WRAL Newscasts
Sunday News on WRAL - Sunday, July 7, 2024
Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for $2.99 a pound, then get 10 for 10 on items like Lays Stacks, Rice Oroni, and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shuff these deals at your local Kroger today, or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. [MUSIC PLAYING] Now breaking news from WRAL, coverage you can count on. [MUSIC PLAYING] Breaking news, the driver who crashed into this South County fertilizer warehouse is dead, coming up. The new information we've learned about how that fire got started. And it is another night of showering storm coverage across the area. But looking ahead, we have much greater coverage on the way. We're going to time out multiple storm chances on the way, coming up. Also tonight, we're the body of a 14-year-old Goldsboro boy who went under the water near Topsel Beach, was found today. Thanks for joining us. I'm Ashley Rowe. We are watching for storms throughout the evening across our region. Meteorologist Anthony Baglione is in the WRAL Severe Weather Center. Anthony, how are things timing out right now? Ashley, we're going to continue to see these showers and storms, probably the next couple of hours. And it's been pretty active for us out there this evening. Very similar to what we saw yesterday evening. We get that daytime heating. We get some storms to bubble up. And this is the picture we are left with. So let's get us right over to radar time out. Exactly what's going on for us. I do think we will hang on to this coverage, probably up until about midnight or so. Tomorrow morning, though, out the door, you should be OK. Here's a look, though, where we sit right now. You can see definitely some lightning showing up. Goldsboro and back to our done north of Fayetteville right there. This is kind of our heaviest and most potent cell, if you will, a couple of cells that are getting going. No severe thunderstorm warnings right now. It does get a lot lighter as you get closer to Wake County, Durham, Roxborough, even just to the west there of Roanoke Rapids. It's all not moving much. It's just kind of sitting there. It's going to rain itself out here, probably over the next couple of hours. You can see that generally speaking on futurecast. We'll hang on to this closer to midnight. And then most of this starts to fizzle on out. We start our Monday morning off quiet, aside from maybe just a sprinkle there. But most of us actually are looking pretty quiet tomorrow morning. Many rain chances, though, on the way. We're going to time out here when we could see some widespread rainfall in just a few minutes. All right, we'll talk to you soon. Thanks. We have breaking developments now in the South Hill, Virginia, fertilizer warehouse fire. Police say the driver who caused the fire died at the hospital yesterday evening. They say the building damage from the fire is impacting the investigation into how exactly it started. Folks who live nearby were finally cleared to return home a little after noon today. This fire burned at nutrient egg solutions on West Annville Street for hours yesterday. WRL's Carly Haints is live in South Hill now. Carly, this fire completely contained. What are crews focusing on now? This is an entire warehouse that has been wiped clean. And this is the closest that we've gotten to it since yesterday. I mean, look at this right now. We know emergency management is here. They're monitoring hotspots. They're making sure there's no danger to the community with the fumes that are still here. Fire crews were out here all night into the morning. I got out of the phone with the police chief. He told me a lot more about the crash that caused all of this. He believes a woman drove into a propane tank along the warehouse, knocking it over about 10 to 15 feet where it started blowing out flames like a flamethrower. Then with all of the chemicals inside, the entire facility ignited. It doesn't know why the driver crashed. The medical examiner is now conducting toxicology tests. But this fire was highly hazardous. And we have a firefighter with South Hill's volunteer fire department who said, this was the kind of fire that you train for, but you hope you never get sent to. He said in his 16 years fighting fires, this was the worst one he's ever seen. - Well, we knew all the chemicals were in it, so it's pretty much just fuel on the fire. It's a big bomb, really. We could hear explosions inside the building, which I'm assuming are chemical tanks and stuff that were going off. They had multiple vehicles in the warehouse. They had multiple forklifts. They were propane fed in the warehouse. - They said it was just the perfect storm. And firefighters all wore breathing packs while fighting this fire. We know the heat certainly didn't help. 15 South Hill firefighters were taken to the hospital for burns, chemical exposures, and heat illnesses. Now the Environmental Protection Agency says there isn't any actionable level of pollution in the air from this fire, but the Department of Environmental Quality did find some dead fish in some of the surrounding bodies of water, so they have taken samples of that water to a lab for testing. And coming up at 10 and 11 tonight, we're gonna be speaking to nutrient-add solutions about all of this. Carly Haynes, W.R.L. News, five in South Hill, Virginia. - Well, what an incredible scene there. Family members confirmed the body of a 14-year-old Goldsboro boy who disappeared into the water near North Topsel Beach on Thursday, washed up on shore this morning. Camp Lejeune officials say they found Maynard Perez's body washed ashore on base and notified Topsel Beach authorities. According to Perez's brother, the teen had waded out into the water of New River Inlet and was swept away. New River Inlet is known for strong currents and signs are posted along the beach, warning swimmers. Fayetteville police are investigating after a woman was hit by a car in Fayetteville. This