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6AM News on WRAL - Monday, July 8, 2024
Carrey, get ready for the exciting new Go Carrey Downtown Loop! Enjoy easy access to downtown destinations like Downtown Carrey Park, Carrey Regional Library, the Carrey Theater, and more. The Loop operates Thursday through Sunday every 25 minutes and it's free to ride! Driving downtown, park at the Town Hall parking deck, and hop on the Downtown Loop. With the new Go Carrey app, you can effortlessly plan your trip and track your bus in real time. The app is free to download and use. Visit gocarrey.org to learn more, and start your journey today! And we're looking at some isolated afternoon and evening thunderstorms. More rain is on the way later in the week. It shouldn't help our drought situations somewhat. We'll take a look. And we're keeping an eye on Texas hurricane barrel just made landfall an hour ago. This is a live look here as we see that significant rain and winds powering through. WRL's Chris Loving Good has an update on the power outages there from the WRL Live Center. And it's back to school for more than 42,000 Way County year-round students. We're live from a brand new school opening today here in Holly Springs to tell you some of the new safety measures and plays to protect students. Good morning, everyone. It is six o'clock on your Monday back to school for some of those students and then back to work and back to normal routine after that long holiday weekend. We hope you had a wonderful 4th of July. I'm Renee Chiu. And I'm Jeff Hogan. Thanks for making us part of your routine here as we get things rolling in six o'clock with a beautiful sunrise. Just thinking about those kids in the classroom. I hope that AC is rolling. Elizabeth Gardner in the WRS Severe Weather Center right now. This is a time of year. It can get tough if it's not working. It can. It's not a bad week to spend some time inside. It will cool off a little bit though by Thursday and Friday as we're going to see some rain rolling in a little bit more significant than we're going to see for today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Early this morning there was a little bit of rain showing up near Charlotte. That was headed our way if fizzled out as expected. And we can see here with the future cast, things are looking quiet until around lunchtime. We have a few isolated showers that will pop up. A few folks will get a brief downpour. Nothing severe here. It's going to be another just hot, sticky day with a few isolated storms. But that will change a little later in the week. Barrel made landfall at 5 a.m. At Matagorda, Texas is a category one storm. And so that storm, of course, continues to move northward past Houston. Potential damage from flooding and wind with the system. And we'll get into the details in just a little bit. But right now, it's moving north at 12 with winds at 80 miles per hour as of the six o'clock advisory. It will move up toward the Great Lakes. It will bypass us in terms of any rain, but we'll still have that potential for some rainfall. 76 degrees right now are 2.73, so it's a warm and sticky start for us this morning. Temperatures in the low to mid 70s as you're heading out the door. And of course for our afternoon highs will be in the low 90s, but it will feel hotter than that with a heated decks. I'll walk you through it coming up. Eric. Elizabeth taking a look at traffic here. We are so far so good. Green all the way across the map here this morning. One crash we've been telling you about that was up on Lin Road at Creedmoor Road, just in the last couple of minutes. That's cleared up no longer any issues there. Otherwise, taking a live look outside right now. This is going to be I 87 at New Hope Road. We all know that's a trouble spot every single morning. Right now, no trouble at all. You'll love to see that. Something else you love to see. This is I 85 at Falls Lake. It might not be as nice as some of the weather cams we're looking at earlier, but love to see that lack of traffic. Also love to see that beautiful sunrise this morning. A little bit of a consolation prize as you're heading in either to work or school this morning. In just the last hour Hurricane barrel made landfall in Texas after strengthening back to a category one hurricane. We have this live look in Galveston, Texas for you right now. The storm bringing strong wind and rain as you can see from this shot right now in WRS Chris Love and Good is keeping an eye on this storm for us in the live center and we saw that waffle house seconds ago Chris. The lights were on in there, but I know you're looking at power outages down there. Maybe that just got swallowed up in it. I did and the reason why I'm bringing this camera back up Jeff is because I think I wish we would have came to you just a little sooner. It wasn't lightning, but there is a beam of light that seemed to have come from the back there. I think a transformer might have blown there and that kind of speaks a little bit to the outages that we're seeing on this