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4:30AM News on WRAL - Wednesday, July 3, 2024
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And Hurricane Beryl continues to devastate the Caribbean this morning as the threats of that storm potentially affect parts of Texas. That is what is looming, depending on which direction that turns. I'm Jeff Hogan. It's good to have you with us here on our Wednesday morning. I'm Renee Chu, a very active hurricane season. And when you look at that, we're grateful for our quiet weather here. Beryl just Anthony Baglione in the W.R.O. Severe Weather Center. And today, we start to turn things up humidity and temperature-wise. Yeah, we're really going to start to see things change up for us. By the time we get into the weekend, those actual high temperatures getting close to, if not at triple digits, once again. So good morning to all of you. So we've got the calm weather we have out there right now, kind of the relatively comfortable weather. Here's our North Hills camera. You can see everything's nice and still currently. Just a little bit of humidity, but it's certainly not going to be off the charts for us today. We're starting off at 71, good morning to Raleigh Durham, 67 in Rocky Mountain. We're at 63 in Goldsboro. So about where we should be for this time of the year. Our muggy meter itself is in that tolerable category where you walk outside, it actually is pretty manageable. We will really start to bump that up. It's going to feel tropical by the time we get just after July 4th. 92 for us today and to this afternoon should feel hot, but not super humid overall. We are tracking though that big time warm up for the 4th. We're going to go over just how high those temperatures climb and who could get close to records guys coming up here in a few. Police in Durham meantime are investigating a crash that left a car on its roof in a wooded area. This happened on Denfield Street just before 1 30 this morning. This is video from the WRL breaking news tracker. We're working to learn more about what led up to this crash and if anyone was hurt. The search for a missing swimmer at Jordan Lake lasted well into the early morning hours. We started their search after they got a call just before 9 last night. W or as Kelsey coffee joins us live from Jordan Lake this morning and Kelsey this search comes after two drownings at Jordan Lake and recent weeks. Renee it does and we're working to find out if crews have found that swimmer or if they will start their search again this morning. They were here at Jordan Lake until almost 1 30 this morning, but let's take you to video now from the WRL breaking news tracker so you can see crews there searching their search lasted for more than five hours and crews were dispatched around 845 last night. The search was focused on Martha's Chapel Road and Farrington Road. Take a listen to radio traffic from when crews were dispatched. And it may all possibly 52 years of age. I will flag down the first responders if I was a lot of cars or parked on the side of the roadway. Same as possibly been in the water for over 20 minutes. And we did report about two other drownings here at Jordan Lake since late May. So this is just a reminder this morning to be safe out on the water as we head into the fourth. We'll be sure to keep you updated on this investigation Kelsey copy WRL news live at Jordan Lake. Today you should prepare for traffic delays triple A expected to be the most crowded day on the roads with people headed to their Independence Day destinations. WRL is Laura Levine joins us live this morning in Raleigh and Laura. If people want to avoid traffic it would be best to leave early. Yes, start making those travel plans for today. Right now if you could pack those bags and begin heading out and listen to this. Triple A says more than 2.2 million North Carolinians will travel 50 miles or more away from home. And of that number 1.9 billion will do so by vehicle that's nearly 2 million vehicles on the road. So yes, drivers can expect heavy traffic and congestion this year. Triple A predicts we'll have more than 100,000 more drivers this holiday compared to last year. The holiday travel period was extended this year with more people working remotely and more people started leaving for their destinations earlier this year with plans to extend that trip and vacation through this weekend. For those with schedules not as flexible, here's some advice on when to head out for that trip today. Speaking just rush hour times of winning those peak times or talking about you know between 3 and 5, 3 and 6. If your travel plans allow you to leave earlier in the morning or late in the evening, that's when you're going to experience the least amount of congestion during this travel period. Although it's still going to be crowded out there and some good news here that your trip will likely be a little bit cheaper compared to last year with the gas prices. Gas buddy says that on the 4th of July tomorrow, the national average price of gasoline will be 3.49. So $3.49. That's the cheapest. It's been for the 4th of July since 2021. L'Orla Veeam, WRL news live in Raleigh. Also if you're traveling by air, be prepared for long lines at RDU. More than 5 and a half million Americans are predicted to be flying this week. Right now there are six delays, zero cancellations so far this morning. RDU officials are reminding people arrive two to three hours before departure time and book your parking spot early. A driver who led state troopers on a multi-county high-speed chase is in the hospital this morning. Yesterday afternoon, troopers tried to stop a black Jeep trackhawk for speeding and reckless driving over on I-95 near the Johnston and Wilson County line. That's when the driver led troopers on a chase reaching speeds of 160 miles per hour. National County deputies stepped in and deployed stop sticks. The Jeep then lost