was the scene from the W.R.L. breaking news tracker near Bragg Boulevard and Sycamore Dairy Road. Shortly after midnight, 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. A man is dead after being hit by a car last night in Durham that happened shortly before 10 p.m. on I-40 near Fayetteville Road. Officers say the man was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries. No details have been released about the driver involved in this accident. Police say this is an ongoing investigation. The Durham Police Department is investigating a shooting that sent one man to the hospital and happened on Sader Street last night. Responders took the man to the hospital right now, no word on his condition. A man accused of murdering a couple in Franklinton earlier this year has a court appearance scheduled for tomorrow. Police say William Hill and Matthew Johnson were shot and killed by their roommate, Christian Webster at their home in April. William's father, Tom Hillm, says Webster had moved in with a couple in September of last year. Police say Webster shot the two men and men called 911. Authorities found Hillm's body in the bathtub and Johnson in the basement. The DA tells us evidence will be presented tomorrow and they will consider whether to seek a death sentence or life in prison against Webster. You can now find mental health services in more North Carolina schools. That's because schools are hiring outside agencies to provide services for kids who can't otherwise leave school to get them. Providers and educators tell WRAL's education insider that services are improving kids' moods and helping them focus on school as well. They say that partnerships are a solution after more than a decade of rising mental health struggles among young people. You can find out more about the services at the education section of WRAL.com. First lady, Jill Biden, will be in North Carolina tomorrow. She's expected to speak at a political event in Wilmington. Her campaign stop comes as many in the Democratic party are uneasy about President Joe Biden's prospects for winning a second term. Jill Biden is also making stops in Florida and Georgia tomorrow. Goldsboro's former mayor who made history as the city's first and only black mayor was laid to rest today. (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) A celebration of life was held for Al King at Rhodes Goldsboro Raleigh Assembly Church this afternoon. King died last week at 92 years old. Born in Duplin County, he attended North Carolina A&T State University before serving in the Air Force for two decades. He then led Goldsboro's Human Resources Department for more than 20 years before becoming mayor. He served as the city's mayor from 2002 to 2015. Thousands of students and teachers will be back in the classroom this week as year-round schools start again in Wake County. 37 year-round schools kick off the 2024-2025 school year tomorrow morning. Those schools serve roughly 42,000 students in the county. Eight modified calendar schools start Monday, July 22nd and nine track four year-round calendar schools start Monday, July 29th. The traditional calendar schools will not start until August 27th. Well, the Transportation Department will have additional safety and that brings its fleet to four fire engines, one ladder truck. Additionally, there will be at least one battalion chief on duty at all times. The fire department says they were able to expand due to recent hires who have started shift work. Sanford's first fire academy class graduated at the end of June. The city is building a new fire station and in the meantime, the additional engine will respond from station two on Woodland Avenue. You might see some film crews on UNC Chapel Hill's campus in the next few days, starting tomorrow. They'll be shooting the popular 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, which may impact traffic. UNC says filming will largely take place outside on the McCorkel Place and surrounding buildings. If you will be around during the area at that time, you can expect delays and also road and parking closures. Tropical Storm Barrel is approaching the Texas coast. It's left behind a wake of destruction in the Caribbean. Coming up, we share what a North Carolina organization is doing to help people devastated by the storm. Plus a triangle teen beat out thousands of students to participate in an intensive research program this summer. Hear about the Enlow students' big accomplishment next. (upbeat music) Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get Juicy Washington Red Cherries for £2.99 a pound, then get 10 for 10 on items like Lays Stacks, Rice Oroni, and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shuff these deals at your local Kroger today or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is working to responsibly meet rising energy demand. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's Energy in Progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. The Outer Bands of Barrel brought rain and intensifying winds to Texas today. Coastal residents boarded up windows, left beach towns under evacuation orders, and braced for the tropical storm that forecasters expected to strengthen back into a hurricane before landfall. Much of Texas' shoreline was under a hurricane warning and landfall was expected early tomorrow. Officials in several coastal counties urged tourists along the beach to leave. This evening, Samaritan's Purse, based in Boone, North Carolina, is preparing to send out another plane full of aid to the parts of the Caribbean, hardest hit by Hurricane Barrel. As W.R.E.L.'s Eric Miller reports, the organization has seen significant growth over the last few years, as it's dealt with more disasters, both natural and man-made. The images are stark, an island stripped bare. This video provided by Samaritan's Purse shows both the wounds left behind by Hurricane Barrel on Kariaku Island and the healing the group is now trying to provide. We have a lot of medical staff there. We've been distributing tarps, solar lights for a few days. Erenashoff, Deputy Director of International Projects for Samaritan's Purse, says this is part of a three-pronged assault on the disaster zone. We cruise in Kariaku, Grenada, and Petite Martinique. 