Protest vs reopening amid COVID-19 scare

Counter-protesters stand as people with ReopenNC demonstrate in Raleigh, North Carolina to press Gov. Roy Cooper to allow businesses to reopen during the COVID-19 outbreak Tuesday. US recorded the highest confirmed COVID-19 cases at 824,000 and 45,000 deaths on April 21, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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Hurricane Dorian floods island as it swipes North Carolina then heads north

KITTY HAWK, N.C. - Hurricane Dorian briefly made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Friday, hitting the beach-fringed barrier islands with powerful winds and battering waves days after reducing parts of the Bahamas to rubble.

The storm made landfall at Cape Hatteras at about 9 a.m. (1300 GMT) with maximum sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. That was far weaker than its slow, deadly tour through the Bahamas earlier in the week that caused at least 43 deaths, according to news media accounts late Friday, and likely many more.

By late afternoon, Dorian was moving away from the mid-Atlantic states and headed towards Canada where it was expected to bring hurricane-force winds to parts of Nova Scotia by Saturday evening, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm surge inundated the Outer Banks' Ocracoke Island, cutting off power and submerging many homes and buildings, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told reporters.

Floodwaters came halfway up to kitchen countertops and battered fences and boardwalks, according to images on social media. One island resident uploaded a video on social media showing people driving a speedboat down a flooded street.

"We estimate about 800 people remained on the island during the storm and have heard reports from residents who say the flooding there was catastrophic," Cooper said. "We're thankful not to have reports of serious injury or death since the storm arrived."

One resident in need of immediate medical attention was airlifted off Ocracoke, and helicopters will fly in food and water, the governor added.

The Outer Banks are a picturesque series of narrow islands known for their beaches, lighthouses and natural beauty.

The Kitty Hawk area, on the northern end of the Outer Banks, emerged from the storm with little damage. Many houses near the ocean lost power on Friday, but houses on higher ground continued to have power and cable television.

MASSACHUSETTS ISLANDS

Stacy and Ryan Marshall said their home, which is not on the oceanfront, came through unscathed. They drove to the beach on Friday afternoon to view the storm surge. "We got lucky, just lost a couple of boards on the fence," Stacy Marshall said.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster held a news conference with smiling officials, saying that the storm had not been as bad as had been feared and floodwaters had ebbed in coastal areas.

Dorian is expected to bring tropical storm winds to Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts early on Saturday.

But it will likely spare much of the East Coast the worst of its rain and wind before making landfall in Canada's Nova Scotia that night, the hurricane center said.

The damage was far less severe than in the Bahamas, where at least 70,000 people were in need of immediate humanitarian relief after Dorian became the most damaging storm ever to hit the island nation.

Of at least four storm-related deaths reported in the United States, three were in Orange County, Florida, during storm preparations or evacuation, the mayor's office said. In North Carolina, an 85-year-old man fell off a ladder while barricading his home for Dorian, the governor said.

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'You better pray:' More flooding in Carolinas a week after Florence

RALEIGH - Residents of Georgetown County, South Carolina, where five rivers flow into the ocean, were preparing on Friday for a deluge of water in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which has killed at least 40 people.

The county of 60,000 people, on the Atlantic coast between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, is one of several areas in the Carolinas waiting anxiously as rivers start to crest, a week after Florence dumped some 3 feet of rain on the region.

Flooding could begin early next week, officials said during a community meeting on Thursday, as water continues to drain into rivers and reservoirs across North and South Carolina.

The city of Georgetown on Friday was handing out 15,000 sandbags as the county developed plans to evacuate residents. 

"Please heed the warnings," Sheriff Lane Cribb said. "Protecting lives and property will be our goal... You better pray."

Thirty-one deaths have been attributed to the storm in North Carolina, 8 in South Carolina and 1 in Virginia.

More than 3 dozen flood gauges in North and South Carolina showed flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

In Bladen County, North Carolina, around 100 people and 33 animals were rescued "in a dangerous operation in the middle of the night" after a dam burst, Governor Roy Cooper said in a Twitter post on Friday. Blackhawk helicopters were used to pluck many of them to safety.

Some 4,700 people across North Carolina have been rescued by boat or helicopter since the storm made landfall, twice as many as in Hurricane Matthew two years ago, according to state officials. About 10,000 remained in shelters.

The coastal city of Wilmington, North Carolina, remained mostly cut off by floodwaters on Friday,

Some 650 roads remained closed, the state's department of transportation said, warning motorists not to travel in 17 southeastern counties worst-hit by Florence.

More than 54,000 homes and businesses were without power in the Carolinas on Friday afternoon.

One week after Florence made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, North Carolina was still feeling its effects, Cooper said. 

"Some locations won't see rivers crest until this weekend and flooding won't subside until next week," he said in another Twitter post.

As floodwaters continued to rise, concerns grew about environmental and health dangers.

Duke Energy Corp said on Friday that breaches in a cooling lake dam forced it to shut down its natural gas-fired L.V. Sutton plant in North Carolina. The utility said it could not rule out the possibility that coal ash from a dump adjacent to the plant, which formerly burned coal, might be flowing into the nearby Cape Fear River.

Coal ash can contaminate water and harm fish and wildlife.

The flooding from Florence has also caused 21 hog "lagoons," which store manure from pig farms, to overflow in North Carolina, possibly contaminating standing water, according to the state's Department of Environmental Quality. North Carolina is one of the leading hog-producing states in the country.

Several sewer systems in the region also have released untreated or partly treated sewage and storm water into waterways over the last week, local media reported.

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North Carolina dam collapse after Florence

Local residents walk along the edge of a collapsed road that ran atop Patricia Lake's dam. The dam collapsed in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, in Boiling Spring Lakes, North Carolina, USA on Thursday.

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In Florence's wake, uncertainty haunts migrant workers

SPIVEY'S CORNER, North Carolina - Francisco Javier Jaramillo and Victor Chavez should be picking sweet potatoes at a North Carolina farm and sending much-needed money to their families in Mexico.

