The state Department of Insurance has set a hearing for April 2025 in Raleigh on the N.C. Rate Bureau’s requested increase of 49.9% and 82.9% for two types of mobile home policies.
storms
Rachel Carson Reserve: Beaufort’s barrier to raging storms
In our ongoing look at the Coastal Area Management Act’s 50th anniversary this year, this Carteret County jewel of the Coastal Reserve Program also provides important protection.
State’s flood warning system for roads wins national award
The N.C. Department of Transportation’s advance-detection warning system is a winner of the 2024 Environmental Excellence Award presented by the Federal Highway Administration.
Photographer captures Buxton beach after storm damage
Don Bowers, who has been documenting storms in the northern Buxton beach area for decades, says the damage from this week’s low-pressure system “is as bad as I’ve ever seen it.”
Emergency sandbag work on NC 12 set to begin Monday
The work involves replacing about 800 sandbags damaged or displaced during recent storms and restoring the protective barrier between N.C. 12 and the Atlantic Ocean on the northern end of Ocracoke Island.
State’s Flood Resiliency Blueprint a necessary new approach
Commentary: Building flood resilience across the state saves $6 for every $1 spent before disaster strikes, and a new tool developed in collaboration with numerous stakeholders can help local leaders determine where to invest.
Surveys to guide moves to save cultural sites on state lands
Rising sea levels are increasing erosion along the North Carolina coast, threatening to destroy forever important cultural artifacts on state lands, but archaeologists are working on a plan to protect the sites.
Property insurance community roundtable set for Jan. 17
The open house and roundtable discussions with insurance specialists are scheduled for 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17, at Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island.
Pace of cyclone strengthening has doubled since 1971
A study from Rowan University in New Jersey has drawn a connection between the number of rapidly strengthening tropical Atlantic hurricanes in recent years and documented increases in ocean temperatures.
Five years after Florence: A look back at resilience efforts
Guest commentary: The effects of Hurricane Florence in 2018 linger today, and though progress toward resilience has been made, the recent loss of wetland protections will come to bear after future storms.
Precautionary swimming advisory lifted at most NC sites
State recreational water quality officials lifted Friday the precautionary advisory against swimming issued Aug. 31 due to Tropical Storm Idalia in all coastal waters.
Power restoration underway
A Duke Energy truck is seen passing through floodwater along Community Road in Davis in Down East Carteret County Thursday as the effects of Tropical Storm Idalia on the North Carolina coast became clear in the morning light. The utility said that high winds and flooding left about 20,000 Duke Energy customers without power Thursday morning, but more than 60,000 customers have had power restored since Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Idalia tracks just off NC coast
Winds were increasing over Pamlico Sound and the Outer Banks with moderate rainfall as of the National Hurricane Center’s 8 a.m. update.
Washing up for the holidays
A strong southeast wind, heavy rains and an especially high tide combine to create a pool reaching from the ocean to the showers on the west side of the Oceanana Fishing Pier Thursday in Atlantic Beach. While not a king tide, which are the highest high- and lowest low-tide events of the year and happen when the Earth, sun and moon are aligned while the moon is at its perigee, or closest point in its elliptical orbit to Earth, Dec. 26-25 is a period of higher- and lower-than-normal tides. The the lunar perigee is Dec. 24. Photo: Dylan Ray
Weak tropical cyclones are intensifying as oceans warm
A study finds that forecast methods may underestimate tropical storms and Category 1 hurricanes, which have had bigger impacts over the past 30 years because of climate change.
Storm may bring high winds, flooding to Eastern NC
Subtropical Storm Nicole formed Monday east of the northern Bahamas and is forecast to turn west toward the U.S., possibly impacting portions of eastern N.C. this week.