North Carolina
Beach House Collapses Into Ocean and Floats Away as Hurricane Ernesto Brings Dangerous Currents to East Coast
![Beach House Collapses Into Ocean and Floats Away as Hurricane Ernesto Brings Dangerous Currents to East Coast Beach House Collapses Into Ocean and Floats Away as Hurricane Ernesto Brings Dangerous Currents to East Coast](https://people.com/thmb/pKohDZWyekQPUCkEo5b_2siAGv8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/BEACH-HOUSE-FLOATS-AWAY900-08192024-d9196ec0ee304e3aa8b023338a065580.jpg)
Viral footage shows a beach house in North Carolina collapse and float away into the Atlantic Ocean as Hurricane Ernesto ravaged the east coast.
On Friday, Aug. 16, a home in Rodanthe on Hatteras Island was swept into the ocean due to a swell from the hurricane, according to a Facebook post from the Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue, which advised residents to steer clear of the water because “debris will be washing around” for days.
The home was unoccupied at the time of its collapse and no injuries were sustained in any of the homes that collapsed in the area, the National Park Service (NPS) confirmed in a release, which noted that the Rodanthe home is the seventh house to collapse on Seashore beaches in four years.
The Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge said they have been in communications with the property owner and “a debris removal contractor” had yet to be obtained.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Significant debris removal efforts” aren’t expected to take place “until after the elevated sea conditions subside,” which Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials said could be sometime this week.
The Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue alerted residents on Aug. 16 that additional homes could be at risk of “collapse over the next few days.”
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Monday, Aug. 19, “Ernesto is moving toward the northeast near 28 mph. A turn toward the northeast and east-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days.”
As the storm strengthened, forecasters warned that Ernesto would bring dangerous swells and rip currents along the East Coast, per NBC News.
The NHC said the center of the storm is expected to pass “near southeastern Newfoundland” on Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday, Aug. 20.
NHC said maximum winds “are near 90 mph” with higher winds expected, adding that “Ernesto is expected to become a post-tropical cyclone by early Tuesday.”
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
North Carolina
North Carolina joins IRS Direct File
![North Carolina joins IRS Direct File North Carolina joins IRS Direct File](https://arizent.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/cdb071d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3986x2093+0+518/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsource-media-brightspot.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2F64%2Fa9%2F1ea9d6854cdaa8af2f1220c5bc31%2Firs-hq-sign.jpg)
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced that North Carolina will be the latest state to join the IRS Direct File free tax program in filing season 2025.
The free online filing system was pilot tested last tax season in 12 states, and the IRS
The Treasury and the IRS have been working with interested states to offer Direct File to their taxpayers with North Carolina being the latest state to join, following Oregon, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Connecticut. At least 1.25 million North Carolinians will be eligible to use the free online filing tool next filing season.
Natalia Bratslavsky/Adobe
“Direct File will save North Carolinians time and money and help ensure they receive the tax benefits they are owed,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a statement Friday. “After a successful pilot this filing season, we are pleased to expand the program as a permanent offering and welcome North Carolina as the latest new state to offer this free option to taxpayers.”
“Filing taxes is often stressful, expensive, and time-consuming for North Carolina taxpayers and families,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper in a statement. “The IRS Direct File tool helps remove unnecessary hurdles and fees by allowing taxpayers to file directly with the IRS for free, keeping more money in their pockets. This resource will help ensure qualifying families receive tax credits. We are grateful to the United States Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service for developing this tool and making it available as a no-cost option for North Carolinians for filing season 2025.”
However, Cooper, a Democrat, is term limited and won’t be leading the state next tax season. If he is succeeded next year by a Republican, the program could be curtailed.
North Carolina
She ‘sarcastically’ said Obama should be killed. Now she wants to control kids’ education.
![She ‘sarcastically’ said Obama should be killed. Now she wants to control kids’ education. She ‘sarcastically’ said Obama should be killed. Now she wants to control kids’ education.](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/05/NSTN/73218984007-morrow-headshot.png?auto=webp&crop=1079,607,x0,y135&format=pjpg&width=1200)
When Morrow ran for school board in 2022, she referred to public schools as ‘indoctrination centers.’ Now she wants to control North Carolina’s education system as state superintendent.
Here’s what we know now about election polling in 2024
In the 2016 presidential election, pollsters predicted that Hillary Clinton would win. Here’s what we know now about election polling in 2024.
