VOLUME 3 ISSUE 31
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018
Inside NC teams help carry the ball after Florence, Sports
JEFF GARRETT | N.C. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION VIA AP
This Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, photo provided by the North Carolina Department of Transportation shows fish left on Interstate 40 in Pender County in eastern North Carolina after floodwaters receded. Thousands of coastal residents remained on edge Sunday, told they may need to leave their homes because rivers are still rising more than a week after Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas.
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
Florence is second wettest storm in 70 years Raleigh Hurricane Florence was the nation’s second rainiest storm in 70 years, a top rainfall meteorologist at NOAA and N.C. State calculated. According to Ken Kunkel, only last year’s Hurricane Harvey rained more over a 14,000 square mile area during four days. Preliminary analysis found more than 17.5 inches fell in the 14,000 square miles of the eastern Carolinas stretching from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to Florence, South Carolina.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
Cosby sentenced to three-to-10 years Norristown, Pa. Bill Cosby left a Pennsylvania courtroom Tuesday in handcuffs to begin serving a three-to-10year prison sentence for sexual assault. Defense lawyers tried to keep the 81-year-old out of prison while he appeals his conviction, saying he’s frail and legally blind. Judge Steven O’Neill refused their plea for Cosby to remain on house arrest, ruling Tuesday that Cosby could “quite possibly be a danger to the community.” Cosby was convicted of drugging and molesting Temple University athletics administrator Andrea Constand.
Duke says its data show no harm from flooded coal ash storage Charlotte Duke Energy said Monday that results from water samples collected downstream of the flooded coal ash depository at L.V. Sutton Power Station near Wilmington showed no negative impacts to the Cape Fear River and no elevated readings for lead, arsenic or other toxic heavy metals. Inspectors from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality also collected samples of the river water. Officials said those results should be available later in the week.
INSIDE The state legislature calls a special session to deal with Florence costs. Jones & Blount
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STEVE HELBER | AP PHOTO
A pickup truck drives on a flooded road past a farm house that is surrounded by flooded fields from tropical storm Florence in Hyde County, NC, Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
Eastern NC businesses clean up after Florence Owner of popular Morehead City brew pub recounts how storm “tore roof off” his business By David Larson For the North State Journal WITH TWO MORE deaths announced by Gov. Cooper on Monday, the North Carolina death toll from Hurricane Florence has reached 35. Roads remain flooded and closed across portions of eastern North Carolina, but the major thoroughfares, most notably, I-40 and I-95, have now reopened. For esidents of the region, data on deaths and flooding doesn’t tell the full story. Many businesses were especially hard hit and will be dealing with the after-effects of Florence for the foreseeable future. Russell Lewis, owner of Tight Lines Pub and Brewing Company in Morehead City and Queen Anne’s Revenge in Beaufort, told the North State Journal how the storm devastated one of his businesses. Lewis, a Beaufort native, first opened Queen Anne’s Revenge, a popular pizza restaurant on the docks in Beaufort, after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill and returning home to the Crystal Coast. The restaurant was a success so they then decided to open a brew pub in neighboring Morehead City. The family chose a historic building in the heart of the popular downtown and got to work renovating it. Russell’s grandfather was the general contractor for the project, his dad did the electric work and he did a lot of the labor himself. After opening, Tight Lines was embraced by the community and by the throngs of tourists who pass through Morehead City every day. “Tight Lines is the only brew pub in the county, be-
“We went inside and it was like walking into an indoor storm. It was literally raining inside. I was in complete awe. It was a moment I’ll never forget.” Russell Lewis. owner of Tight Lines Pub and Brewing Company
NC farmers could take billions in targets Iran as losses from Florence US world leaders gather at UN See FLORENCE, page A3
By Donna King North State Journal RALEIGH, N.C. — The damage to North Carolina’s agriculture industry from Hurricane Florence could reach well into the billions of dollars. “I think it’s easily going to be in the billions of dollars,” N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said, calling the damage “catastrophic” and “unbelievable.” Florence came as the second swing in a one-two punch, the first being Hurricane Matthew in 2016. However, this time it’s worse. Matthew hit in October, when most of the crops had already been harvested. This time, losses to tobacco, cotton and corn crops are sure, and farmers are watching sweet potatoes and peanuts carefully to see if the floodwaters jeopardized their below-surface survival. “This hurricane couldn’t have come at a worse time,” North
Carolina Farm Bureau President Larry Wooten said. North Carolina damage estimates are expected to come in next week, but it isn’t looking good so far from the limited view they have. Standing water still blocks roads into farming areas of central and eastern North Carolina where five of the state’s top six farming counties are within the hardest-hit areas. In tobacco alone, Graham Boyd, chief executive of the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, estimates losses could total as much as 125 million pounds, valued at $250 million to $350 million, primarily because about 40 percent of the tobacco crop remained in the field when Florence came ashore. Beyond crops, livestock losses in North Carolina are estimated at 3.4 million poultry and 5,500 hogs so far, the state Agriculture See AGRICULTURE, page A2
President Donald Trump warned Iran of severe consequences if defiance continues By Matthew Lee Associated Press NEW YORK — President Donald Trump and his top national security aides lashed out at Iran with unusual venom Tuesday, warning Tehran that it faced severe consequences if it defied the United States. Speeches by the president before the U.N. General Assembly and by national security adviser John Bolton to an organization that opposed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, from which the Trump administration withdrew in May, appeared to mark an escalation of rhetoric. Trump blasted what he called
“If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens; if you continue to lie, cheat and deceive, yes, there will indeed be hell to pay.” U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton Iran’s “corrupt dictatorship” and accused its leaders of enriching themselves through massive embezzlement and raiding state coffers to spread “mayhem” across the Middle East and around the world. Bolton warned Iran that there would be “hell to pay” if it crossed the U.S. or its allies and partners. See TRUMP, page A2