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. The multi-pronged approach has become normal, as W.R.E.L.F. says, especially in the last few years. Samaritan's Purse has grown into a nearly billion dollar relief organization with more than 2,700 disaster responders and a growing private air force. We've added not just a DC-8, which is a heavy load cargo and staff aircraft. We've added a 757. Just this morning, we have a new helicopter that's down in the Caribbean. In the last few years, have provided plenty to test that preparation from wars in Ukraine to Gaza and natural disasters like barrel. We feel like we're in a business where there's a high demand for our services. Ashoff couldn't say whether such disasters are getting more common, but he stressed that even with crews spread across the globe, Samaritan's Purse is ready to keep responding wherever the next storm hits. We all send teams wherever they're needed. Eric Miller, W.R.E.L. News. Amazing and important work they're doing. The North Carolina State Capitol is reopening to the public tomorrow and comes more than a year after renovations started. The outside of the building was repaired, including replacing copper on the roof and dome. The work also included an HVAC system update. Visitors can take self-guided tours Monday through Friday from nine to five and Saturdays from 10 to five. Free and guided tours are available from 11 to one on Saturdays. An Enlow Magnet High School Rising Senior is doing something this summer that only 100 students across the world get to do. This is Ryan Raison standing outside MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ryan beat out thousands of other students to attend the Research Science Institute. It's a six-week intensive research program. His work there is related to quantum computing. Ryan's passions range from math and physics to ballet. 'Cause this is kind of like a dipping your toes in kind of like the professional world. In sense, it's like how we're working on this research. So it kind of gives me like a little bit of taste of what I'm gonna be doing in the future. It's such an accomplishment, and it speaks to his focus on his studies, but also his disnative talent in general as well, so we're so proud of him. Part of the intensive program includes meeting renowned researchers, including who you see here, renowned molecular biologist, Fung Zhang. Let's get things back over to Anthony because I see a lot going on behind you. We're watching some potential storms throughout the evening. - Yeah, it's very similar to what we saw yesterday where we have kind of this afternoon heating, actually, and then we get these bubble up storms, and then we're left with this picture out there. Much needed rainfall for us, but it's definitely coming down with some potency out there. We head over to radar. Let's talk about kind of where we currently sit. You can definitely see the more potent cells if you will with lightning, some heavier rainfall south of the triangle. Right north of Fayetteville, done I-40, Goldsboro. You can see right around Clinton as well. Even these couple of cells near Fayetteville, we've gotten a couple reports here of some power outages in place. We're not expecting any severe weather as we go through the rest of this evening, but certainly that can be very disruptive. So we're gonna watch that as we go forward. It's definitely more showery as you get closer to Durham, east of Roxbury, right there. Roanoke Rapids looking pretty quiet right now, but we'll continue to watch it here as we go through the rest of tonight. Here's our live look, White Lake. You can see it definitely looks a little bit ominous. I was watching this camera earlier. There were still lots of people out there enjoying the water. Where we sit currently, some of those cells off in the distance looks a little bit dark with some showers, but for the majority of at least that camera, we're looking pretty calm. We get into the next couple of hours though, closer to midnight, we'll hang on to this activity, and then it mostly starts to fizzle out here later on tonight. Early Monday morning, you will not have any issues here out there to where as far as pouring down rain or needing the rain gear tomorrow. We start off here with some cloud cover. There's a look early early tomorrow morning, and as we're headed out for the morning commute, looking pretty good, we go into the day itself. There's going to be another chance of some spotty storms tomorrow afternoon. It will not be as widespread coverage though as we're seeing out there this evening, bubble up there for us, and then we get into tomorrow night and they should start to fizzle out. We look at the next seven days though. Look at this map. So this has kind of shown what we're looking at as far as a forecast for rainfall is concerned. Across our part of the country, this is outlined for two to two and a half inches of rain across most of our viewing area. Over the next seven days, you can also see where what's left of barrel is going to track to our west. We are not expecting that in our neck of the woods, but we could see some moisture kind of get injected, if you will, up into the upper atmosphere, and we'll watch some of that get closer to us. Where we sit right now with this system, 65 mile per hour winds, it's a tropical storm. It is expected to become a category one hurricane later on tonight with a landfall right along the Texas coastline there as a category one hurricane early Monday morning. Where it goes from there though, it should rapidly weaken. We're gonna watch this get closer to, let's say, St. Louis as a remnant low pressure system, meaning moisture, some light winds, it's