control, hit a guardrail and overturned. The male driver and female passenger were hurt but are expected to live. State troopers say the driver had a remote control registration plate that he used to switch between a South Carolina Maryland plate. The driver faces numerous charges. Today Hurricane Barrel is moving toward Jamaica. Barrel remains a very strong category four storm. The storm has already left seven people dead and it's already the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic in the month of June. Yesterday became the strongest ever recorded in July. National Hurricane Center is forecasting life-threatening storm surge in Jamaica. Government officials there are urging people to stock up on food, water and batteries. Hundreds of people who are evacuating the island arrived at Fort Lauderdale Airport last night. Airlines adjusted their schedules to help as many people as possible get out. An SBI agent and three Fayetteville police officers are on administrative leave after shoot out that left to man dead. The scene unfolded while officers were trying to serve a warrant for first degree murder on Ivanhoe Court near Morganton Road. In video obtained by WREL, an officer is heard ordering the man to put a gun down. Then there is an exchange of gunfire between the man and officers. There's a pause for a moment when the man hits the ground, then more gunfire from officers after the man appears to move. We are actively working to find out the name of the man who was killed and what the next steps are in this investigation. An 84-year-old man is in the hospital after crashing his small plane in North Carolina. This happened just to our west at Lexington Airport around eight last night. Troopers say the plane crashed while trying to take off. The plane never got off the ground. It flipped over right at the end of the runway. The pilot was pinned inside and may have suffered a head injury. The FAA is investigating. Today President Joe Biden will meet with a group of Democratic governors as concerns about his status in the presidential race grow. Sources say some governors have been pushing for this meeting. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz organized the governor's only call on Monday after last week's debate. A source says governors are reluctant to go public with their concerns because they don't want Biden to dig in further. There is no word on whether Governor Roy Cooper is expected to be on today's call. Only on WRAL, a devoted dad is on a mission to help the police find his son's killer. Raleigh police say this man Ernesto Torres Torres stabbed 32-year-old Aaron Heath. Heath later died from his injuries. His father, Kato Muhammad, says he was a loving son. Muhammad also talked with people near the scene asking if they knew what happened to his son. It hurts me bad, man. It breaks my heart to know this is where my son bled out. He took his last breath right there. Muhammad says he's working to offer an award for the arrest of Torres Torres. Former President Donald Trump's sentencing in his hush money case is now on hold. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced July 11th. Now the judge has postponed it to September 18th. Trump's defense team is challenging the guilty verdict after the Supreme Court ruled ex-presidents are entitled to presumptive immunity for official acts. Family and friends of a Chicago woman who disappeared after visiting a retreat in the Bahamas are pushing for answers. We're just really concerned that she not drop off the map, you know, and that the authorities do their very, very best to find her. Coming up, what evidence investigators have found so far as the search for Taylor Casey enters its second week. Plus an intense water rescue caught on camera and the warning from lifeguards ahead of this holiday weekend. And this is a live look at North Hills. Today, temperatures will be in the 90s as we head toward a very hot weekend. Meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner will tell us how long we will deal. Excuse me, Anthony Baglione is here. We'll tell us how long we'll deal with triple digit temperatures. Are you seeking a flexible moveout date? Feeling too busy to deal with open houses and last-minute showings? Sell your home in a snap, with sold it in a snap by the Jim Allen Group. Simply submit your information and schedule a walkthrough. The Jim Allen Group simplifies the home selling process and you're guaranteed a competitive cash offer with the number one real estate team in the triangle. The Jim Allen Group. Learn more at sold it in a snap.com. Breaking news, the designer can give you the kitchen of your dreams. I'm Dana Merrill, the owner of the designer in North Raleigh. I am true Merrill. I am the project manager. The designer is a lovely kitchen bath and closet remodeling company. We do pretty much any of the utility spaces in your house. If you want to store things in your cabinets, if you want to work on things on your countertops, if you want to have a floor that can get wet or muddy, we're the place to help you fix your home up. The designer in North Raleigh, located at 3030 Wake Forest Road in the Holly Park Plaza. We would love to see you or visit our website at thedesigner.com. From the WRAL Severe Weather Center, North Carolina's most experienced team of meteorologists. Welcome back to time now. It's just about 443 here on this Wednesday morning where we are starting off actually decently calm. You walk outside. It doesn't feel too bad for where we will start to heat up here into the next couple of days. In the upper 60s and low 70s for the majority of us, a couple of low 60s to the north. South Hill, good morning too, is checking in at 62. Region wide. If you're getting your travels started today and a lot of people hitting the roads, check out 59 there. The mountains are feeling great this morning, 67 in Fayetteville, along the coast, mainly in the low to mid 70s. We really don't start to see a big time warm up until we get into tomorrow and especially our Friday here heading into the weekend. There's a look across the region though as is typical this time of the year. Little spotty showers as you get closer to Florida, 89 there in Miami. We are going to be warmer than that at 90. Anthony, thanks. A family is pleading for answers after a Chicago woman disappeared after attending a yoga retreat in the Bahamas. 