WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The New Hanover Disaster Coalition is encouraging residents to begin preparing for hurricane season ahead of a community preparedness event this weekend.

The group will host a Disaster Preparedness Expo on Saturday, May 16, at the Skyline Center in Wilmington.

Organizers say the event will connect residents with emergency management agencies, local organizations, and preparedness resources focused on severe weather and disaster planning.

Craig Harris, the Emergency Management and Resiliency Coordinator for the City of Wilmington, said the expo is intended to help people better understand how to respond throughout every stage of a storm.

“The event is really to help people get more prepared before the storm, during the storm, and after the storm,” Harris said.

Janel Washington, director of the New Hanover Disaster Coalition, said residents should begin organizing critical records and materials now instead of waiting until a storm is imminent.

“It’s gather documents — that’s a big thing that we try to educate — is to go ahead and gather your important documents,” Washington said.

Harris also encouraged families to review emergency supply needs and preparedness plans for their homes and pets.

“Now is the time to get those checklist together to make sure you got the thing you need for your house, for your home, for your family, and for your pet,” Harris said.

The Disaster Preparedness Expo is open to the public.

(AP) — A trail of damaged homes and buildings dotted a wide swath of the U.S. on Saturday after a burst of destructive winds and reported tornadoes tore off roofs, uprooted trees and rendered rural roads impassable with debris.

No deaths were reported following Friday’s storms that barreled through the Upper Midwest and delivered the latest round of severe weather to batter the region. Officials braced residents for a long recovery in some rural communities.

“We are extremely fortunate that this storm did not result in loss of life or serious injury,” Stephenson County Sheriff Steve Stovall said of the storm that hit Lena, Illinois, on Friday.

Officials in Wisconsin and Minnesota echoed those sentiments.

In central Wisconsin, a reported tornado that tore through the cities of Kronenwetter and Ringle left behind damaged homes and some residents briefly trapped in their basements, Ringle Fire Chief Chris Kielman told reporters.

Marathon County Sheriff Chad Billeb said he had not seen this much devastation during his 34 years in law enforcement.

“A lot of people are going to need a lot of help,” Billeb said of the Wisconsin storms.

In Olmsted County, Minnesota, sheriff’s officials said tornadoes caused “multiple levels” of damage. At least 30 homes were damaged in Marion Township, with a number of those sustaining damage that was described as significant. Officials went door to door in the community to check on residents.

The National Weather Service said the damage was likely caused by tornadoes and that surveys of the affected areas would be conducted over the weekend.

In Illinois, Leo Zach, 14, had just gotten to the high school band room for a music competition when the building started shaking and the power went out. He said the room was packed with students and some were very scared and had panic attacks.

“I’m definitely on the luckier side of how that could’ve happened,” he said. “I was just trying to stay calm, help other people.”

When they got outside, they found some of the windows blown out in the gym and part of the school’s roof ripped off.

Photos and video posted online showed a garage totaled, bricks torn off of buildings and fences demolished.

Lena is a village of nearly 3,000 people, located about 117 miles (188 kilometers) northwest of Chicago.

Rachel Nemon had been going to pick up her stepson from Lena’s middle school when she had to pull into a car wash to take cover from the storm. She watched a large tree get ripped from the ground and sparks fly feet in front of her.

“This is something that you see online, not in real life, especially in a small town in Illinois,” she said.

CAPE FEAR, NC (WWAY) — Severe weather hit most of the Cape Fear region Monday, with strong winds throughout the area, along with hours of rainfall.

Rain pounded the entrance to Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach, with driving winds whipping up the ocean.

Areas of Brunswick and New Hanover County saw as much as 2 and a half inches of rain from this storm, with reported gusts up to 50 miles per hour throughout the region.

No tornadoes have been reported, as the tornado watch the region was under ended around 5:30 pm.

Howard Wallace is the Cooperative Extension director for Columbus County.

He said with cold weather expected to follow this storm on Monday night, it’s important to follow the four p’s.

“Priority number 1 being people,” Wallace said. “If you have elderly or young folks, you need to be checking on them to make sure that they’re staying warm on a night like tonight. Pets, if you keep pets outside, you need to be giving them some sort of shelter. Pipes, you know, you need to keep some water running or open up your cabinets while your water is running. And also finally, plants. If you’ve already brought plants in due to the winds and due to the storm that is happening right now, just keep them in until this cold front passes.”