Instead, Hurricane Florence has forced the migrant workers to evacuate their farm and seek refuge at a school-turned-shelter near the tiny hamlet of Spivey’s Corner, where they sleep in school hallways, wait and worry.

"If the sweet potato fields are flooded, we cannot work. If we cannot work, we will be sent home. We will have nothing," said Chavez, 39.

When Florence tore through the Carolinas last week, bringing wave after wave of wind and rain, the storm not only disrupted a harvest but also jeopardized its harvesters.

Known for its fields upon fields of sweet potatoes, tobacco and peanuts, North Carolina's agricultural engine is powered by more than 83,000 migrant workers.

Many come from Mexico and other Latin American countries to toil on restrictive contracts working fields that double as floodplains when the weather sours.

The contracts guarantee a certain number of working hours but that can be nullified if a farmer declares an act of god if, for example, fields are so flooded or hurricane-battered their crop cannot be salvaged. That would mean these workers get sent home without the hours, or money, promised.

A spokeswoman for North Carolina’s agriculture department said there are no estimates yet of the extent of crop damage.

At peak harvest in 2016 there were more than 83,000 migrant workers on North Carolina farms, according to the Employment Security Commission.

Workers on an H2A visa for temporary agricultural workers are among the most vulnerable people hit by a hurricane, according to advocates, lawyers and outreach workers who talked with Reuters. They have the least means to cushion the blow and the most to lose.

“H2A workers are very isolated, very vulnerable," said Lariza Garzon, with the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry. "They may not know their rights.”

Lee Wicker, deputy director of the 700-farmer North Carolina Growers Association, said maybe decades ago that might have been true but now resources are in place to ensure workers have the supports they need.

About 20,000 of the workers come to North Carolina every year on H2A visas, which tether them to an employer on whom they rely for housing, transportation and, in many cases, information about the outside world, said Caitlin Ryland, a supervising attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina's farmworker unit.

They are frequently housed in areas close to farmland that can be prone to flooding, Ryland said.

Wicker said that sometimes happens, but said storms like Florence have outsize effects.

For workers like Jaramillo and Chavez, in a precarious labor position and with limited access to outside information, leaving camps for a few days to wait out a storm can be daunting.

Misinformation is rampant: many believe fleeing a storm can get them deported and barred from returning.

If their employer reports them as having abandoned their job, under the terms of the H2A visa it can start the clock ticking on having to leave the United States, Ryland said.

Fleeing for their lives in the face of a storm does not count as abandoning a job, she said, but many workers may not know that.

A spokeswoman for North Carolina’s Department of Labor wrote in an email that "the Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau has not received any complaints from migrant workers concerning unsafe housing conditions due to the storm.”

Five migrant workers Reuters spoke with at a supermarket outside Clinton, in Sampson County about 35 miles (56 km) east of Fayetteville, had elected to stay in their work camps despite the threats presented by the weather.

Explaining why he stayed, Miguel Hernandez motioned to the cement blocks used to build his barracks in an area under a flash-flood warning - surely they could withstand a storm, he said.

But Luis Alberto, a 25-year-old migrant worker from the Mexican state of Nayarit, was scared for his life when he and four friends decided to go to a shelter several miles away.

Luis Alberto, who asked not to use his last name, regularly sends money home to support his family. What worries him now is what happens next – if the crop is destroyed, if they cannot get the contracted hours of work they need.

"We want to know what is going to happen to us," he said. "Can we keep working? Will we be sent back to Mexico?" 

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Hurricane Florence kills 17

A boat sits in a backyard after the passing of Hurricane Florence in New Bern, North Carolina, on Sunday. At least 17 people were reported killed and 900 rescued after Hurricane Florence dumped at least 40 inches of rain in North Carolina displacing thousands of residents.

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Storm Florence weakens but epic rains still expected on US east coast

WILSON, North Carolina - Tropical Storm Florence was likely to weaken on Sunday as it swept through the Carolinas but dozens of communities are devastated and "epic" amounts of rain could still fall, officials said.

The storm is expected to become a Tropical Depression as it trudged inland early Sunday, knocking out power and causing at least eight deaths as flood waters kept rising.

North Carolina officials have reported at least seven storm-related fatalities with unconfirmed reports of a further three deaths. South Carolina authorities reported one death.

"This is still a catastrophic, life threatening storm," said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Center's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Winds have dropped to about 40 miles per hour (65 kph) since it roared ashore along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast on Friday as a hurricane and it is crawling west over two states at 6 mph (9 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said early Sunday.

Taylor said the storm already dumped 30 inches of rain on some parts of the NC.

"This storm is still deadly and dangerous and it's expected to turn northward later today into Virginia and the mid-Atlantic," he said.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said: "This system is unloading epic amounts of rainfall, in some places measured in feet and not inches." Rivers will continue to rise days after the rain has stopped, he said.

Around 50 stranded people were airlifted by helicopter in North Carolina, said Petty Officer Michael Himes of the US Coast Guard. More than 26,000 hunkered down in shelters.

Roads were closed and authorities warned of landslides, tornadoes and flash floods, with dams and bridges in peril as rivers and creeks swelled. As of Saturday, about 676,000 homes and businesses were without power in North Carolina, along with 119,000 in South Carolina.

The White House said President Donald Trump approved making federal funding available in some affected counties.

Trump, who plans to visit the region next week and he tweeted his "deepest sympathies and warmth" to the families and friends of those who had lost their lives.

WORST YET TO COME

Florence was drifting westward over South Carolina, reaching about 25 miles southeast of Columbia SC at 2 a.m. Sunday, the NHC said.

Up to 40 inches (102 cm) of rain are expected along coastal areas of the Carolinas and up to 10 inches in southwestern Virginia, it said.

In Fayetteville, a North Carolina city of about 210,000 people about 90 miles inland, authorities told thousands of residents near the Cape Fear River and Little River to get out of their homes by Sunday afternoon because of the flood risk.