not gonna be a big time storm system in that direction. Where it goes from there, you can see I'll take you ahead to Thursday afternoon. We are looking at some decent moisture getting funneled up here, but it is not going to be majorly impactful with what they're expecting down in Texas. Friday morning as well, we're looking at some decent chances of some moisture kind of associated with what's left of that system. We are still hot though the next couple of days, 92 for us tomorrow, 95 on Tuesday. Look at those rain chances though. Thursday, Friday, very decent chances for a 70% chance both days, and then actually I'm liking that temperature, 84 on Friday going from the close to 100 or over 100 degrees here the past couple of days. That will feel nice when it'll come with the clouds and the rain. - Okay, all right, Anthony, thank you. Casey here now, Casey, what are you thinking about? The moves that the canes have been making so far? - Really interesting so far, right? And I know the canes fans are still waiting for that big splash, but you know the team does continue to make some depth moves. And the last signing, well it's keeping it all in the family. Plus the NC courage at home for it's a final match before Olympic break, and update from wake met soccer park next. (upbeat music) - Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for $2.99 a pound, then get 10 for 10 on items like Lay's Stacks, Rice-A-Roni, and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shop these deals at your local Kroger today, or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. - We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is working to responsibly meet rising energy demand. So everyone can get to where they want to be. - You've arrived. - That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. - Tonight, the North Carolina courage returned home for the final fixture before the Olympic break, the courage honoring its five Olympians here, including Casey Murphy. She's of course our lone United States representative. Now the ladies look at two, take some momentum into the break, having strung together three straight results, two wins and a draw for the first time this season. Let's get you out to Wake Mud Soccer Park, a little rain not stopping the kiddos this afternoon. The courage trailed the entire first half one nil, pick it up in the 55th minute. Everyone getting in on the action, what a move from Menaka was, mayor to spec the perfect feed to the far post, athlete Sanchez, the header ties things up at one. The courage really dialing up the pressure, just a few minutes later, Menaka chips it in from distance, from one goal down to one goal up, the courage on top. The ladies would score three on answer to the span of 15 minutes. Three, one is the score right now, it's just a few minutes left in the match. Coming up tonight on Sports Extra, we'll hear from the courage, plus a Special Olympics send off, including USA swim team members, plus all recap, NHL free agency frenzy, what moves the Kane's made and why there isn't the urge to splurge, all that and a whole lot more on Fox 50, following the 10 p.m. news. But first it's a mother. Here are a lot of hurricanes news. You know, they just extended defenseman, Jacob Slavin for eight more years, and today the team announced, they're adding another slave into the mix, signing Jacob's younger brother, Josiah, to a two year, two way deal. Now that deal is worth $775,000 with the NHL level and 150 at the age, a level with a $450,000 guarantee. Now Josiah is a forward who spent last season with AHL's Toronto Marley's, where he scored 10 goals, collecting 24 points in over 70 games. General manager Eric Tolsky called him a smart, two way forward with good size, who competes hard and brings high character, of course, a slave in family trait. Well former Duke Goodeville and fan, Bill Woodpecker, Joey Loperfido, making a case for catch of the year in the MLB. It appears to be an unlikely catch when the Houston Astros outfit on leaps up, gloves the ball before it pops out. The rookie then makes that bare hand, it catch on his way down as you take another, love just unbelievable hand-eye coordination there. Houston, we're going to escape with a 1312 victory over Minnesota. Electric race cars, oh, say it isn't so. While in Chicago this weekend, NASCAR unveiled its first all-electric car. The racing crossover has three electric motors, one driving the front wheels, two in the back, now the capable of producing a maximum of 1,300 horsepower. That's almost double the horsepower of NASCAR's current gasoline powered race cars. A fully drivable prototype provides a way for NASCAR to kind of gauge its fan interest in electric cars. But if you're a race fan like me, and you maybe need it to be tacked off the ledge, don't worry, NASCAR executives insist. They have no plans to turn away from the fuel burning power anytime soon. I mean, the roar of a NASCAR engine, guys, there's just nothing better, I tell ya. All righty, finally tonight in Wimbledon, they shock her at Center Court, former Virginia star, Emma Navarro, upset number two seed, cocoa, golf, and straight sets no less to reach her first. Major quarter final in the all-American clash, the 23-year-old Navarro, took just one hour and 14 minutes to prevail, denying reigning US Open champion, golf her first trip to the Wimbledon quarter finals, pretty exciting there for her as she moves on. - Super exciting for her, it's gotta be frustrating. You can only imagine a golf disappointment today. - Absolutely, yeah. All right, Casey, thank you. And thank you so much for joining us on this Sunday night. Have a great evening. (upbeat music) - Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for £2.99 a pound, then get 10 for 10 on items like Lay's Stacks, Rice Oroni, and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shuff these deals at your local Kroger today, or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. (upbeat music)