North Carolina
Interstate 40 is impassable between Tennessee and North Carolina due to massive floods and a mudslide
Tropical Storm Helene floods Asheville’s River Arts District
The French Broad River is expected to reach a height of 21 feet, according to NOAA projections, continuing to flood the River Arts District.
Interstate 40 is impassable between Tennessee and Asheville, North Carolina, and beyond, because of catastrophic floods from the remnants of Hurricane Helene.
A mudslide and flooding have shut down the route.
Here are the I-40 closures listed on DriveNC.gov, though North Carolina Department of Transportation officials have told drivers all Western Carolina roads are essentially shut down.
- South of Asheville, all lanes of I-26 are closed between Exit 49 to US 64 and Exit 53 to Upward Road.
- All lanes of I-40 between Exit 66 in Ridgecrest and Exit 72 in Old Fort are closed due to a mudslide.
- All lanes of I-40 are closed near Black Mountain, one mile west of Exit 64 to NC 9.
- All lanes of I-40 are closed at the Tennessee-North Carolina state line.
- All lanes of I-40 is closed at Exit 20 to US-276.
- I-40 East is closed at Exit 4 to NC 191.
- I-40 West is closed at Exit 7 to Cold Springs Creek Road.
- On the Tennessee side, all lanes of I-40 in Cocke County are closed, according to a post TDOT made on Facebook.
Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com.
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North Carolina
Preview: Stanford WBB welcomes No. 15 North Carolina to Maples
On Sunday at 12:00 PM PT on The CW, Stanford women’s basketball will welcome No. 15 North Carolina to Maples Pavilion. Stanford comes in at 11-9 overall and 3-6 in the ACC while North Carolina comes in at 19-4 overall and 7-3 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford defeated Pittsburgh at home on Thursday by a final score of 58-46. Elena Bosgana and Chloe Clardy each had 14 points for Stanford.
RECAP: Stanford WBB powers past Pitt
On North Carolina: The Tarheels are having a strong season, coming off a 65-52 win at No. 19 Cal on Wednesday. Their top win of the season is a 53-46 overtime victory over Duke, who is now ranked No. 10 after being ranked No. 14 at the time of their meeting. The most impressive stat of all is the Tarheels are a perfect 5-0 in true road games. They’re not fazed by having to go on the road.
The top two scorers for the Tarheels are graduate student guard/forward Alyssa Ustby (11.4 points & 9.4 rebounds) and senior forward/center Maria Gakdeng (10.9 points & 6.8 rebounds). They’re the only two players scoring in double figures for the Tarheels, but there’s a lot of depth with four additional players scoring 7+ points per game.
When looking at the stats, it’s clear the Tarheels are a defensive oriented team as they hold opponents to 54.7 points per game on 34.8% shooting from the field, 27.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 69.3% shooting from the foul line. They do a great job playing defense both on the perimeter and inside.
As for their offensive stats, the Tarheels average 73.3 points per game on 43.8% shooting from the field, 34.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 65.4% shooting from the foul line. So they do a nice job of scoring efficiently. As for the rest of their stats, the Tarheels average 39.7 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 8.8 steals, 4.5 blocks, and 12.7 turnovers per game. They also average a +3.4 rebounding margin and a +5.7 turnover margin per game.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is take care of the ball. North Carolina makes a living forcing turnovers and making teams pay on the other end. If Stanford can avoid turning the ball over too much, that more than anything will help them win this game.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is find a way to get some threes to fall. They were shooting bricks against Pittsburgh and were lucky that Pittsburgh is not a good team. Stanford has to find a way to get some threes to fall if they are to win this game.
Finally, Stanford needs to feed off the home crowd energy. One thing they are lucky about is they are facing North Carolina on Sunday at noon as opposed to when Cal faced them, which was on Thursday night. Sunday afternoon crowds are always strong and energetic. Stanford needs to feed off that energy and use that to their advantage. This of course means getting off to a good start. If Stanford can win the first quarter, maybe they make this interesting. If they are down big at the end of the first quarter, this one will likely go the Tarheels’ way.
Prediction: I see Stanford putting up a real fight but falling short. North Carolina 68 Stanford 58 is how I see this one going.
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North Carolina
Cooper Flagg leads way as Duke blow out North Carolina in rivalry game
Freshmen Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel made memorable debuts in the Tobacco Road rivalry as No 2 Duke used a dominant first half to secure an 87-70 win over visiting North Carolina on Saturday night in Durham, North Carolina.
Flagg racked up 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals for Duke (19-2, 11-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play), who extended the longest active winning streak in the country to 15 games. Meanwhile, Knueppel scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and added five rebounds and five assists.
Tyrese Proctor had 17 points and Sion James 13 for the Blue Devils, who forced nine of North Carolina’s 14 total turnovers in the first half and led by as many as 27 points before intermission.
RJ Davis and Drake Powell each scored 12 points and Seth Trimble netted 10 for North Carolina (13-10, 6-5), who lost for the fourth time in five outings. Duke snapped a two-game losing streak in the series.
Flagg scored or assisted on Duke’s first 18 points of the game. He sank two three-pointers and converted a three-point play while also assisting on a pair of James dunks, plus a triple and a dunk by Proctor.
When Knueppel hit a three and another jumper 31 seconds apart, it capped a 16-0 Duke run for a 23-6 lead less than seven minutes into the contest.
Elliot Cadeau’s three-pointer pulled North Carolina within 16 points before Duke’s defense went back to work. The Blue Devils made the Tar Heels miss their next nine attempts from the floor, two of them swatted away by Flagg. Duke stitched together an 11-point run of mostly free throws for an overwhelming 40-13 lead with 5:16 left in the half.
Flagg’s fadeaway jumper at the first-half buzzer made it 47-25 Blue Devils and gave the freshman 13 points in the half to go with four boards, five assists and two steals.
Duke made its first six shots from the floor of the second half. Knueppel put up 11 quick points as the Blue Devils stretched their lead to 62-34 with 15:49 to play.
Ian Jackson converted a four-point play to give the Tar Heels a brief jolt. But when Flagg knocked down his third three-pointer of the game, it handed Duke their first 30-point advantage of the night at 74-44 with 9:53 still on the clock.
North Carolina cut a 32-point deficit to 16 in the final stages, as Powell gave the team a late boost with all 12 of his points coming in the final 12 minutes.
North Carolina
Senator Thom Tillis shares statement on North Carolina native Keith Siegel’s release from Hamas captivity
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – Senator Thom Tillis released a statement following the release of North Carolina native Keith Siegel from Hamas captivity.
“Today, after more than a year in the brutal captivity of Hamas, North Carolina native Keith Siegel is finally free and reunited with his family, including his beloved wife Aviva,” Tillis said.
Tillis went on to say that while this is a moment of great relief and celebration, “we cannot forget about the remaining hostages.”
He also discussed his confidence in President Donald Trump. “I am confident the Trump Administration will continue to work closely with our ally Israel as it seeks to free every remaining hostage. This fragile ceasefire is completely dependent on the behavior of Hamas and we must remain vigilant.”
Hamas militants freed three male hostages held for more than a year in the Gaza Strip on Saturday and Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in the fourth such exchange of a ceasefire deal that has halted 15 months of intense fighting.
Militants handed Yarden Bibas and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon to Red Cross officials in the southern city of Khan Younis, while American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, looking pale and thin, was released to the Red Cross later Saturday morning in Gaza City to the north.
All three were abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Their release brings to 18 the number of hostages released since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19.
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