"If you are refusing to leave during this mandatory evacuation, you need to do things like notify your legal next of kin because the loss of life is very, very possible," Mayor Mitch Colvin said at a news conference.

"The worst is yet to come," he added.

The storm made landfall on Friday near Wilmington, a city of about 120,000 squeezed between North Carolina's Atlantic coastline and the Cape Fear River.

Near the Sutton Power Plant in Wilmington, coal ash leaked from a Duke Energy landfill. The site lost enough material to fill around two-thirds of an Olympic-sized pool, the company said in a statement, adding that it did not believe the incident posed a risk to health or the environment.

Officials had warned before the storm rains could taint waterways with murky coal ash and toxic hog waste.

Florence has already set a North Carolina record for rainfall totals, exceeding that of Hurricane Floyd, which struck in 1999 and caused 56 deaths. Floyd produced 24 inches of rain in some parts of the state, while Florence has already dumped about 30 inches in areas around Swansboro.

In New Bern, about 90 miles northeast of Wilmington at the confluence of two rivers, Florence overwhelmed the town of 30,000 and left the downtown area under water. Some area residents described a harrowing retreat as the storm hit.

"It was pitch black and I was just scared out of my mind," said Tracy Singleton, who with her family later drove through torrential rain and high winds from her home near New Bern.

South Carolina authorities said law enforcement officers were guarding against looting in evacuated areas, while Wilmington set a curfew on Saturday evening in response to looting in one area.

As the United States dealt with Florence, a super typhoon swirled towards Hong Kong and the Chinese coast on Sunday, gaining in strength over the South China Sea after hurtling through the Philippines, where it wreaked havoc that killed at least 25.

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Flood waters rise as Florence pummels Carolinas; at least 8 dead

WILSON, North Carolina -- Tropical Storm Florence dumped "epic" amounts of rain on North and South Carolina as it trudged inland on Saturday, knocking out power and causing at least 8 deaths as flood waters that have devastated many communities kept rising.

Florence's intensity has diminished since it roared ashore along the US mid-Atlantic coast on Friday as a hurricane. But its slow march over the two states, crawling west at only 2 miles per hour (3 km per hour), is expected to leave large parts of the region deluged in the coming days.

"This system is unloading epic amounts of rainfall, in some places measured in feet and not inches," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a news briefing. His state has already endured record rainfall, with much more forecast to come. Rivers will continue to rise days after the rain has stopped, he said.

"This is a hurricane event followed by a flood event," said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster.

With flood waters advancing rapidly in many communities, stranded people were being rescued by boat and by helicopter, while tens of thousands of others hunkered down in shelters. Numerous roads were closed, and authorities warned of the risk of landslides, tornadoes and flash floods, with dams and bridges in peril as rivers and creeks swelled.

Utility crews worked to restore electricity. As of Saturday afternoon, about 752,000 homes and businesses were without power in North Carolina, along with 119,000 in South Carolina.

Helicopter crews have carried out dozens of missions in coastal North Carolina and helped in the rescue of 50 people and eight pets, said Petty Officer Michael Himes of the U.S. Coast Guard.

RISING RIVERS

At 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), the National Hurricane Center said Florence had maximum sustained winds near 45 miles per hour. It said it was located about 60 miles west of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and forecasters predicted a slow westward march.

The center said the storm would dump as much as 40 inches (102 cm) of rain along coastal areas of the Carolinas, as well as up to 10 inches in southwestern Virginia.

In Fayetteville, a North Carolina city of about 210,000 people about 90 miles inland, authorities told thousands of residents near the Cape Fear River and Little River to get out of their homes because of the flood risk.

"If you are refusing to leave during this mandatory evacuation, you need to do things like notify your legal next of kin because the loss of life is very, very possible," Mayor Mitch Colvin said at a news conference.

Officials said there had been at least 7 storm-related fatalities in the state.

Authorities in South Carolina reported one death, saying a woman was killed when her vehicle struck a fallen tree.

The storm made landfall on Friday near Wilmington, a city of about 120,000 squeezed between North Carolina's Atlantic coastline and the Cape Fear River. On Saturday, its streets were strewn with downed tree limbs and carpeted with leaves and other debris. Electricity remained out for much of the city, known for its historic mansions, with power lines lying across roads like wet strands of spaghetti.

"The fact that there haven't been more deaths and damage is amazing and a blessing," said Rebekah Roth, walking around Wilmington's Winoca Terrace neighborhood.

Florence has already set a North Carolina record for rainfall totals, exceeding that of Hurricane Floyd, which struck in 1999 and caused 56 deaths. Floyd produced 24 inches of rain in some parts of the state, while Florence has already dumped about 30 inches in areas around Swansboro.

In New Bern, about 90 miles northeast of Wilmington at the confluence of two rivers, Florence overwhelmed the town of 30,000 and left the downtown area under water. Some area residents described a harrowing retreat as the storm hit.

"It was pitch black and I was just scared out of my mind," said Tracy Singleton, who with her family later drove through torrential rain and high winds from her home near New Bern.

More than 20,000 people were in 157 shelters in North Carolina, with nearly 6,000 in South Carolina shelters, officials said.

South Carolina authorities said law enforcement officers were guarding against looting in evacuated areas, while Wilmington set a curfew on Saturday evening in response to looting in one area.

Schoolteacher Leslie Ochoa said she and her family loaded up 10 adults, 5 children, 14 goats, 10 dogs, two cats and one guinea pig and evacuated from Jacksonville, North Carolina to Columbia, South Carolina last Tuesday. As her son fed the goats in a hotel parking lot, she said she might not be able to return home until the middle of next week.

"Our friend behind our old house, they have gators swimming in the water. So yeah, not safe," Ochoa said.

The White House said President Donald Trump approved making federal funding available in some affected counties. Trump plans a visit to the region next week.

As the United States dealt with Florence, a strong typhoon tore across the northern tip of the Philippines, killing at least 3 people, wrecking homes and triggering landslides before heading toward Hong Kong and southern China.

