Although the 2015 hurricane season got off to an early start with Tropical Storm Ana, forecasters say overall tropical weather activity in the Atlantic will likely be below normal.
Special Reports
Feds to States: Plan for Climate Change or Else
The next governor will have to sign off on an assessment of the risks from climate change or put the state at risk of losing millions of dollars in federal emergency-management grants.
State Fines Duke Energy $25 Million
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources yesterday levied the largest environmental fine in state history against Duke Energy for groundwater contamination from coal ash ponds at the company’s L.V. Sutton power plant near Wilmington.
Sea-Level Rise Redux
There were no fireworks this week over the release of a new draft report on sea-level rise along the N.C. coast. The new report contains no scary forecasts, no hockey stick graphs.
Sutton Ash Plan Begins to Take Shape
Duke Energy hopes to ship much of the 7.2 million pounds of ash at the Wilmington power plant to reclaimed clay mines in Lee and Chatham counties.
Hurricane Hazel: What We’ve Learned
In the last of three parts, we take a look at how hurricane forecasting, state planning for emergencies and building codes have changed since Hazel hit 60 years ago today.
Hazel: The Benchmark Hurricane
In the second part of the storm’s 60th anniversary series, we relive Hurricane Hazel with survivors from Brunswick, New Hanover and Carteret counties.
Hurricane Hazel 60 Years Later
Sixty years ago this week, the most powerful hurricane to strike North Carolina devastated much of our coastline. In the first of three parts, we relive Hazel with people who lived through the landfall.
Hogs After Floyd: Nothing’s Changed
Hog lagoons flooded after Hurricane Floyd and state officials made many assurances to change the way hog waste is treated. Fifteen years later and nothing much had changed.
The Legacy of Hurricane Floyd
North Carolina’s worst natural disaster and costliest hurricane made landfall 15 years ago this week. In the first of two parts, we take a look at the legacy Floyd left in its wake.
What’s Next for the Sutton Plant?
Heavy metals from coal-ash ponds at the Sutton power plant near Wilmington continue to contaminate groundwater. As the state steps up coal-ash management, what’s next for the high-risk plant?
Catlin Defends Changes to Coal Ash Bill
Rep. Rick Catlin of New Hanover County and the N.C. House have come under fire for amendments that opponents say weaken a bill to clean up coal ash ponds.
Arthur Spares N.C. Coast
The hurricane was too small and too fast-moving to do any lasting damage on its Fourth of July sprint up the coast.
CRC Chairman Avoids Climate Dust Up
The chairman of the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission defused a potentially explosive issue in the sea-level rise debate by appointing a respected geologist to the CRC’s panel of science advisers.
Should We Be Freaking Out?
Two studies about the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the four-foot rise in sea level that could result grabbed screaming headlines. Just more media hype? Unfortunately, this is real.
Sutton Ponds: An Open-Ended Priority
In the last of two parts, we’ll uncover what is being done to clean up the two million tons of toxic coal ash that leaks slowly from unlined ponds at the Sutton power plant outside of Wilmington.
