelter set up at Knightdale High School for people fleeing their homes in Dare and Carteret counties ahead of Hurricane Florence was already at capacity by Wednesday afternoon, officials said. Officials could expand the shelter beyond its 450-person limit, if needed later, but they were sending evacuees to other area shelters, such as at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School or Garner High School. Novan…

By Adam Owens, WRAL anchor/reporter There is a reason a Carteret County town is called Sea Level. To get there, you travel a road that rides only a little higher than the water on both sides. The land is low, so many homes are raised high. Franklin Salter, 80, said Wednesday that he and his wife are staying for Hurricane Florence. He has some idea what he is up against. He remembers past storms, like…

By Ken Smith, WRAL anchor/reporter A handful of residents still in the Outer Banks on Wednesday pride themselves on being resilient in the face of any storm, including Hurricane Florence. Jim Rose, owner of Sand Spur Ocean Cottages, is taking the few days of downtime this week to get his cottages ready for the end-of-summer season. He put up a sign some will understand instantly: “Kiss my grits.” The line comes from the 1970s sitcom…

Raleigh, N.C. — As mandatory evacuations are in place for Beaufort, Dare, Pamlico and Tyrrell county beaches (Atlantic, Indian, Emerald Isle, Pine Knoll Shores, Ocracoke, Carolina, Kure, Wrightsville, Topsail, Currituck Outer Banks, Oak Island and Holden), most people are heeding the warning and getting out in advance of Hurricane Florence. During a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Roy Cooper said there are 750,000 to 1 million people under evacuation orders. “If you aren’t under…