map. This is from Encore. This is like their Duke energy down there in Texas and you'll see they'll actually show you where barrel is right now. You'll see it right there over a Houston, but in terms of outages as I keep looking here we're only seeing let me click here. I think I only saw maybe a some maybe 130 something people without power, but if you click this little indicator here it says a total of you know about 1,800 customers affected. So it's obviously still keeps moving through here and I'm going to be watching this map very carefully to see what other outages may pop up here. You'll notice that down here near South Pedro Island. No outages really reported there, mostly just around here. So I'll keep watching to see what else is unfolding as barrel continues to push through Texas. Chris, we know you will. Thank you. School is back in session for 37 year round schools in Wake County. Thousands of students will be back in the classroom this morning. WRL's Laura Levine joins us live from Woods Creek Elementary School in Holly Springs and Laura, a new school year that means new ways for the school system to make safety a priority. Absolutely. Good morning Renee. Yes, we are live here outside of Woods Creek Elementary. This brand new school that will open to students today. It's among 37 year round schools that will welcome more than 42,000 students across Wake County. And of course, as you mentioned, safety being a top priority. There is something new we want to tell you about. Wake County Public Schools will begin using to say something anonymous tip line. It's a phased rollout. Middle and high school students will begin training and learning how to use it later this summer. Schools that use the free app work with the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise to offer training to staff and students. They can report anonymous safety concerns to help at risk people before they hurt themselves or others. Tipsters may choose to report several different kinds of tips, including bullying, cyberbullying, self harm, drug activity, a planned school attack, weapons, and the list goes on. Coming up in the next 10 minutes, we're going to have a live interview with Superintendent Robert Taylor. He's here now on campus and we're going to talk about a couple of different things including safety being one of them for this upcoming school year. Laura Levine, WRLL News live in Holly Springs. We hope students and teachers have a great first day. Wake County school parents will have a new way to get updates on bus routes as their kids go back to school. The district is rolling out a new bus delay notification system. Parents and students who ride the bus can get notifications through email or text. You do have to sign up for the notifications via school messenger and you can find a link on the district's website. You can also check for bus delays on the live bus updates link on your school's transportation page. The here comes the bus app will be available to track your child's bus. Today environmental agencies are sifting through the aftermath of this huge fertilizer plant fire in South Hill, Virginia. They are checking on air pollution there from that fire. We know the woman who sparked the fire Saturday by crashing her car into that plant has died. Police tell us she drove into a propane tank along the warehouse and knocked at about 10 to 20 feet caused it to ignite and shoot flames into the building. One firefighter who responded says it's the largest fire he has seen in his career. Well we knew all the chemicals were in it so it's pretty much just fuel on the fire. It's a it's a big bomb really. We could hear explosions inside the building which I'm assuming or chemical tanks and stuff that were going off. It's 15 firefighters were taken to the hospital and at last check one is still in the hospital. Employees tell us no one was inside at the time of the fire because of the holiday weekend. The EPA says the air quality is good enough to avoid taking action. The DEQ found dead fish in a nearby creek so it is testing water samples. New this morning Boeing has accepted a plea deal to avoid a criminal trial over crashes involving its 737 MAX planes. The Justice Department says the company will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge from two crashes of Boeing planes that kill 346 people. Prosecutors accuse Boeing of deceiving regulators who approved its airplane and pilot training requirements. The deal calls for Boeing to pay $243 million fine. A federal judge will need to approve the plea deal for it to take effect. North Carolina based nonprofit Samaritan's Purse is helping parts of the Caribbean hardest hit by Hurricane Beryl. Yesterday the organization launched its third emergency relief flight to the Caribbean in less than a week. The flight carried essential materials like tarps and hygiene kits which are crucial for families grappling with the storms aftermath. We are told there are crews in three island nations in the Caribbean. We're in contact throughout the day with all