NORTH CAROLINA (WBTV) – North Carolina has some of the highest STD rates nationwide, according to a new study by the U.S. News & World Report.

The report analyzed the highest combined rates of three major sexually transmitted infections: Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis.

As far as the 10 states with the highest STD rates, N.C. ranked No. 7.

The data

According to the report, the state’s total STD rate is 911.5 per 100,000. That has actually decreased by -0.3% since 2022.

Rates for the three major STDs are:

• Chlamydia: 607.9 per 100,000
• Gonorrhea: 243.2 per 100,000
• Syphilis (cumulative): 60.4 per 100,000

South Carolina

South Carolina also has some of the highest STD rates in America, according to the report.

Ranked at No. 8 for the 10 states with the highest STD rates, the state’s total STD rate is 882.8 per 100,000. That has decreased by 10.9% since 2022.

Rates for the three major STDs are:

• Chlamydia: 612.1 per 100,000
• Gonorrhea: 222.4 per 100,000
• Syphilis (cumulative): 48.3 per 100,000

WBTV Investigates: Syphilis Tsunami: NC health officials plan campaign to slow the spread

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YANCEY CO, N.C. — A small business owner in Yancey County is trying to bounce back during her busiest season after losing her shop and inventory during Helene. 

Christy Edwards is the owner of Christy’s Crafts and had a shop for 17 years across the Cane River in the Pensacola community. It held all her inventory and great memories.

“I talked to my customers on the front porch a lot. Waved at a lot of friends and neighbors, and I’m going to miss it terribly,” Edwards said. 

The retired art teacher recalls the day of the storm, seeing the floodwaters surround the building before wiping it out in the blink of an eye. 

“I turned and I looked, and my shop was gone. I didn’t see it because we had water in the basement,” Edwards said. 

The shop, which was on her property, was on lower ground than her house. 

“The river came across over here. That little creek was flowing out all of this gravel so it was like a churning mess,” Edwards said. 

Now, only a meter box stands where the building used to be. 

“It’s like losing a piece of my heart. This is what I did every day of my life, come here and meet people and create,” Edwards said.

She said she lost $100,000 altogether and the location where she hosted her Christmas Open House. 

“This was helping me pay for my daughter’s college. This was helping me just to live. Things are so much more expensive now,” Edwards said. 

Mid-November she was working around the clock to make up for lost inventory as she prepared for three holiday markets, including Vintage Market Days of Asheville Metro. 

The event, which will take place Nov. 22-24 is expected to bring 130 vendors to the WNC Agricultural Center. Organizers say half of them are from the region and part of the proceeds will benefit the River Arts District in Asheville. 

Edwards is also moving forward with hosting two Christmas craft shows with local vendors at the Burnsville Town Center. The Holly Jolly Market will be on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. Then, on Dec. 7, she will host the Christmas Ornament Craft Show. 

“It’s very important to have this and to keep things going, being normal again,” Edwards said.

She’s not sure if she’ll rebuild her shop again because she worries she could lose it again.

Eric Church paid tribute to his home state of North Carolina and those affected by the flooding of Hurricane Helene with a performance of “Darkest Hour” at the 2024 CMA Awards.

Dressed in a black velvet blazer and accompanied by a choir (including longtime vocal foil Joanna Cotten), a horn section, and strings, Church delivered a grand version of the song, which he rush-released last month to help raise funds for disaster relief. “I’ll do everything in my power/To take even a minute off your darkest hour,” he sang in a falsetto on the CMAs stage.

Like the live version he played at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, the recorded version of “Darkest Hour,” which he released as the “Helene Edit,” features strings, a choir, and production by Jay Joyce. The song evokes the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Band, and the symphonic compositions of Queen or, more recently, the Verve. It’s rock opera from the Seventies, crossed with Church’s rough-hewn mountain country, all built on the skeleton of his talked-about Stagecoach headlining set.

On Tuesday night, Church played an intimate full-band concert at his Nashville bar Chief’s, which streamed live on SiriusXM. While the set featured his own hits like “How ‘Bout You,” “Homeboy,” and “Springsteen,” it was mostly an homage to Church’s influences: He sang covers by Bob Seger, the Band, Hank Williams Jr., and more, culminating with a reading of Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road.”

Church has pledged to sign over all royalties of “Darkest Hour,” in perpetuity, to the state of North Carolina, to further aid in rebuilding.

“‘Darkest Hour’ is a song dedicated to the unsung heroes, the people who show up when the world’s falling apart,” he said in a statement. “This is for the folks who show up in the hardest times, offering a hand when it’s most needed, and standing tall when others can’t. Even in your darkest hour, they come running. When the night’s at its blackest, this is for those who are holding the light, guiding the lost and pulling us through.”