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Mother and baby fall victim to Florence's wrath

WILMINGTON, United States – Taking cover as Hurricane Florence unleashed fury on the US port city of Wilmington, Adam Sparks heard "a loud pop."

He went to the door to see what had happened, but "it was still pitch black at that time," he said. Power had gone out just before the powerful storm's eye touched down in his state of North Carolina early Friday morning.

It was only an hour later, when fire trucks had taken over the street, that he realized the worst had happened: a mother and her infant had died after a tree struck the back of their house.

"Most of the neighborhood had evacuated," Sparks said. "Only myself, themselves and a few others decided to stay."

Their small home with red brick walls appeared intact from the street -- but the back offered a more grim view.

A section of wall had completely collapsed, with a few belongings in view bearing witness to the violence of the crash.

Later in the day, Wilmington Police confirmed the mother and child were the first fatalities resulting from Florence's onslaught, adding that the father was taken to the hospital with injuries.

"The tree line they have behind their home is very tall, very old trees," their neighbor said. "It's always a gamble with trees like that."

"Who could be prepared for this? It's the worst-case scenario."

- 'Heartbreaking' –

A yellow police cordon now encircles 24 Mercer Avenue, in a residential area of Wilmington.

According to firefighters, the area had not been in the zone under orders to evacuate as Florence began assaulting the US east coast with torrential rains and heavy winds.

Under the pummeling rain rescue workers spared no effort in attempting to save the victims trapped under the felled tree's branches.

Later in the day the firefighters gathered in a circle for a moment of meditation, knees on the ground, heads bowed, faces long.

"They are out here, they are under a lot of stress. They don't even know the conditions of their own homes or their own families," said fire chief Buddy Marinette. "It's a difficult situation for all of us."

"Right now, we are giving the guys a little bit of a break, they need it."

Since Florence slammed into the Carolinas, hundreds of people have needed rescuing after being trapped in their homes by monstrous storm surges and flooding, with four deaths officially confirmed, including the mother and child.

The storm's winds have weakened slightly and authorities now consider Florence a tropical storm -- but the danger remains. Forecasters warn of potentially "catastrophic freshwater flooding."

Franco Hendrickson, another neighbor of the victims, was at the scene when relatives arrived later in the morning.

"Seeing the devastation was just heartbreaking," he said. "Me and my girlfriend we were just really, really sad -- sad morning."

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Hurricane Florence makes landfall, set to deluge Carolinas

WILMINGTON, N.C.—Hurricane Florence crashed into the Carolinas as a giant, slow-moving storm on Friday, threatening catastrophic flooding while leaving scores in need of rescue from rising waters and hundreds of thousands without power.

The center of the hurricane's eye came ashore at about 0715 EDT near Wrightsville Beach close to Wilmington, North Carolina, with sustained winds of 150 kph, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

North Carolina's governor, Roy Cooper, said Florence was set to cover almost all of the state in several feet of water.

National Weather Service forecaster Brandon Locklear predicted Florence would drop up to eight months of rain in two or three days.

There were no immediate reports of storm-related deaths or serious injuries, but authorities said more than 100 people were rescued further north in New Bern, where the downtown area of the city of 30,000 people was under water.

"WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU," New Bern city officials said on Twitter. "You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU."

More than 60 people, including many children and pets, were evacuated from a hotel in Jacksonville, North Carolina, after strong winds caused parts of the roof to collapse, local officials said. No one was hurt.

More than 370,000 people were without power in North Carolina early on Friday, state officials said. Utility companies said millions were expected to lose power and that restoring it could take weeks.


THOUSANDS IN SHELTERS

Forecasters said the Category 1 storm's extreme size meant it could batter the U.S. East Coast with hurricane-force winds for nearly a full day.

About 10 million people could be affected by the storm and more than 1 million were ordered to evacuate the coasts of the Carolinas and Virginia.

Almost 20,000 people had taken refuge in 157 emergency shelters, Cooper said.

There was a threat from tornadoes as Florence made landfall, the NHC said. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said the heavy rain could trigger landslides in the west of his state.

Storm surges could push as far as 2 miles (3 km) inland, NHC said, while heavy rains were forecast to extend into the Appalachian Mountains, affecting parts of Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Emergency declarations were in force in Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Still, some residents ignored calls to evacuate.

"I had a lot of fear initially but I'm glad to be inside and safe," said Zelda Allen, a 74-year-old retired tax accountant from Hampstead, North Carolina, who was riding out the storm at Wilmington's Hotel Ballast with her husband.

"I'm worried about what I might find when I go home, though," she said.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Additional reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by John Stonestreet and Bernadette Baum)

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Gimme shelter: North Carolinians take refuge from Florence's fury

NEW BERN, N.C.—Junia MacDaniel just wants to get home to her Chihuahuas. All 14 of them are back in the double-wide trailer MacDaniel shares with her husband in New Bern, North Carolina.

The MacDaniels are seeking shelter from the monster storm Hurricane Florence, and they decided it was best to leave their little dogs behind.

They were among 12,000 North Carolinians staying in shelters after being displaced by the slow-moving storm that is expected to bring powerful storm surges and dozens of inches of rain to the eastern part of the state.

“This has been a really large evacuation and sheltering operation, probably the largest we've done, so that has not been an easy lift. I think it’s working,” said Keith Acree of North Carolina's Department of Emergency Management.

North Carolina began feeling the effects of Florence's wind and heavy rain on Thursday afternoon but the storm was not expected to make landfall until late night or early on Friday.

Avis Miner, 57, brought her friend and five grandchildren to a shelter in Washington, about 100 miles east of Raleigh, after leaving their trailer home in Aurora. She worried that if they stayed home “we’d be blown away.”

In shelters on Thursday, people crowded on cots, inflatable mattresses and blankets on the floors and in hallways of gymnasiums, clustering in corners to talk and outside to smoke.

