NORTH CAROLINA — Storm surge and hurricane warnings are in effect for the northeastern Gulf Coast through Florida. By 5 a.m. Tuesday, Michael’s top sustained winds were around 90 mph as it headed NNW at 12 mph. The National Hurricane Center said the storm is located about 420 miles south of Panama City, Florida. Forecasters said the center of Michael will continue to move over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico today, and make landfall Wednesday…

By Alfred Charles, online managing editor Raleigh, N.C. — The latest forecast update from the National Hurricane Center has Michael set to come ashore around the Florida Panhandle as a Category 3 storm as officials in North Carolina are preparing for soaking rains and gusty winds that could uproot trees and knock down power lines around the Triangle. Top Headlines Michael set to come ashore across Florida on Wednesday with 120 mph winds as a…

Michael gained new strength over warm tropical waters amid fears it would swiftly intensify into a major hurricane before striking Florida’s northeast Gulf Coast, where frantic coastal dwellers are boarding up homes and seeking evacuation routes away from the dangerous storm heading their way. A hurricane hunter plane that bounced into the swirling eye of Michael off the west tip of Cuba late Monday found wind speeds were rising even as forecasters warned the storm…

NORTH CAROLINA — Michael is continuing to intensify and storm surge and hurricane warnings are in effect for the northeastern Gulf Coast. By 11 p.m. Monday, Michael’s top sustained winds were around 90 mph as it headed north at 12 mph . The National Hurricane Center says the storm is located about 450 miles south of Apalachicola, Florida. Hurricane-force winds extend out up to 35 miles and tropical-storm-force winds outward about 175 miles. Forecasters say…

Residents of Florida’s Panhandle frantically filled sandbags, boarded up homes and secured boats Monday as they anxiously awaited Hurricane Michael, which forecasters warned could smash into the state’s Gulf Coast as a dangerous major hurricane within days. Fueled by warm tropical waters, Michael gained new strength by nightfall and could reach major hurricane status with winds topping 111 mph (179 kph) before its anticipated landfall Wednesday on the Panhandle or Big Bend area of Florida,…

SPRING LAKE, N.C. (WTVD) — Residents in Cumberland County who are still working to recover from record flooding during Hurricane Florence can’t imagine another hit from a tropical system. In Cumberland County’s Overhills Park neighborhood, the thought is unbearable. “Oh my God,” said resident Mary Browning. “I tell you what. It can’t do more damage than what it’s done. My house has no wood or flooring in it. Anything.” Nearly 30 days post-Florence and Browning,…

Both men died when they fell — one from a ladder, the other from a roof — while they were cleaning up after Hurricane Florence even as the storm was still causing rivers to rise in Eastern North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper announced last Tuesday that they were the 38th and 39th people in North Carolina to lose their lives as a result of the storm. It had taken 10 days for the two men…

Emergency crews on Monday were searching for four men whose recreational vehicle was among those swept away from an RV park by raging floodwaters that prompted dramatic rescues by helicopters and boats in a small West Texas city. Heavy rains started falling Sunday night, causing the South Llano River to rise in Junction, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west of Austin. Kimble County Sheriff Hilario Cantu said no fatalities had been confirmed but that “all…

By Ken Smith, WRAL anchor/reporter Princeville, N.C. — In historic Princeville in Edgecombe County, residents don’t want history to keep repeating itself. Hurricane Matthew left the town devastated two years ago, the second flood in 17 years to leave the town under water. Curtis Murphy said it took a year after the storm for him and his family to move back into his house. He can’t imagine living anywhere else, but any talk of heavy…