Colder air will move into the region Monday night, with the area under a freeze warning for Tuesday night.

CHICAGO (AP) — Successive punches of snow and wind were impacting the eastern half of the United States on Monday as severe weather swept across much of the nation, making roads impassable in the Upper Midwest and canceling more than 2,000 flights nationwide.

Forecasters said mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C., were at greatest risk for high winds and tornadoes. The cold front was expected to move off the East Coast by Tuesday, bringing sharply colder weather in its wake, forecasters said.

By Tuesday morning, wind chills below freezing were expected to reach the Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle with freeze warnings in effect in parts of the Southeast and parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, forecasters warned. To the north, rain was expected to change over to snow behind the cold front with accumulations of more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) possible in the central Appalachians of West Virginia.

The late winter blast comes as Hawaii continued to be affected by a separate storm system that caused severe flooding over the weekend.

Forecasters warn about line of storms, tornadoes

The National Weather Service that warned a line of severe storms with damaging winds would cross much of the Eastern U.S. After firing up Sunday, the storms were crossing the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys. The storm threat was expected to enter the Appalachians, then move toward the East Coast, where “severe thunderstorms with widespread damaging winds and several tornadoes” were expected, the service said.

A stretch from parts of South Carolina to Maryland appeared most likely to experience the greatest damaging winds Monday afternoon, the weather service said. That could include Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and the nation’s capital.

Many schools in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia were closed Monday. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein urged residents to enable emergency alerts on their phones ahead of expected wind gusts of 74 mph (119 kph). In Maryland, many school systems planned to dismiss students early on Monday.

Beyond the threat to lives and property, “whether it’s wind gusts from a squall line, blizzard or snow, or just wind because of the storm, you’re looking at several major airports being impacted,“ said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys.

Big snows in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan

Blizzard conditions persisted Monday in parts of Wisconsin and Michigan, where the storm brought as much as 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow by morning. It was still snowing in the region. Additional snowfall of a foot (30 centimeters) to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow can be expected in upper Michigan, along with gusty winds, on Monday, the National Weather Service said. Schools were closed in a number of communities Monday in both states, including Milwaukee and Marquette, Michigan.

Lower snow accumulations in places such as Chicago and Milwaukee were expected to create trouble for commuters on Monday, Roys said.

Jim Allen, 45, who lives on the Upper Peninsula, said his family stocked up on necessities and he was ready to clear snow several times Sunday with a shovel and snowblower.

“We’re basically prepared to just kind of hunker down for a few days if we need to,” Allen said.

The thousands of flights canceled nationwide early Monday included more than 350 at Chicago O’Hare International and another 200 at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight disruptions. More than 2,500 more flights were delayed nationwide early Monday. Those disruptions came a day after more than 3,200 cancellations and 10,200 delays nationwide on Sunday.

Power outages remain, some from earlier high winds

More than 250,000 utility customers in six Great Lakes states were without electricity early Monday, according to PowerOutage.us. Some originated on Friday when gusts in the region reached 85 mph (137 kph). Another half-million customers were in the dark from Texas to Kentucky.

In Nebraska, about 30 National Guard members were deployed to combat multiple wildfires across a broad swath of range and grassland, state officials said. One fire-related fatality was reported.

Landslides, rescues, collapsed home on Maui

Rain continued falling on Sunday in Hawaii, where acres of farmland and homes have been flooded, roads have been closed and shelters opened. Some areas of Maui received more than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a social media post.

Maui County later on Sunday downgraded an evacuation notice and said crews were pumping water from retentions basins to keep them at safe levels.

Resident and real estate broker Jesse Wald, who recorded video of a coastal road’s collapse Saturday, said other parts of the road were flooded out by mud and sediment.

“In the 20 years I’ve been here I’ve never seen this much rain,” he said.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — It’s severe weather preparedness week across North Carolina. This parking lot at Wrightsville Beach was full Sunday as temperatures reached the mid 70s. From kids playing in the sand and boaters out on the water, it really felt like spring.

But severe weather can strike without much notice. 

