Raleigh North Carolina News

CANTIANO, Italy — Flash floods swept through several towns Friday in hilly central Italy after hours of exceptionally heavy rain, leaving 10 people dead and at least four missing, authorities said. Dozens of survivors scrambled onto rooftops or up trees to await rescue. Floods invaded garages and basements and knocked down doors. In one town, the powerful rush of water pushed a car onto a second-story balcony, while elsewhere parked vehicles were crumpled on top…

4 minutes ago RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Tropical Storm Fiona has weakened a bit due to wind shear as it moves towards the Leeward Islands. National Hurricane Center expects Fiona to take a more southern track. The system could strengthen but that depends on how much land interaction takes place. Fiona is expected to move across the Leeward Islands Friday night and early Saturday. Then it will move near or just south of the Virgin…

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for portions of the northern Leeward Islands as Tropical Storm Fiona moves through the Atlantic. The center of Fiona is forecast to move through the Leeward Islands late Friday and Friday night, and move near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Forecasts suggests little change in Fiona’s strength during the…

By Brian Shrader, WRAL anchor/reporter Lumberton, N.C. — Years after flooding from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence closed Interstate 95 in Robeson County, state leaders are looking at ways to flood-proof the main interstate connection along the East Coast. A project starts this week between Interstate 74 and just north of N.C. Highway 211. Crews will widen the interstate to a total of eight lanes and raise it up to 14 feet higher in spots. The…

By Laura Leslie, WRAL capitol bureau chief On the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Florence, state lawmakers are questioning the officials who manage disaster recovery in North Carolina. They say too many survivors are still waiting for help. Four years ago Wednesday Florence came ashore near Wilmington. Two years before that, Hurricane Matthew hit the state. The state has received $780 million in federal assistance for storm recovery from Hurricanes Florence and Matthew. Still years later,…

By Brian Shrader, WRAL anchor/reporter Lumberton, N.C. — Years after flooding from Hurricanes Matthews and Florence closed Interstate 95 in Robeson County, state leaders are looking at ways to flood proof the main interstate connection along the East Coast. Now, a project starts this week between Interstate 74 and just north of N.C. Highway 211. Crews will widen the interstate to a total of eight lanes and raise it up to 14 feet higher in…

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. — Nearly six years after flood damage from Hurricane Matthew displaced Thad Artis from his home in Goldsboro, North Carolina, he has still not been placed in permanent housing. Living alone in a motel for the last two years, growing increasingly frustrated with what he considers empty promises of swift action from government officials, the 68-year-old spends every penny on his wife’s health care…

17 minutes ago RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — State lawmakers will hold a hearing on issues in the hurricane recovery process on the 4-year anniversary of Hurricane Florence. The state got hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid to help North Carolinians rebuild, but years later many storm victims are still living in motels and travel trailers. The agency tasked with leading the recovery, Rebuild NC, is expected to face questions about how it’s using…

By AMY TAXIN, Associated Press HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Southern California welcomed cooler temperatures and spotty rain Saturday as a tropical storm veered off the Pacific Coast and faded, helping put an end to a blistering heat wave that nearly overwhelmed the state’s electrical grid. Thunderstorms were forecast for the Los Angeles region Saturday that could linger in mountainous areas on Sunday. But after Hurricane Kay made landfall in Mexico this week it quickly was…

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — There are new details in a Troubleshooter investigation of a state program spending millions of taxpayer dollars. It’s money meant to help hurricane victims rebuild, but many of those victims tell us that they continue to get broken promises from the state, and it’s now taking a toll on their health and mental well-being. “I’ve had four different start dates, my start will come and go and nobody would come,” Lavonne…

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Hurricane Danielle is expected to lose its intensity and be downgraded to a tropical rainstorm soon. The fourth named storm of the season is moving east-northeastward through the northern Atlantic to the northwest of the Azores. It will come in contact with cooler water and increased wind that will lead to a decrease in intensity. The system can still bring some rain to western Europe. Minor flooding is possible, but with…