More than 200 people had arrived at Wilmington’s Trask Middle School by Wednesday afternoon, along with 20 dogs, nine cats and a bird. More sought safety at another shelter in the city.

“It wasn’t safe,” said David Sullivan, a 76-year-old retired tow boat captain who evacuated his downtown Wilmington apartment. “I just figured come here and be safe.”

Debbie Green, director of social services for Pamlico County, said she is always worried about people being too isolated and vulnerable to make it to a shelter and, she said, “There are always people that are not willing to leave.”

Still, the shelter she is overseeing in Grantsboro, about 130 miles east of Raleigh, was 81 percent full by noon on Thursday and Green expected that number to swell. "People will come in the middle of a storm,” she said.

MacDaniel, who has sat out previous storms, said everyone told her that Florence would be different.

“All the other storms we stayed put. But they told us this storm was the doozy,” MacDaniel said. “We have never flooded before but we didn’t really want to take no chances.”

Now, she’s counting the hours until she can return home to her Chihuahuas.

“When it clears up just a little bit, momma’s going home ... I just miss my dogs.” (Additional reporting By Ernest Scheyder in Wilmington, North Carolina Editing by Frank McGurty, Toni Reinhold)

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'Monster' Hurricane Florence to pummel US Southeast for days

WILMINGTON - Hurricane Florence, on track to become the first Category 4 storm to make a direct hit on North Carolina in 6 decades, howled closer to shore on Tuesday, threatening to unleash deadly pounding surf, days of torrential rain and severe flooding.

Fierce winds and massive waves are expected to lash the coasts of North and South Carolina and Virginia even before Florence makes landfall on Friday, and its rains will take a heavy toll for miles inland, the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned.

Although Florence was still days from arrival, authorities took extraordinary measures to move people out of harm's way. More than 1 million residents have been ordered to evacuate from coastal areas of the 3 states, closing university campuses, schools and factories.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour (225 km per hour), the storm ranked as a Category 4 on the 5-step Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale and was expected to grow stronger and larger over the next few days, the NHC said.

"This storm is a monster," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said. "Even if you've ridden out storms before, this one is different. Don't bet your life on riding out a monster."

He cited forecasts showing Florence was likely to stall over North Carolina, "bringing days and days of rain."

To hasten evacuations from coastal South Carolina, officials reversed the flow of traffic on some highways so all major roads led away from shore. Miles of traffic slowed to a crawl along the main highway along North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands.

Maps of Florence's trajectory showed the center of the storm most likely to strike the southern coast of North Carolina. The last Category 4 hurricane to plow directly into North Carolina was Hazel in 1954, a devastating storm that killed 19 people and destroyed some 15,000 homes.

But NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen stressed the effects of Florence would be widely felt. Tropical storm-force winds would extend nearly 300 miles across 3 states. A hurricane warning was posted for most of the Carolina coast north to the Virginia border.

In addition to flooding the coast with wind-driven storm surges of seawater as high as 13 feet (4 m), Florence could dump 15 to 25 inches (38 to 64 cm) of rain, with up to 35 inches (89 cm) in some spots, forecasters said.

LONG-TERM POWER OUTAGES POSSIBLE

Communities in Florence's path could be without electricity for weeks due to downed power lines and flooded equipment, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long said.

Utility companies deployed crews and gear in advance, according to trade group, the Edison Electric Institute. Workers from at least 15 states were en route to the region to assist with what could be a lengthy power restoration effort.

Crews also prepared 16 nuclear reactors in the three-state region for the storm. One power station, Duke Energy Corp's Brunswick plant, the closest to the area where landfall is forecast, faced a likely shutdown as a precaution. Shutdowns also were possible at two more plants in the path of predicted hurricane-force winds.

The American Red Cross said more than 700 workers were headed to the target area while shelters were set up to take in those who could not evacuate. A hospital in Hampton, Virginia, was transferring patients to safer places.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed declarations of emergency for North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, freeing up federal resources for storm response.

"We are sparing no expense. We are totally prepared," Trump said at the White House.

Trump faced severe criticism for his administration's response to Hurricane Maria last year in Puerto Rico. Some 3,000 people died in the aftermath of that storm.

COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS

Days before its arrival, Florence was already disrupting commercial operations.

Boeing Co suspended work on Tuesday at the South Carolina plant where it assembles 787 widebody jetliners, and a Volvo automobile plant in South Carolina's evacuation zone was also closed, company officials said.

Smithfield Foods Inc said it would shut down the world's largest hog-slaughtering facility in Tar Heel, North Carolina, on Thursday and Friday due to the hurricane.

Residents prepared by boarding up their homes and stocking up on food, water and other essentials, stripping many grocery store shelves of merchandise. Some gasoline stations also ran low on fuel.

Not everyone was in a hurry to leave. Charles Mullen, 81, a longtime resident of Hatteras Island, North Carolina, said he had ridden out many storms and that most locals were planning to stay unless Florence took aim at Hatteras.

"If it decides to come here, we're gone," he said. 

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More than 1 million under evacuation as Hurricane Florence nears Carolinas

Could make landfall in Carolinas on Thursday

North Carolina governor says entire state may be impacted

Inland flooding expected to be intense 

HOLDEN BEACH, North Carolina - Florence, the most powerful storm to menace the U.S. mainland this year, intensified into a Category 4 hurricane as it howled closer to the Carolinas on Monday, prompting evacuations of more than 1 million people to higher ground.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kph), the storm was due to gain even greater strength before making landfall early on Thursday, bringing heavy rains with the potential to unleash widespread, severe flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami.

"Florence is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday," the NHC said in a bulletin.

Maps of the storm's trajectory showed it likely to come ashore somewhere near the border of North Carolina and South Carolina. The governors of both states declared states of emergency.

"We do not want to risk one South Carolina life in this hurricane," Governor Henry McMaster told a news conference.