of our teams. So we have over 60 disaster response staff in the area down in the region. Samaritan's Purse has grown into a nearly $1 billion relief organization with more than 2,700 disaster responders and a growing private air force. Leaders from around the world are arriving in Washington DC today. Our nation's capital is hosting the NATO Summit for the first time in 25 years. The gathering marks the 75th anniversary of the military alliance that began after World War II. The summit starts tomorrow. Analysts say President Biden's candidacy will be one of the main focuses. Protesters from around the world will also be in DC to advocate for peace and to oppose the NATO alliance. An investigation is underway after Fayetteville Police say a woman was hit by a car. This was the scene from the WRL breaking news tracker near Bragg Boulevard and Sycamore Dairy Road. Shortly after midnight Sunday you can see serious damage to the windshield of the car. We're working to learn the identity of the woman involved and her condition. You may see some film crews on UNC's campus the next few days. Starting today they'll be shooting the popular Amazon series. The summer I turned pretty. The shoot is for the third season of the show as the main characters enter college. The crew will film Monday through Wednesday in Chapel Hill which could impact traffic. UNC's filming will largely take place outside on McCorkle Place and surrounding buildings. So if you're going to be in that area around that time expect delays, road and parking closures. Coming up the lake fire in Santa Barbara California is now threatening buildings and homes. The late celebrities ranch that's at risk and will bring you more of the stunning video. Five teammates from NC Courage will be playing on opposing teams this year at the Summer Olympics. We have a look at how those players were honored before they head off to the games. And a hot and sticky start to the week temperature today 92 but feeling more like triple digits. That will be the case for the next several days but some relief possible Thursday and Friday with a better chance for rain. We'll take a look at that coming up. As you get into your car tuned to WRAL news plus on your radio in Raleigh on 99.3 FM in Durham 96.5 FM at everywhere on 101.5 HD 3. Here's Brandon with Parkway Sleep Centers. 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That's Jim Allen.com the Jim Allen Group your partner in real estate. 612 with cloudies guys this morning here over Sanford and most of the viewing area there are a few thin spots where we're seeing just a little hint of sunshine but you know this time of year in my book anyway it's okay to start with some cloud cover. It keeps our temperatures from warming up quite as fast. We're still headed into the 90s this afternoon. We'll see those clouds breaking up closer to lunchtime. 75 Southern Pine 74 in Irwin 73 in Tarboro. It is definitely a warm and sticky start out there for us this morning and it'll be hot and muggy this afternoon. Eyes will climb into the low 90s. Once we hit lunchtime we may see if you isolated showers or thunderstorms so if you are planning to head out for exercise just watch your WRAL or at check the radar on our WRAL app. We're talking more about storms for later in the week coming up Eric. Well it's been taking a look at traffic here this morning things looking nice and smooth all the way across the map a lot of green out here taking a live look outside right now. This is going to be I-440 at Ridge Road. You can see only a couple of people on the road there this morning. Same situation as we look at I-40 at South Saunders things not too busy yet taking a look at those drive times coming into Raleigh really just a couple of minute delays for most folks things looking very nice just one minute you're coming in from Wake Forest otherwise all those zeros across the board very similar situation as we take a look over at Durham this morning just a couple of minute delays no major issues at this point. Of course we know with folks going back to work kids going back to school it's going to get busy out there we'll let you know as we start to see those crashes and delays pop up this morning. And there are 37 Wake County year-round schools kicking off the school year this morning Superintendent Robert Taylor is helping them start the school year off in the right way and WRIO's Laura Levine is there a brand new Woods Creek Elementary School this morning with Superintendent Taylor Laura good morning. Yes it is a very exciting day here in Holly Springs because this is a brand new school opening today this morning I am joined with Superintendent Robert Taylor how you doing this morning. I'm doing great in you. Good good well thank you so much for being with us it was just last August when we were with you on your first week on the job as you were touring schools I asked you then what your top priorities were now that you have that year under your belt here in Wake County public schools I'll pose that question to you again. I think the