Just a few weeks ago, a snowstorm impacted Cape Fear leaving 17-inches of snow in some parts of southern Brunswick County.

Tiffany Wright is with AAA Carolinas and due to the unpredictability of weather, she says it’s important to prepare for potential severe weather events, especially if you’re alone.

“Food, water, um, extra medication that you might need in case you find yourself stranded,” said Wright. 

As winter makes its exit, spring is right around the corner which means an increased threat for severe weather.

Steven Pfaff is the “Meteorologist in Charge” at the National Weather Service in Wilmington. Because our area could experience all sorts of severe weather, he says it’s important to take the time to prepare now. 

“Large hail, a tornado, or even damaging microburst winds so that’s what we highlight during this severe weather awareness week, put as many walls between you and the outside as possible. Stay away from doors and windows, center most part of the room is best, maybe it’s a bathroom or a closet,” said Pfaff.

Pfaff says tornadoes are most favorable in the spring, but hurricane season isn’t far behind. Hurricane season begins June 1st.  A North Carolina statewide tornado drill is scheduled Wednesday March 4 at 9:30 am. 

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Another powerful storm system that could soak Southern California with its wettest Christmas in years rolled into the region on Thursday, potentially causing more flooding and mudslides a day after heavy rain and gusty winds were blamed for at least two deaths.

Forecasters warned the additional rain could increase the risk of debris flows in waterlogged areas scorched by wildfires in January. Those burn scar zones have been stripped of vegetation by fire and are less able to absorb water.

On Wednesday, a falling tree killed a San Diego man, local news outlets reported. Farther north, a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy died in what appeared to be a weather-related crash.

San Bernardino County firefighters said they rescued people trapped in cars when mud and debris rushed down a road leading into Wrightwood, a resort town in the San Gabriel Mountains about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles. It was not immediately clear how many people were rescued.

Roads in the town of about 5,000 people were covered in rocks, debris and thick mud on Thursday. With power out, a local gas station and coffee shop running on generators were serving as hubs for residents and visitors. Statewide, more than 120,000 people were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

“It’s really a crazy Christmas,” said Jill Jenkins, who was spending the holiday with her 13-year-old grandson, Hunter Lopiccolo.

Lopiccolo said the family almost evacuated the previous day, when water washed away a chunk of their backyard. But they eventually decided to stay and still celebrated the holiday. Lopiccolo got a new snowboard and e-bike.

“We just played card games all night with candles and flashlights,” he said.

Resident Arlene Corte said roads in town turned into rivers, but her house was not damaged.

“It could be a whole lot worse,” she said. “We’re here talking.”

With more rain on the way, more than 150 firefighters were stationed in the area, said San Bernardino County Fire spokesman Shawn Millerick.

“We’re ready,” he said. “It’s all hands on deck at this point.”

Heavy rain

Residents around burn scar zones from the Airport Fire in Orange County were under evacuation orders.

Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under a flood watch until Friday afternoon, and wind and flood advisories were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The storms were the result of multiple atmospheric rivers carrying massive plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 centimeters) of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.

Snow at higher elevations

More heavy snow was expected in the Sierra Nevada, where wind gusts created “near white-out conditions” in places and made mountain pass travel treacherous. Officials said there was a “high” avalanche risk around Lake Tahoe and a winter storm warning was in effect through Friday.

Ski resorts around Lake Tahoe recorded about 1 to 3 feet (30 to 91 centimeters) of snow overnight, said Tyler Salas, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Reno. Forecasters expect to see up to another 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow through Friday, Salas said. The area could see 45 mile-per-hour gusts of wind in low elevation areas and 100 mile-per-hour winds along mountain ridges.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in six counties to allow state assistance in storm response.

The state deployed emergency resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. government forecasters are using a relatively rare “high-risk” designation — the highest category they use — to warn that a major tornado outbreak appears likely Wednesday in an area that’s home to about 2.5 million people.

That area most at risk of catastrophic weather on Wednesday includes parts of west Tennessee including Memphis; northeast Arkansas; the southeast corner of Missouri; and parts of western Kentucky and southern Illinois.

The Norman, Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center says that “multiple long-track EF3+ tornadoes, appear likely.” Tornadoes of that magnitude are among the strongest on the Enhanced Fujita scale, used to rate their intensity.

