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Man jumps into raging North Carolina river to save woman as home swept away by Helene

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Man jumps into raging North Carolina river to save woman as home swept away by Helene


GRASSY CREEK, N.C. – Eddie Hunnell jumped head-first into a raging North Carolina river to save a woman who was swept into the current by powerful Hurricane Helene floodwater.

The daring rescue occurred in the mountainous town of Grassy Creek, where heavy rainfall from Helene sent the New River surging over its banks.

Hunnell was in town for his son’s wedding. He and family members were getting ready for the rehearsal dinner when the storm continued to intensify, with trees falling and river waters rising. 

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As Hunnell and his family were waiting to see whether the storm would need to cancel the dinner, Hunnell said he saw multiple homes caught in the surging river. 

“And somebody came in and said, ‘There’s a woman trapped in the house right up the road.’ And so the entire group of us that were there, about 15 people went up to see if we could help,” Hunnell said.

In one of those homes, he saw a woman standing on the second floor and wearing a lifejacket.

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“We had tried to figure out how we could get her out, but the water was 10 feet deep and just roaring by the house,” he said. 

Then the situation became even more desperate.

“The house started moving, floating down the river and falling apart,” Hunnell said. “I didn’t want her trapped in it.”

Hunnell, along with the people he was with, urged the woman to jump into the river – and she did.

“I couldn’t get to her in that canoe there,” he said. “And I didn’t see another option. I didn’t want her to see her drowned. And so I jumped in to get to her.”

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Video of the incident shows Hunnell swimming towards the woman.

“The biggest concern other than the fast water was the debris in it,” he said. “I didn’t want that house to come down on us. We went through that 150 yards of really fast water, and there were obstructions on both sides. And we just had to ride that out. After that 150 yards or so, I was holding on to the back of her life vest and the river spread out a little bit, got wider, and those obstructions ended.”

He was able to side swim with her out of the rapids and eventually back to shore where she had an emotional reunion with her husband. 

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“We got out, reunited her with her husband and then, you know, it was over. And then it was back to thinking about the wedding,” he said. “We invited them to the rehearsal dinner,” though he added the rehearsal part was canceled. 

The wedding did go as planned on Saturday with reminders of nature’s destructive powers. 

“And so we had had a nice wedding – in that picture… you can see the debris in the grass,” he said. 

“Behind that debris is from, you know, some of it from their house, from the worst house. It was the hardest thing watching somebody lose their house right in front of them. That was very hard.  I had seen four other houses that day go down the river. So I saw at least five houses, you know, five people’s lives torn apart.”

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2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers

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2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers


Here are the voter turnout numbers for the 2026 primary election, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Hyde County had the highest voter turnout, while Onslow County had the lowest turnout. Check out what the voter turnout in your county was below:

BERTIE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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31.85% (3,911 out of 12,280)

CARTERET COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

29.06% (16,543 out of 56,931)

CRAVEN COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

18.63% (14,119 out of 75,778)

DUPLIN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

21.93% (6,981 out of 31,832)

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EDGECOMBE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

18.16% (6,428 out of 35,396)

GREENE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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19.70% (2,147 out of 10,900)

HYDE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

37.27% (1,123 out of 3,013)

JONES COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

25.91% (1,805 out of 6,966)

LENOIR COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

16.73% (6,251 out of 37,371)

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MARTIN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

17.61% (2,858 out of 16,228)

ONSLOW COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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11.44% (14,816 out of 129,537)

PAMLICO COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

24.03% (2,446 out of 10,180)

PITT COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

15.71% (19,429 out of 123,705)

TYRRELL COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

30.49% (723 out of 2,371)

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WASHINGTON COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

28.66% (2,312 out of 8,067)

WAYNE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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21.49% (16,408 out of 76,358)



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Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety

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Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety


Wednesday, March 4, 2026 6:41PM

NC schools and businesses encouraged to practice tornado safety

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — North Carolina schools and businesses took part in a statewide tornado drill Wednesday morning as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week.

The National Weather Service led the drill at 9:30 a.m., broadcasting it on NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System. Schools, workplaces and households across the state were encouraged to join in.

The National Weather Service didn’t issue a follow up alert to mark the end of the drill. Instead, each school or business wrapped up once they felt they had practiced the procedures thoroughly.

Wednesday’s drill also replaced the regular weekly NOAA Weather Radio test.

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Make sure to download the ABC 11 Mobile App ABC11 North Carolina Apps for Connected TV, Mobile News, Echo

Copyright © 2026 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam

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North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam


Nida Allam in 2022; Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) in 2025.

Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images


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Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee holds a narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional district as ballots continue to be counted.

In a race seen as an early test of whether Democratic voters desire generational change within the party, Foushee holds a lead of just over 1,000 votes with 99% of results in so far, according to the Associated Press.

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Under state law, provisional votes will be counted in the coming days in a district that includes Durham and Chapel Hill. If the election results end up within a 1% margin, Allam could request a recount.

Successfully ousting an incumbent lawmaker is often extremely difficult and rare. However, there have been recent upsets in races as some voters are calling for new leaders and several sitting members of Congress face primary challengers this cycle.

Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County Commissioner, is running to the left of Foushee, 69, framing her candidacy as part of a broader rejection of longtime Democratic norms.

On the campaign trail, Allam ran on an anti-establishment message, pledging to be a stronger fighter than Foushee in Congress, both in standing up against President Trump’s agenda and when pushing for more ambitious policy.

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“North Carolina is a purple state that often gets labeled red, but we’re not a red state,” she told NPR in an interview last month, emphasizing the need to address affordability concerns. “We are a state of working-class folks who just want their elected officials to champion the issues that are impacting them.”

She drew a contrast with the congresswoman on immigration, voicing support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Foushee has declined to go that far, advocating instead for ICE to be defunded and for broader reforms to the federal immigration system.

Allam also clashed with Foushee over U.S. policy towards Israel. As a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, Allam swore off campaign donations from pro-Israel lobbying groups, such as AIPAC, and repeatedly criticized Foushee for previously accepting such funds.

Though Foushee announced last year that she would not accept AIPAC donations this cycle, she and Allam continued to spar over the broader role of outside spending in the race.

Their matchup comes four years after the candidates first squared off in 2022, when Allam lost to Foushee in what became the most expensive primary in the state’s history, with outside groups spending more than $3.8 million.

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However, this year is poised to break that record. Outside groups have reported spending more than $4.4 million on the primary matchup, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

WUNC’s Colin Campbell contributed to this report.



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