priorities are the same continuing to get to know the community but as always my goal is to focus on teachers and learning and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that teachers have the resources that they need that schools have the resources that they need that is our core business and that shall always be a focus for me we obviously want to continue to focus on school safety making sure students are safe when they come to school and they have a great learning environment. And as you mentioned safety we know that starting this school year we have to say something out that the district will be using do you think that will really play a major role in protecting students. I think that is an opportunity for middle and high school students to be able to share information about what they know that takes place in the school I've done a lot of work with the say something app in the company and we're very excited about that opportunity for children to be able to share anything that happens in the school. I know that anytime we know about things that happen in the school it usually comes from students so this is an opportunity for them to be able to share and do it anonymously. Absolutely well thank you so much. Dr. Taylor here live in Holly Springs as we begin first day here for year-round students across Wake County public schools Laura Levine WRL news live in Holly Springs. The lake fire continues to burn in Santa Barbara County California. A county fire department official posted this stunning video of the fire burning in Los Padres National Forest. The fire has burned more than 16,000 acres. Several structures are being threatened including Michael Jackson's former Neverland Ranch. More than 750 firefighters are battling the flames there. After the NC courage is match against racing Louisville the team honored players from both soccer teams that are playing in Paris at the Olympics. The courage have five players headed to the Olympics, Caroline for Brazil, Feli Rauch for Germany and Casey Murphy as you heard there for the US were there last night. The list also includes Sydney Collins for Canada and Courtney Vine playing for Australia. Murphy says she'll miss being away from her teammates but we'll watch them from afar. Just to know that I have their support and their love and they're they're always watching and cheering like that means everything to me and I'm going to miss them but uh yeah I'm really excited for this opportunity. It's my first Olympics and I cannot wait to get there. Murphy actually started her career playing professionally in France. Team USA Swimming took a break from training at the Triangle Aquatic Center and carried to check out the game and support their fellow Olympians. Swimmers watched the courage remain unbeaten at WakeMed Soccer Park. WRAL is your home for the Summer Olympics action. Our Liz McLaughlin will be in Paris bringing you live reports. We'll also have live coverage all day beginning July 26th to August 11th. It's right here on WRAL. It is 618 and the big national weather story is barrel making landfall about an hour ago. Meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner in the WREO Severe Weather Center with the impacts for Texas. Yeah it may landfall with a category one strength at around 80 mile per hour winds with some gusts up to 100 miles per hour. Matagor to Texas at 5 a.m. you can see where it is right now of course a huge coverage of clouds there. Almost three-fourths of the coastline of Texas there covered in clouds. But the strongest part of the storm of course right here the center of circulation moving inland still fairly slowly. It's almost completely inland pushing a lot of heavy rain into Houston where there may end up being some flooding with this sort of wind definitely some wind damage and storm surge so they're getting all of it with barrel as it continues to move inland. Current winds gusting right now at 86 in Bay City. Quintana at 84 gusting to 86 in Galveston. There were some reports of some storm trackers in Galveston that recorded some 100 mile per hour wind gusts so lots of power outages up and down the coast in that area. Again made landfall at Matagor to with winds at around 80 miles per hour still moving north at 12 but it will gradually decrease in strength as it continues to move inland and move up the Mississippi Valley bringing some rain to the west of the mountains. We're not likely to see any rain really technically out of barrel but we are likely to see a trough setting up with a low pressure system sitting here and that will happen later in the weekend. It's going to grab up some of that tropical moisture and push it our way along with a front that will stall and help to bring us a pretty good chance of some rain for Thursday and Friday. It's still going to be very humid for us but boy it'll be nice to have some of that rainfall for sure. We take a look at futurecast for today looking at quiet conditions this morning closer to lunchtime we'll see some isolated showers and thunderstorms pop up across our area