North Carolina
Tropical Storm Debby slogs through North Carolina. Heavy rain is still a big threat.
Tropical Storm Debby made its second landfall Thursday morning, moving into South Carolina and beginning its still-slow trek into North Carolina.
Once inland, the storm picked up some speed as predicted. At 8 a.m., it was about 65 miles north-northwest of Myrtle Beach and moving to the north-northwest at about 7 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
There is widespread risk of flash flooding, and some tornadoes are possible.
How much more rain can Debby bring?
The storm is expected to drop an additional 3 to 6 inches of rain across southeastern North Carolina through Friday, with locally higher amounts, forecasters say, bringing rainfall totals as high as 15 inches in some places.
The bulk of the remaining rainfall will come Thursday, forecasters say.
How strong are Debby’s winds?
The storm had maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph Thursday morning, with higher gusts.
The storm is expected to weaken some through the day Thursday, while also picking up forward speed.
By Friday, Debby should be downgraded to a tropical depression, forecasters say.
Since Debby’s rains have saturated the ground in most places, trees are likely to fall and some will take power lines with them.
Duke Energy reported more than 100,000 customers without power from Charlotte to the coast as of Thursday morning.
When will the storm be gone?
The center of Tropical Storm Debby is expected to pass through the middle of North Carolina Thursday and Thursday night. The center of the storm is expected to move into Virginia early Friday morning.
Central North Carolina will continue to see some effects of the storm Friday, with some showers and breezy conditions with wind gusts up to 21 mph.
Rainfall totals on Friday should be less than a half-inch expected in areas of strong thunderstorms.
Sunny skies should return on Saturday.
▪ NC residents can use this real-time tool to search where stream flooding is likely
▪ As Tropical Storm Debby arrives, NCDOT reports numerous flooded and blocked roads
▪ Check Tropical Storm Debby weather conditions in the Raleigh area with these live cams
▪ Debby is mostly likely to flood these spots in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill
North Carolina
8 now arrested in North Carolina house party shootings and more attempted-murder charges are filed
North Carolina
400-pound monster alligator named Pepe ‘detained’ for ‘being a dinosaur without proper papers’ in NC
The scales of justice came for Pepe.
Cops detained – and rescued – a monster 10-foot alligator they nicknamed Pepe the Gator sunbathing on a busy road in North Carolina and “charged” him on suspicion of being a “dinosaur.”
“Witnesses say he was just chilling and snapping, clearly ignoring the ‘no loitering or lounging on roadways’ sign,” the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a playful press release last week. “Pepe has been cited for Suspicion of Being a Dinosaur Without Proper Papers, Public Loitering with Intent to Sunbathe, and Obstructing Traffic.”
The responding deputies and officers from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission who got the call on May 25 managed to safely remove Pepe, but not before posing for pictures where they straddle him like rodeo riders.
“He was 10 feet long, 400 pounds. He was an absolute monster,” Trevor Dunnell, spokesman for the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office told the Post Thursday.
“They did a fantastic job of wrangling him.”
To indicate the scale of the gator, Dunnell pointed out how, in the picture, even with three grown men on top of him, Pepe’s still not covered.
“The picture really doesn’t do it justice, I mean 10 feet … 10 feet is a basketball goal, that is a massive creature,” he said.
Although 10 feet seems big, it’s nothing compared to the largest gator on record – 14 feet and 3 and a half inches.
Deputies and wildlife officials used a towel to cover Pepe’s eyes — eye contact is what triggers the animal’s notorious death roll, Dunnell explained — and electrical tape to seal his mouth shut.
“It was definitely some MacGyver stuff they had to use,” he said. “He may not have a good time during the removal, but he was playfully enough about it later to understand that, ‘Hey, man, you gotta do what you gotta do.’”
Dunnell said the office received blowback from people online wishing the cops had just left Pepe alone. but Dunnell was quick to point out that leaving the reptile on the side of the road could have posed a hazard not only to residents but also to the gator.
“You never know what can happen when kids are running around,” he said. “And the gator could wind up in the middle of the road. It could hurt drivers but it could hurt him, too.”
Dunnell said he hopes to see body camera footage of Pepe’s apprehension. The two deputies and the wildlife official in the picture are happy to be riding him, Dunnell said, adding that if authorities encounter another Pepe, they’ll know who to call.
“But some deputies were absolutely not fine,” he said. “When they got back, they were saying, ‘You’re not going to catch me on that thing. I’m not going to go anywhere near it!’”
Pepe was far from home, and Dunnell suspects that it was a hot day and he was looking for a good spot to bask.
“How far he wandered is anybody’s guess,” he said. “It must’ve been several miles at least.”
After further investigation, Dunnell said, they declined to charge Pepe. Instead, they drove him to a boat ramp at nearby Camp Geiger, a satellite facility of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
“I think we’ve touched base with the gator and let him know we dropped the charges,” he joked.
“Pepe’s back to his normal routine, he’s hanging out near the beach and lounging in his natural habitat, hunting for his food and looking for a girlfriend.”
Tech giant Amazon has announced a $10bn investment in the US state of North Carolina to expand its data centre infrastructure.
The project aims to support advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing technologies.
The investment, according to the company, will create at least 500 “high-skilled” jobs.
It will also support thousands of additional jobs within the Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centre supply chain.
According to Amazon’s press release, the rising demand for generative AI is increasing the need for advanced cloud infrastructure and compute power.
This expansion will strengthen AWS data centres in the state.
Commenting on the move, Amazon chief global affairs and legal officer David Zapolsky said: “Amazon’s $10bn investment in North Carolina underscores our commitment to driving innovation and advancing the future of cloud computing and AI technologies.”
“We look forward to partnering with state and local leaders, local suppliers, and educational institutions to nurture the next generation of talent.”
In a separate development, Amazon is reportedly developing software for humanoid robots.
These robots could potentially replace delivery workers, Reuters reported citing a report published by The Information, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The company is building a “humanoid park,” an indoor obstacle course, at one of its San Francisco offices to test these robots. Amazon is focusing on developing the AI software for these robots while using hardware from other firms for testing.
Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Recently, Amazon started testing a new feature that uses generative AI (genAI) to create short-form audio summaries on select product detail pages.
The feature provides concise overviews of products by analysing product details, customer reviews, and other relevant online information.
The initial test feature targets products that often require careful consideration before buying, offering clear insights through in-depth discussion to help Amazon customers shop more efficiently, the company said in a post.
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