She has never worked in a public school and has referred to them as “indoctrination centers.” She attended the riot at the U.S. Capitol and called for former President Donald Trump to use military force to stay in power. She has been known to use hashtags affiliated with the conspiracy theory QAnon.
Yet after defeating the incumbent in a Super Tuesday primary, Michele Morrow is the Republican nominee for North Carolina superintendent. Morrow will be running against Democrat Maurice (Mo) Green.
If elected, she would be responsible for a $12 billion budget, 115 school districts and 1.36 million public school students. Concern around her campaign has grown since she became the party’s nominee.
“We believe that Morrow is uniquely unqualified for this position to serve public school students and educators across the state,” Tamika Walker Kelly, the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, told me.
I wanted to talk to Morrow more about her stances and thoughts on public education. After interviewing her, I worry about what it would mean for my home state of North Carolina – and the country, more broadly – if she were elected. Her rise in prominence is running parallel to parents’ rights movements across the country that threaten to destroy public education.
The lie that public schools are ‘indoctrination centers’
When Morrow ran for Wake County’s school board in 2022, she referred to public schools as “socialism centers” and “indoctrination centers.” Her own five children have attended public and private schools in other states, but have been homeschooled since moving to North Carolina. At one point, she told people not to send their children to public schools.
Morrow told me she stood by her claim that schools were indoctrinating children.
“Children believe any adult that is put in front of them,” Morrow told me. “And if we are telling children to be divided by the color of their skin, if we are putting politics into the classroom, if we are discussing the fact that they might be in the wrong body and that the United States is inherently racist, and that socialism is the answer for America and that capitalism is a threat to the entire world, then that is indoctrination, it is lies, and it needs to stop.”
As someone who went through the North Carolina public school system, I can assure you that I saw no brainwashing occurring. If you don’t believe me, a task force spearheaded by the lieutenant governor, conservative firebrand Mark Robinson, failed to find compelling evidence of indoctrination.
What Morrow and other Republicans don’t realize is that they are the ones putting politics in the classroom.
They brought politics into the classroom in 2021 when they began complaining at school board meetings over masking in schools. It continued with the claims that “critical race theory” is being taught and has culminated in actual legislation like the Parents Bill of Rights across the country or the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida.
Before Republicans started complaining about these things, I had never known North Carolina public schools to be political battlegrounds.
The MAGA candidate: North Carolina is on the verge of getting a MAGA governor. Why do we let this happen?
Concerning social media posts about assassinating Obama
Morrow has come under fire for previous social media posts beyond her involvement in Jan. 6, 2021. In 2020, she called for the public execution of former President Barack Obama in a reply on X, previously Twitter.
“I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” she tweeted in response to someone suggesting Obama should be sent to Guantanamo Bay.
She has also called for the killing of President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and a handful of other prominent Democrats. Morrow has also repeatedly used the QAnon-associated hashtag WWG1WGA on her personal social media account.
GOP controlling women: You’re not imagining it. Republicans have been weird about women for years.
When asked about the execution posts, Morrow said the they were “hyperbolic” and “rhetorical.”
“It was a sarcastic comment,” Morrow told me. “But the question that was being answered – and there are probably over 100 comments in that thread that they pulled from – was ‘What should happen to these individuals should they be found guilty of treason and crimes against humanity?’ So that was my response.”
I asked if she believed there was reason for Obama to be found guilty of treason, as she previously claimed.
“I am not a judge,” she told me. “I think we have moved on.”
Spoiler alert: There is no known reason Obama or any of the Democrats she targeted would be tried for treason.
Morrow participated in riot at US Capitol
Morrow also attended the Capitol riot that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a since-deleted Facebook livestream, Morrow called for the arrest of those who certified the 2020 election results, adding that Trump should have used the military to stay in power.
“If the police won’t do it, and the Department of Justice won’t do it, then he will have to enact the Insurrection Act,” Morrow said at the time. “In which case the Insurrection Act completely puts the Constitution to the side and says, now the military rules all.”
She denies that she called for a military coup.
“I was calling for certification to go back to the states, because at the time, we wanted it to be investigated,” Morrow said.
I asked Morrow if she believed the 2020 election was stolen.
“Do you believe that the issue for the superintendent is about an election that happened four years ago?” she asked me. When I pressed further, she began talking about noncitizen voting; I never got a firm answer.