that's over by around five or six o'clock so shouldn't be a big deal for the evening commute. We're looking at scattered storms just isolated for the next several days heat index over 100 today all the way through Wednesday and then some heavy rain Thursday and Friday and some cooler temperatures. It's 30 to 40 percent chance today tomorrow and Wednesday so you may or may not see any rain but a better chance that everybody sees it for Thursday and Friday and it may be fairly significant. We take a look at our potential rainfall starting today we'll add it up all the way through the weekend and we're looking at as much as an inch to maybe two two and a half inches and that is going to be some much needed rainfall. So we'll get somewhere across the area around one to three inches but we need three to six inches to catch up from the drought situation that we're dealing with. So currently we do have moderate drought and severe drought in our area. The con to this rainfall that we'll see as we may have some flooding for Thursday and Friday. Another one of the pros though is our temperatures will be a little bit cooler we do bounce back into the 90s Saturday and Sunday. Coming up we're going to talk about our high heat index for the next several days air. Elizabeth we have a crash that's popped up at the last couple of minutes that is going to be a pain for drivers heading into Raleigh from any point south really. It's going to be down here on I-40 near that 440 split. You can see the traffic camera out there. We have multiple lanes on 40 westbound blocked right after that split. You can see multiple vehicles out there. Raleigh police as well as fire crews on the scene as well. You look over there you can see the traffic that this is causing. Take a look at those sensors. You can see these delays are building in at this point. We get a lot of folks heading into the city. These delays starting from right after that split starting to build back onto 440 as well as 40 westbound down past Rotkori Road that bridge over the road there. At this point this is likely adding about five to ten minutes of your drive. Don't know that you need to divert just yet but we're keeping a very close eye on what this is going to mean for your drive here this morning. Looking at those drive times for Raleigh as a whole you can see the sensors not picking up on those delays just yet. Again expecting that's going to add about five to ten minutes. We'll keep a very close eye on this crash. Let you know what we're seeing out there. Thanks Eric. It's the end of a ride here coming up in what's trending an iconic wrestler has announced his retirement. How fans of John Cena reacted when he announced the end of his WWE career. And there are a lot of new movies hitting the box office and they're all rather familiar. The summer of sequels is here. How they are stacking up. And here have a look at your winning NC education lottery numbers on your screen right now. We're back with what's trending in a moment. Save big this summer with great deals. 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This what's trending report sponsored by Rug and Home. One of the most iconic WWE wrestlers is now retiring. John Cena made that announcement over the weekend. Here's a look at what's trending. After two decades in the ring, say Cena says the 2025 season will be his last. He gave a heartfelt speech in Toronto to a stadium of WWE fans. Oh, they booed in disappointment after hearing that he's going to retire. Cena says he'll go on a farewell tour next year. That farewell tour will include about 30 to 40 dates where folks can see him wrestle 47 years old. And you know what? This will give him more time to pursue his Hollywood acting career, which he's done quite well with over the last decade, I'd say. For sure. And certainly that's going to be his plan in retirement. Right. Four sequels and a prequel went head to head in this weekend's box office. Despicable meme for at a strong start, landing the top spot and debuting at 75 million dollars. It beat out inside out to a quiet place, day one, Maxine and bad boys ride or die made up the rest of the top five respectively. You may remember Hollywood's box office had been struggling the first half of the year. Well, now the summer movie season is booming thanks to all these movies. And then at the end of the month, Deadpool and Wolverine will launch as well. So people are going back to the movies. And there's nothing original about any of them. They're all sequels, prequels, those types of things. I have a new idea. All right. No, no, no ideas. You know, it's going to be hot enough. You might as well go to the movies. It'll feel like one or two this afternoon. We'll also have a few isolated storms that pop up. I'll walk you through the timeline. And here's a live look at Houston, Texas this morning. Barrel officially made landfall as a category one hurricane coming up. Look at what people in Texas are experiencing right now. Jacob, get them worried. 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