41 year old Taylor Casey was last seen at a Paradis Island Yoga retreat on June 19th. Officials at the retreat reported her missing the next day. Police then found her phone in the ocean. Her journal and other personal items were found, but police say they have not found her passport. The news comes as a shock to her family and friends back in Chicago. I want all of Chicago, all the world to know that she is very loved and it's a wonderful person that her disappearance is very unlike her. She's she's not one to just, you know, to disappear. Bahamian authorities say they've deployed drivers, drones, tracking dogs in its ongoing search. U.S. State Department is also involved in the investigation. Good morning. I'm Chris Lovenga in the WRIA Live Center. I want to show you some video from overnight. This is in Pittsburgh and you'll see the smoke that was recorded in this video coming from this building. Some kind of warehouse or some sort, but you'll see it billowing into the sky here on your screen. This happened on US 15501 around eight o'clock last night as my call went out. It's not quite clear what caused this fire, but we do know that it was under control in about 30 minutes time. Fire crews were there for quite a bit, though, and Pittsburgh fire responded to this and assisted by other different fire departments. So we'll be waiting to hear today for more specifics in terms of what caused this fire in Pittsburgh. Another fire wildfire burning near the North Carolina coast is now 95% contained. That's good news. This blazing Carteret County started two weeks ago for a service says it's burned 545 acres. Investigators say a county commissioner there is responsible for setting the fire. They say Chris Chadwick said a debris fire it got out of control and at one point threatened nearby homes. Two puppies are recovering after being abandoned, outside a vacant home in Raleigh. A rescue facility tells us three puppies were left outside in the heat. They were stuck inside a crate while temperatures outside hit the upper 90s last week and one of them sadly died. With house, skinny and emaciated they were. They were probably in there for several days and they were in there during that heat wave that we had with no food and no water. Just awful. The two surviving puppies are now living with a foster family and we're told they're slowly gating weight. Look at how emaciated they were. They will stay with the foster family until they are well enough to find permanent homes. You can help support the shelter or learn more about fostering and adapting on WRAL.com. Alaska's Juno ice field is melting and fast according to a new study the melting is accelerating and is now shrinking five times faster compared to several decades ago. It's melting so fast the flow of ice into water is averaging about 50,000 gallons every second. Scientists say climate change is to blame a warming planet is creating longer summers and shorter winters. As many people head to the coast for the holiday weekend it's a good time to remind you to be aware of the danger of rip currents. Take a look at this water rescue that happened in Ocean City, New Jersey over the weekend. Lifeguards jumped into action to save nine people swept out by rip currents. A family of four fell off a jetty and then good Samaritans tried to help causing them to get pulled off shore as well from those rip currents. Thankfully all of them were rescued and all are okay. You can help the Cape Fear Valley blood donor center at a drive today in Fayetteville. It's happening at the offices of Village Green from 10 to 2. It's on Fordham Drive. All donors will get a 60 minute game pass to main event at Cross Creek Mall as well as a movie ticket. You'll also be entered to win a $500 Visa gift card. It is $4.48 and the last two days the drop in humidity has felt wonderful and now the muggy meter is starting to the needles going to move once again meter. I'll just Anthony Begglione in the W U S of your weather center with our feels like temperatures. Yeah, we knew when last year was summer in North Carolina walked outside. Of course, yeah, and it felt so nice here the past couple of days that humidity is going to start to ramp back up mainly as we get into tomorrow and especially for the weekend. It will be noticeable. We look at though today our actual air temperature forecast on the left, the feels like value in that right column. It's going to feel basically like that actual air temperature in the low 90s. So not a bad summer day. We really start to crank that up tomorrow. 103 the feels like temperatures for July 4th 109 on Friday. We could see heat advisories and we've been through it here the past little while we could see those come out again here into the weekend where we sit currently across the area where it's 71 here across the triangle 63 in Roxborough 67 Rocky Mount 68 in Clinton. It comes with a little bit of humidity, but it is not off the charts. You'll walk outside and it actually is a decent start here this morning. We climb quickly though right about lunchtime where at 87 92 at 3 o'clock a mix of sun and clouds. No rain expected. You can head outside. Enjoy. Get ready for those 4th of July festivities and it should be a great day for that. Keep in mind if you are headed to the coast, here's a look at our rip current threat. Basically along all of our beaches, we are seeing moderate rip current threats, so it's just one step below of course the highest