In the background of a Coast Guard briefing on MSNBC on Friday evening, in a bustling aid center, a Coast Guard member flashed what some TV viewers say was a white power sign at the camera. In the clip, as an official detailed the efforts underway as Hurricane Florence tore through the Carolinas, a man with a crew cut sitting immediately behind him looked directly at the camera. Then he looked away and shaped his…

NORTH CAROLIA (WTVD) — Hurricane Florence is bringing historic landfall to North Carolina, and those numbers are only going to rise in spots. A major concern for many counties is flooding, especially flooding near some of our bigger rivers. With all big rain events, officials look for rivers to crest, which is the highest stage or level of a flood wave as it passes a particular point. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew brought flooding concerns to…

Duke Energy said Saturday night that heavy rains from Florence caused a slope to collapse at a coal-ash landfill at a closed power station near the North Carolina coast. Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said about 2,000 cubic yards (1,530 cubic meters) of ash were displaced at the L. V. Sutton Power Station outside Wilmington and that contaminated runoff likely flowed into the plant’s cooling pond. The company has not yet determined whether the weir that…

WILMINGTON, N.C. — In the midst of reporting about the tornado warnings after the arrival of Hurricane Florence, one news station had a warning that hit a little too close to home. The team at WWAY in Wilmington, North Carolina, were in the middle of coverage on Sunday morning when they were told it was no longer safe to stay on set. “OK guys, we are going to have to stop coverage right now because…

We’ve heard of tropical storms and tropical depressions, but what do these names mean? And when does a storm become a hurricane? We start with a tropical depression, a low-pressure area in the center of a group of thunderstorms. From a satellite, it doesn’t look very organized, but it does have some rotation. Depressions are numbered by the National Hurricane Center. For example, TD8 was the eighth tropical depression to form this season. Once the…

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) — What happens when the rescuers need rescuing? That’s what happened in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Saturday after rains from Hurricane Florence flooded the city. A marine and two first responders form Onslow County tried to get a military Humvee through a very flooded Half Moon Creek. Downloading the ABC11 app is the best way to stay up-to-date on the latest conditions from Hurricane Florence. And when the Humvee didn’t make it,…

As hundreds of people were pulled from flooded homes, North Carolina is bracing for what could be the next stage of a still-unfolding disaster: widespread, catastrophic river flooding. Rivers are swelling toward record levels, forecasters now warn, and thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate for fear that the next few days could bring the most destructive round of flooding in North Carolina history. Stream gauges across the region showed water levels rising steadily,…