He estimated about 1 million residents would flee the coast of his state, following earlier orders for the evacuation of more than 50,000 people from the southern-most Outer Banks barrier islands of North Carolina. An estimated 250,000 more people from the northern Outer Banks were due to be sent to higher ground starting Tuesday at midday.

"We are in the bull's-eye," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said at a news conference. "This is going to be a statewide event."

OFF CAPE FEAR

Florence grew into a major hurricane on Monday morning and was upgraded again to a Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane strength at midday as its top sustained wind speeds reached 130 mph. At that point the storm was centered about 1,170 miles (1,880 km) east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, the NHC said.

The United States was hit with a series of high-powered hurricanes last year, including Hurricane Maria, which killed about 3,000 people in Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Harvey, which killed 68 and caused an estimated $1.25 billion in damage from catastrophic flooding in Houston.

U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration was harshly criticized as being slow to respond to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, canceled a political rally planned for Friday in Jackson, Mississippi, over safety concerns related to Florence, his campaign said.

Florence could bring a deadly coastal storm surge, and inland flooding as far north as Virginia, the NHC said.

Immediately to the north of Virginia, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said his state was also was "preparing for the potential of historic, catastrophic and life-threatening flooding."

Historically, 90 percent of fatalities from hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions have been caused by water, NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. Some 27 percent of the deaths have come from rain-driven flooding, sometimes hundreds of miles inland.

'CAN'T PLAY AROUND'

In Holden Beach, North Carolina, in the storm's path, longtime residents were boarding up homes and securing possessions.

"It's scary to all of us. We know we can't play around with this," said Jennifer Oosterwyk, who owns the Sugar Britches boutique on Holden Beach and lives in nearby Wilmington.

Oosterwyk was gathering tax documents and other important papers from her store on Monday, and said she planned to drive 150 miles (240 km) inland to ride out the storm in the town of Cary.

As the storm advanced, Monday afternoon was a postcard-perfect day on Holden Beach with bright blue skies, placid puffy clouds and light breezes. By 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), the previously calm surf began to show some chop.

The U.S. military said it was sending an advance team to Raleigh, North Carolina, to coordinate with federal and state partners. It said about 750 military personnel will be designated to provide support.

The U.S. Navy said it was sending nearly 30 ships from coastal Virginia out of port to ride out the storm.

Other military personnel, however, could find themselves directly in harm's way.

The largest U.S. Marine Corps base on the East Coast, Camp Lejeune and its extensive beachfront northeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, lie within the NHC's forecast "cone" for possible landfall.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'In the bull's-eye:' North Carolina orders evacuations as hurricane nears

HOLDEN BEACH, N.C., Sept 10 (Reuters) - North Carolina residents boarded up their homes and piled cars with valuables on Monday after officials warned coastal areas would be hit from Hurricane Florence, the most powerful storm to take aim at the U.S. mainland this year.

The storm had winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kph) and was due to gain strength before it made landfall, which the U.S. National Hurricane Center said was likely to occur early Thursday, bringing heavy rain that could cause severe flooding through the region.

"We are in the bull's-eye," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a news conference Monday. Officials ordered residents and visitors to begin evacuating the Outer Banks. "This is going to be a statewide event."

The United States faced a series of high-powered hurricanes last year, including Hurricane Maria, which killed some 3,000 people in Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Harvey, which killed about 68 people and caused an estimated $1.25 billion in damage when it brought catastrophic flooding to Houston.

By 11 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) on Monday, Florence was about 1,240 miles (2,000 km) east-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and was a Category 4, the second-strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the NHC said.

U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration faced severe criticism for a slow response in Puerto Rico to Hurricane Maria, canceled a political rally planned for Friday in Jackson, Mississippi, over safety concerns related to Florence, his campaign said.

Cooper declared a state of emergency in North Carolina, as did his counterparts in neighboring South Carolina and Virginia. He said he had asked Trump to declare a federal state of emergency for North Carolina.

Florence could bring a life-threatening coastal storm surge, and inland flooding as far north as Virginia, the NHC said.

Historically, 90 percent of fatalities from hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions have been caused by water, said NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. Some 27 percent of the deaths have come from rain-driven flooding, sometimes hundreds of miles inland.

'CAN'T PLAY AROUND'

Holden Beach, North Carolina, was in the storm's path, according to forecasts on Monday. Longtime residents could be seen boarding up homes and securing possessions.

"It's scary to all of us. We know we can't play around with this," said Jennifer Oosterwyk, who owns the Sugar Britches boutique on Holden Beach and lives in nearby Wilmington.

Oosterwyk was gathering important papers including tax documents from her store on Monday, and said she planned to drive 150 miles (240 km) inland to Cary to ride the storm out.

Dare County Emergency Management told residents and visitors to evacuate Hatteras Island by Tuesday at noon.

The U.S. military said it was sending an advanced team to Raleigh, North Carolina, to coordinate with federal and state partners and that about 750 military personnel will be set aside to provide support.

The U.S. Navy added that it was sending nearly 30 ships from Virginia to sea in order to avoid damage.

The NHC also was tracking two other hurricanes farther out in the Atlantic: Category 1 Isaac and Category 2 Helene.

Wall Street was trying to pick winners and losers.

Shares of Generac Holdings Inc, building materials maker Owens Corning and roofing supplier Beacon Roofing Supply Inc were up between 4 percent and 6 percent. Retailers Lowe's Companies Inc was up 2.3 percent and Home Depot Inc gained 2 percent.

Several insurers seen vulnerable to potential claims losses slipped, led by a 2 percent drop in Allstate Corp and a 1.8 percent decline in Travelers Companies Inc.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Day hits spectacular shot en route to victory at Quail Hollow

Former world number one Jason Day almost aced the 17th hole on the way to a two-stroke victory at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina on Sunday.

After squandering a three-shot lead on the back nine, Day made amends to clinch his 12th PGA Tour victory in style at Quail Hollow in Charlotte ahead of Americans Nick Watney and Aaron Wise.

The Australian birdied the 16th and then took aim at the par-three 17th hole with a seven-iron from 230 yards.