Conservative takeover of education
What’s surprising about Morrow’s win against incumbent Catherine Truitt is how similar their ideologies are.
In February, Truitt’s campaign sent out mailers claiming she helped get “woke politics” out of public schools. She also supported conservative policies like the state’s Parents Bill of Rights, a 2023 law making it illegal to talk about gender identity or sexuality in elementary school through fourth grade.
Despite that reality, Morrow advertised herself as being further right than Truitt – and it worked.
Morrow’s rise to the forefront of the state’s Republican Party is happening in tandem with the ascent of Lt. Gov. Robinson, who is running for the governorship this November. Robinson has endorsed Morrow, saying at a campaign event that “we’re gonna make sure we do everything to get you in office.”
It is also occurring at a time when public schools across the country are being targeted by legislatures, as in Florida and Louisiana.
Her campaign also coincides with Project 2025 and the threat it poses to education across the country. Earlier this week, Trump said in a conversation with Elon Musk that he would close the Department of Education if reelected.
All North Carolina students deserve a quality education. To me, this is why it’s important that the Leandro Plan, a multibillion dollar school funding program that has been stuck in litigation for 30 years, be implemented.
Surprisingly, Morrow seems supportive of the initiative.
“In my role as state Superintendent,” she told me in an email, “I will absolutely advocate on behalf of our students to the General Assembly so that we not only fulfill the requirements of Leandro, but its spirit and with it, the full intent of our state constitution.”
Still, it does not change the fact that Morrow poses a threat to any child who happens to be LGBTQ+. It also does not change the fact that her social media posts are alarming, and are representative of someone who does not respect those who disagree with her.
North Carolina deserves better than Morrow. We all do.
Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno
North Carolina
Multiple trees toppled Sunday afternoon as severe storms moved through central NC
![Multiple trees toppled Sunday afternoon as severe storms moved through central NC Multiple trees toppled Sunday afternoon as severe storms moved through central NC](https://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news/local/2024/08/18/21583645/downed_tree_on_i-40-DMID1-6402nuc1l-640x360.jpg)
Several trees were blown down Sunday night in Wake County as severe storms moved through the area.
According to the National Weather Service, several downed trees were reported in Willow Springs, and several viewers told WRAL News they saw multiple downed trees along Interstate 40 between Raleigh and Benson.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation confirmed some trees fell onto the interstate, but crews cleared them from the road and are now focusing on removing the debris.
A WRAL News viewer from Willow Springs said a large branch snapped from a tree and fell in her yard. She added more trees fell, but most were in the woods.
The majority of the storm damage seems to be localized to Willow Springs.
Residents at McGee’s Crossroads in Johnston County said some of the trees snapped and fell into power lines. in Willow Springs, more than 800 residents are without power.
While many people told WRAL News the storm damage was the result of a tornado, the National Weather Service said the damage was likely caused by a microburst.
“Essentially, the storm starting losing its updraft, or fuel, [so] it could no longer keep all the moisture and wind up in the clouds [and] sent it to the ground,” WRAL meteorologist Anthony Baglione said. “It had no where to go but spread out at the ground and cause damage that can look like tornado.”
Baglione said there was no indication of rotation on radar.
“The atmosphere turned on the jet setting on its moisture hose,” he said.
The National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm warnings between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. for Wake and Johnston counties. The severe threat left the area just before midnight..
WRAL News issued a Weather Alert Day for the risk of strong winds and hail damage from isolated storm cells that could pop up in central North Carolina.
The downed trees are causing several backups on the interstate as drivers try to move around them. If you have any photos of storm damage, please share themhere.
-
Ohio6 days ago
Ohio taxpayers sent families $966 million for private school tuition: Capitol Letter
-
World1 week ago
What could an EU Commissioner do to tackle the housing crisis?
-
Politics1 week ago
Tim Walz 'misspoke' about using weapons ‘in war,' Harris campaign says: report
-
Politics1 week ago
GOP states sue to stop Biden admin extending Obamacare to illegal immigrants
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump legal cases in limbo after SCOTUS immunity ruling, freeing up schedule to campaign
-
News1 week ago
Photos: Family of Michael Brown Jr. marches on Ferguson 10 years later
-
News1 week ago
Cross-Tabs: August 2024 Times/Siena Poll of the Likely Electorate
-
News1 week ago
Full Trump-Musk Interview: Assassination Bid, Iran-Israel, Russia-Ukraine, Kamala-Biden, US Election