category. Anytime we have those, they'll want to make sure that you're well aware of that. So pay attention very closely to those flags out there. We look at our muggy meter though. This is the big telltale as we head through the summertime months today. It's going to feel nice even in that comfortable category. We really start to go back up Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You will be feeling it. So as we get ready to head into the weekend, maybe you have some kind of leftover July 4th parties or something like that, the air conditioning is going to be very much needed into the weekend. Rain chances though. We still could use some. We're going to be seeing those kind of stick with us tomorrow. There's about a 20% chance. Very minimal at best, but just a slight chance of a storm Friday, Saturday, Sunday, especially this weekend. Matter storms are going to be possible for us, not total washout conditions. We look at the tropics though, where many spots are talking about washout conditions. Here's the latest on Hurricane Beryl. This storm has just been incredible to watch here as it continues to, unfortunately, push closer to Jamaica right there, 145 mile per hour winds. We expect it to stay a very strong storm here at least for another day or so before it tries to weaken a little bit, but still taking that in there close to Mexico, close to Texas as a tropical storm right around the days after July 4th. Our forecast here at home, 98 tomorrow we go to 100 on Friday, 99 Saturday and the guys into next week still a little unsettled with rain chances, but we do see those highs back off a little bit. Thanks Anthony, Rockstar and Wilson is talking about her health struggles. What is she is revealing about her cancer diagnosis? And Childish Gambino releases the name of his final album ahead of his world tour. Each year, millions of North Carolinians visit a doctor of chiropractic for a variety of different reasons, and because of the opioid epidemic, that number is expected to grow. Chiropractic is a drug-free, natural form of healthcare that helps people with all sorts of different painful conditions such as headaches, neck pain, back pain, sciatica, and various different musculoskeletal conditions. But did you know that your doctor of chiropractic can actually help you improve your overall level of health? It's been a historic year for NC State athletics. You know about the basketball and baseball teams, but what about the cheese rolling? A former NC State student has become a big timer in this sport. W.R.S. Pat Welter hit the hills to find out how she's getting her roll on. Abby Lampy is on a roll. My friends are going to be like, "What did you do today?" I'm like, "I rolled down a lot of hills." The former NC State student is the two-time women's Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake champion. My regard for my life is very little. That's right. She's the best in the world at chasing cheese. How's that feel? I'm a little dizzy. She discovered the annual competition on YouTube and decided to make Gloucester, England, to stop on a trip to Europe. This is a double Gloucester wheel. It is about 8 pounds, 3.6 kilograms. It rolls down the hill at speeds of 70 miles per hour. Dorothy at Dick's Park in Raleigh should put her engineering degree to use. So two years ago, I practiced forward rolls and tumble rolls. But nothing can really prepare you for this. The first time I went down, I realized I was going sideways down the hill when the tree line started to shift. This year, I was bouncing a lot on the hill. You know, I was getting a lot of airtime and people came up to me after. They were like, "You got 1.5 meters." I was like, "I felt like I bounced a lot." Victory never tasted so dry aged. It's very pungent. You have to have it with other things like jam spreads. Well, Pat, it's your turn now. Abby, my wife is nine months pregnant and I promised her I could not go to the hospital before her. But it's going to be a good a time. All right. Let's get cheesy. Oh my god. I'm going sideways. That welter. WRL sports. All right. That's a little bit too much dairy. Not as much incline on that hill as in England, but Pat, good try. Wow. Learning from the expert. Still spinning. I feel like right there. Abby, I guess it's trial and error if you find out if you're good at that sport, right? Yeah. Thank goodness she wasn't hurt, but people break bones doing that. Yeah. Yeah. So. Two times champ. That might be enough. And Wilson of the rock band Hart is revealing her battle with cancer. She announced her diagnosis in a post on social media and she says she had the cancerous growth removed. She's now undergoing a course of preventive chemotherapy. The 74 year old singer says she is taking the rest of the year off from touring so she can fully recover. She says she hopes to return to the stage in 2025. Tonight you can head out to Morrisville for a night of fireworks, food, and fun. The town is hosting its red, white boom, Fourth of July event tonight. It's going on from five until nine at Cedar Fork District Park. There will be live music, food trucks, games, and more. During the chairs, blankets, and there will be water stations set up at the park. Childish Gambino is about to complete an era in his career. The rapper announced his final album under the Bando Stone and New World moniker will come out on July 19th. Gambino will be hitting the road for his New World Tour. It will perform at PNC Arena in Raleigh, August 30th. Police in Durham are investigating a rollover crash that ended with the car catching fire. Here they're focusing the investigation this morning. Plus Hurricane barrel is making its way towards Jamaica, leaving destruction behind in the Caribbean. Sell your home in a snap. Sold it in a snap by the Jim Allen group simplifies the home selling process. You're guaranteed a cash offer. 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