His ball landed some 40 feet short of the pin, took a huge first bounce and finally clattered against the bottom of the flagstick on the fifth bounce.

Day was unlucky not to make a hole-in-one, but the stick also saved his ball from rolling off the back of the green.

The ensuing three-feet birdie restored his two-shot lead and he parred the last to finish at 12-under 272.

Day rated the victory one of the best of his career, not because of the quality of his play but more due to his ability to get the job done without his best game.

"I had no idea where the ball was going today, especially off the tee," he said in an interview on the 18th green.

"I missed a lot of fairways, missed a lot of greens. My short game stood the test, which is nice. This is probably one of the best wins I’ve ever had, just because of how hard everything was today."

It is only two years since Day was dominating the game, but he slightly lost his way and surrendered the spotlight.

However, a win at Torrey Pines in January showed that he was back in business, and his Quail Hollow victory is projected to elevate him to seventh in the world rankings.

Day, 30, acknowledged that plenty of doubts crept into his head when he bogeyed the 13th and 14th holes on Sunday to fall back into a tie with wise.

"The biggest thing is, you’re playing mental games with yourself," he said.

"Your sub-conscious is sitting there going, 'You’re going to fail, you’re going to fail, you’re going to fail.'

"I kept on saying to myself, 'No, just forget about those thoughts, keep pushing, keep pushing and give yourself opportunities.'

"I was putting great, pretty much all week and had a lot of good opportunities coming in."

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Ken Ferris)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump within reach of shock White House win

NEW YORK - Billionaire populist Donald Trump was poised for a possible shock victory over Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's historic US presidential election, as a string of swing state victories for the Republican jolted world markets and stunned her supporters.

As polls closed and media called state races one-by-one, giving the key battleground states of Ohio, Florida and North Carolina to the Republican maverick, pollsters scrambled to update their forecasts and point to an improbable upset.

Clinton -- the 69-year-old Democratic former first lady, senator and secretary of state -- began the day as the narrow favorite to win the White House and become America's first female president.

But Trump's string of successes reflected how deeply divided the American electorate has become, and showcased his ability to tap into white blue-collar voters' resentment of cultural change linked to immigration and the loss of manufacturing jobs at home.

World markets plunged as US observers awaited results from the Rust Belt state of Pennsylvania, the northeastern state of New Hampshire, and the northern states of Michigan and Wisconsin -- all now vital to Clinton's hopes.

Mexico's peso plummeted over fears that Trump will make good on his vow to wall off America's neighbor to the south.

Safe haven assets rallied, with the yen and gold rushing higher, and Wall Street futures fell 3.7 percent in after-hours trade. Asian markets were in turmoil, with Indian stocks dropping six percent.

Clinton supporters who had gathered at a glittering reception in New York expecting to hear a victory speech from Clinton fell quiet and jabbed nervously at their phones.

Major donors had tears in their eyes as they stared stupefied at the screens, and an audible gasp filled the room when North Carolina went into Trump's win column.

"Not great," muttered railroad retiree Joan Divenuti, who came all the way from Massachusetts to cheer her heroine. "Florida was always a problem," she added.

Across town at the Trump election party, the 70-year-old property tycoon's supporters -- a more well-heeled crowd than the blue-collar Midwesterners he is counting on for victory -- cheered and pumped their fists at each advance.

"I think we're going to win," said 22-year-old Brendon Pena, who works for a company that leases office space in the soaring Trump Tower.

"I was always positive. I think Donald Trump is a really smart guy. He knows what we're going to do and we're going to win the election."

At 11:30 pm (0430 GMT), Trump was projected to win 24 states worth 229 electoral college votes, within striking distance of the 270 he needs.

Clinton stood at a projected 209 electoral votes.

- 'Whatever happens, thank you' -

This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/x13iWOzILL

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 9, 2016

On the legislative side, the Republicans were on course to retain their majority in the US House of Representatives, according to network projections -- a situation that has been a thorn in the side of incumbent President Barack Obama.

Clinton tweeted: "This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything."

She and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, huddled in a hotel near the venue to prepare a victory -- or concession -- speech.

Earlier, the Clintons voted near their home in Chappaqua, before emerging to shake hands and chat with the crowd.

An exit poll by CNN found that only four in 10 voters were optimistic that Obama's successor would do any better than he has during his two terms in office.

Trump, 70, cast his ballot alongside his wife Melania in a Manhattan school gymnasium.

"Right now it's looking very good," he told reporters -- paying no heed to protesters who welcomed him with chants of "New York hates you!"

- Tough contest -

The 2016 race was the most bruising in modern memory.

Obama's election eight years ago as the nation's first black president had raised hopes of uniting Americans, but the current contest has only highlighted the country's divisions -- and the fact that voters are not necessarily happy with their options.

Exit polls by ABC News and NBC News found that both Clinton and Trump are seen as untrustworthy by majorities of voters, while most find Trump's temperament unpresidential.

But his supporters flocked to the polls.

"It's unbelievable. I didn't know Trump was really going to pull it off," said Glenn Ruti, a New Yorker who works in telecommunications.

"I think he's going to go all the way. The country wants change."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Hundreds stranded in North Carolina floods after Hurricane Matthew

LUMBERTON, N.C. - Hundreds of people were rescued by boat and helicopter as floodwaters inundated North Carolina towns on Monday in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, and officials warned that life-threatening flooding from swollen rivers would continue for days.

Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday.

The hurricane killed around 1,000 people in Haiti and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday some Haitian towns and villages had just about been "wiped off the map."

In the United States, the number of fatalities rose to at least 23, with nearly half in North Carolina.

After receiving as much as 18 inches (39 cm) of rain from Matthew over the weekend, North Carolina's skies were clear on Monday, but raging rivers and breached levees posed major problems.

"This storm is not over in North Carolina," Governor Pat McCrory told reporters in Fayetteville. "It's going to be a long, tough journey."

Eleven people have died in the state, officials said. With rivers rising, the governor said he expected deaths to increase.

The flooding prompted President Barack Obama to declare a state of emergency in North Carolina on Monday, making federal funding available to affected individuals in 10 counties hit by the storm, the White House said in a statement.

Some 2,000 residents were stuck in their homes and on rooftops in Lumberton, off the Lumber River, after the city suddenly flooded on Monday morning, McCrory said. Air and water rescues would continue throughout the day, he said.

Many of the homes and businesses in Lumberton were flooded with several feet of water on Monday afternoon and residents were seen paddling about the town in small skiffs.

Major flooding was expected this week in central and eastern towns along the Lumber, Cape Fear, Neuse and Tar rivers. The National Weather Service said the Neuse River would crest on Friday night and forecast "disastrous flooding."

Emergency officials in North Carolina's Lenoir County issued a mandatory evacuation order on Monday afternoon for residents and businesses along the Neuse River.

"COULD BE FLOODED TOMORROW"

Many coastal and inland communities remained under water from storm surge or overrun rivers and creeks.

McCrory told reporters that he had met with an elderly woman at a shelter on Monday who lost everything to floods.

"She's sitting in a school cafeteria at this point in time crying and wondering what her life is going to be all about," he said. "It breaks your heart."

In neighboring South Carolina, Governor Nikki Haley warned that waterways were quickly reaching capacity around the state.

"What might not be flooded today could be flooded tomorrow," Haley said at a news conference.

She said there had been at least three storm-related deaths, including one in which a person in a vehicle was swept away by floodwaters.

Warnings were also issued over downed power lines. An 89-year-old man in Florida was killed on Monday after touching a downed line, officials said.

While power was being restored in some areas, about 1.1 million people were still without power in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia.

A federal judge on Monday granted a request from Florida's Democratic Party to extend the state's voter registration deadline by one more day, through Wednesday, because of the hurricane. Republican Governor Rick Scott had rejected demands from Democrats to extend the deadline.

Meanwhile, a hurricane watch was issued for Bermuda, which could be threatened by another tropical system, Nicole, that is expected to reach the Atlantic island later this week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Charlotte police release video of fatal shooting after protests

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - Charlotte police released body camera and dashboard videos on Saturday showing the fatal shooting of a black man that triggered protests in the North Carolina city, but the footage did not show whether the victim was holding a gun.

A dashboard camera from a police car showed Keith Scott, killed on Tuesday, exiting his car and backing away from it. Police shout to him to drop the gun, but it is not clear that he has anything in his hand. Then shots break out and Scott drops to the ground.

A second body camera video from an officer does not show the moment of shooting. It shows Scott outside his vehicle before he is shot, but it is not clear whether he has something in his hand. Then the officer moves and Scott is out of view until he is seen on the ground.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney announced the release of the video at an earlier briefing, following days of demonstrations at which protesters demanded that authorities allow the public to see clips of the Tuesday shooting.

Putney said before releasing the footage that the videos themselves were "insufficient" to prove that Scott held a gun. But the totality of evidence did, he said.

“There is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand, you can see something in the hand, and that he pointed it at an officer. That I did not visually see in the video,” Putney said. “But what we do see is compelling evidence that, when you put all the pieces together, supports that."

Police also released pictures including one of a handgun it says was recovered at the scene and an ankle holster police say Scott was wearing.

The news conference came as demonstrators on Saturday mounted a fifth day of protests in Charlotte. They called for the end of emergency measures imposed on the city this week, the removal of National Guard troops and for officers involved in the incident to be prosecuted.

The shooting of Scott, a 43-year-old father of seven, was the latest in a series of deadly police encounters across the country in recent years that has raised questions about the use of force by U.S. law enforcement against African-Americans and other minorities.

(Additional reporting by David Bailey and Alex Dobuzinskis; Writing by Will Dunham and Peter Henderson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Mary Milliken)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Protesters remain on Charlotte streets, defying midnight curfew

CHARLOTTE, United States - Hundreds of protesters defied a midnight (0400 GMT) curfew Friday and continued demonstrations in Charlotte, North Carolina over the fatal police shooting of a black man.

An AFP correspondent at the scene reported several hundred demonstrators milling around the downtown area of the southern US city for a third consecutive night, amid a strong police presence.

The protests follow the shooting on Tuesday of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old African American -- the latest in a string of police-involved killings of black men that have fueled outrage across the United States.

North Carolina's governor has declared a state of emergency in Charlotte, and several hundred National Guard troops and highway police officers were deployed to reinforce the local force.

Police late Thursday fired tear gas and what appeared to be rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators blocking a main highway, but the demonstrations otherwise proceeded in a relatively calm manner.

Earlier, several hundred demonstrators blocked one lane of a major highway near the Bank of America Stadium, with some lying down as panicking drivers turned their cars around and drove off in the wrong direction.

In the center of Charlotte, the atmosphere was calmer as hundreds marched to the city police station carrying signs saying "Stop killing us" and "Resistance is beautiful."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US to issue decree on transgender access to school restrooms: NY Times

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is planning to issue a sweeping decree telling every public school district in the country to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

The letter to school districts that will go out on Friday describing what they should do to ensure that none of their students are discriminated against is signed by officials of the Justice Department and Education Department, according to the Times.

It does not have the force of law but contains an implicit threat that schools which do not abide by the Obama administration's interpretation of the law could face lawsuits or a loss of federal aid, the newspaper said.

"No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus," Education Secretary John King Jr. said in a statement, according to the Times.

"We must ensure that our young people know that whoever they are or wherever they come from, they have the opportunity to get a great education in an environment free from discrimination, harassment and violence," he said.

The move comes as the Obama administration and North Carolina battle in federal court over a state law passed in March that limits public bathroom access for transgender people.

By passing the law, North Carolina became the first state in the country to ban people from using multiple occupancy restrooms or changing rooms in public buildings and schools that do not match the sex on their birth certificate. (Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Sandra Maler)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com