Historically, the “high-risk” designation has been used sparingly, but it did appear just a couple of weeks ago to warn of a deadly tornado outbreak in mid-March.

Magenta marks areas at highest risk

The Storm Prediction Center uses five categories to warn of expected severe weather, ranging from marginal to high. Its forecast maps are color-coded, with the lowest risk areas in green and the highest shown in magenta.

The “high risk” designation is used when severe weather is expected to include “numerous intense and long-tracked tornadoes” or thunderstorms producing hurricane-force wind gusts and inflicting widespread damage, according to the agency.

On many days when the “high risk” designation was used in recent years, the forecasts became reality.

2024 Kansas and Oklahoma tornado outbreak

On May, 6, 2024, the Storm Prediction Center assigned the high-risk category to parts of Kansas and Oklahoma, warning of “multiple significant tornadoes along potentially long paths.”

The forecast was prescient, as dozens of tornadoes gouged the landscape. One of the strongest twisters tore through the small town of Barnsdall, Oklahoma and then struck the larger community of Bartlesville.

Aerial video showed many homes reduced to piles of rubble. About 25 people were rescued from homes where buildings had collapsed on or around them, the town’s mayor said at the time.

2023 Mississippi River Valley tornadoes

On March 31, 2023, the Storm Prediction Center outlined two areas along the Mississippi River Valley at high risk for tornadoes.

Hours after that forecast was issued, multiple twisters collapsed a theater roof during a heavy metal concert in Illinois and shredded homes and shopping centers in Arkansas.

A roof collapse at the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, Illinois, killed one person and injured more than two dozen others. About 260 people were in the venue at the time, the local fire chief said.

In all, 146 tornadoes from the 2023 outbreak were confirmed, making it the third-largest tornado outbreak on record in the U.S., the National Weather Service said. More than two dozen people were killed and dozens of others injured.

AP—A dynamic storm that prompted foreboding predictions of dangerous weekend weather spawned tornadoes, dust storms and wildfires that killed at least 39 people and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.

The system that brought severe weather and flooding to the central and eastern part of the country over the weekend was moving off the East Coast on Monday morning with some showers lingering from the mid-Atlantic into eastern New England, according to Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Here’s what to know about the unusually erratic and damaging weather.

Another system coming this week

Another system is moving out of the Rockies and into the Plains in coming days, Chenard said. The threat of winter weather picks up on Tuesday into Wednesday in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan, with significant snow and wind bringing hazardous conditions. To the south, across portions of the Plains, there will be drier air, bringing fire weather risk.

Multiple tornadoes in several states

The massive storm that began Friday earned an unusual “high risk” designation from meteorologists. Still, experts said it’s not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.

“It’s not that uncommon to get impacts across that many states, but this one was even on the stronger side of what we would typically see,” he said.

There was a significant outbreak of tornadoes, with 46 tornadoes on Friday and 41 on Saturday, according to a preliminary count, Chenard said. There were no reports of tornadoes on Sunday, but there were many reports of wind damage, especially from West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

Two strong tornadoes tore through the same Mississippi county — home to the hard-hit town of Tylertown, Mississippi — within about one hour of each other on Saturday, according to a new preliminary report from the National Weather Service. The pair of twisters caused devastating damage in Walthall County, in far southern Mississippi.

The first twister, assigned a preliminary rating of EF-3, carved up the ground through Walthall County after touching down in Louisiana around 12:15 p.m. The second one, given a preliminary rating of EF-2, touched down northwest of Tylertown around 1:15 p.m.

In Tylertown, tall trees were ripped in half and entire neighborhoods were wiped out. Six people were killed and more than 200 were displaced, Gov. Tate Reeves said.

Hailey Hart and her fiancé Steve Romero hunkered down with their three huskies inside their 1994 Toyota Celica as a twister ripped apart their home Saturday. Romero said he prayed out loud and hugged Hart as the car rolled onto its side, windows shattering, before it landed on its wheels again.

“It was a bad dream come true,” Romero said. The couple escaped with only scratches.

Wayne County, Missouri, resident Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing trapped neighbors found five bodies scattered in rubble outside what remained of his aunt’s house. Scattered twisters killed at least a dozen people in the state Friday, authorities said.

Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County, Missouri, described the home where one man was killed as “just a debris field.”

“The floor was upside down,” he said. “We were walking on walls.”

Wildfires and dust storms also proved deadly

Wind-driven wildfires caused extensive damage in Oklahoma and officials in both Oklahoma and Texas warned that parts of both states would again face an increased risk of fire danger this week.

Oklahoma officials said more than 130 fires were reported across Oklahoma on Friday and over 400 homes across the state were damaged.

“Nobody has enough resources to fight fires when the wind is blowing 70 mph,” said Terry Essary, the fire chief of Stillwater, Oklahoma. “It’s an insurmountable task.”

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said on Sunday evening that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had confirmed four fatalities related to the fires or high winds across the state.

Dust storms spurred by high winds have been deadly. Eight people died in a Kansas highway pileup involving at least 50 vehicles, according to the state highway patrol. Authorities said three people also were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle.

Refuge and recovery efforts

President Donald Trump said the White House was monitoring the storms and would assist state and local officials to help in the recovery. He said National Guard troops were deployed to Arkansas, where officials confirmed three deaths.

“Please join Melania and me in praying for everyone impacted by these terrible storms!” Trump posted on his social media network on Sunday.

At least three people, including an 82-year-old woman, were killed in central Alabama when multiple tornadoes swept across the state.

In Troy, Alabama, parks officials said the recreation center where many residents had taken refuge had to be closed due to damage from overnight storms. No one was injured.

“We are thankful the Lord provided protection over our community, and over 200 guests at the Recreation Center storm shelter on Saturday night,” the parks department said in a statement.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Powerful storms tore roofs off an apartment building and a nursing home in a small town in Oklahoma and threatened more communities across the country Tuesday with weather ranging from fire in the Southern High Plains to blizzards in the Midwest.

Dust storms blinded drivers in the Southwest, tornadoes were possible in the South and blizzard conditions descended on the Central Plains.

In New Orleans, high winds were forcing some changes to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The city moved up and shortened the celebration’s two biggest parades, hoping to wrap them up before high winds moved in.

The weather wasn’t stopping Shalaska Jones and her 2-year-old daughter from waving at passing Mardi Gras floats Tuesday and hoping to catch one of the coveted coconuts thrown to the crowd.

“We was coming out rain, sleet or snow,” Jones said.

The alarming weather expected Tuesday could be one of the first big tests for the National Weather Service after hundreds of forecasters were fired last week as part of President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the size of the federal government. Former employees said the firing of meteorologists who make crucial local forecasts across the U.S. could put lives at risk, though it was too soon to know the impact on forecasts and warnings for this storm.

Nation faces a number of weather threats

Storms that swept through Texas and Oklahoma early Tuesday morning brought high winds and rain, overturning tractor-trailers and damaging roofs. Power outages were climbing Tuesday morning in the storm’s wake, with nearly 400,000 customers without power in Texas and another 25,000 knocked offline in Oklahoma, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

In the 16,000-resident city of Ada, Oklahoma, where the apartment and nursing home roofs were torn away, the damage indicates there was likely a tornado that touched down early Tuesday morning as a line of powerful thunderstorms rumbled across the state, said Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Gusts up to 85 mph were recorded in the area, he said. There were no immediate reports of injuries, said Jeff Rollins, the emergency management director in the nearby town of Byng, who was assisting Ada.

The week’s strong weather system will also bring “a threat of blizzard conditions, high winds, flash flooding, severe weather, dust storms, and critical to extreme fire weather conditions to the nation’s heartland,” the National Weather Service said.

The dust storms brought near-zero visibility to parts of New Mexico and west Texas on Monday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue Dust Storm Warnings.

The Central Plains and Midwest were bracing for blizzard conditions later Tuesday that forecasters warned could “make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening.” The Nebraska Department of Transportation sais conditions could mean low visibility and whiteout conditions across the state and urged travelers to adjust their plans for Tuesday afternoon and into the night.

On Tuesday, twisters, damaging winds and large hail were all possible as the strong storm system began moving across the nation’s midsection into Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the federal Storm Prediction Center warned. Tornado watches and warnings were issued Tuesday morning in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.

The bullseye for a heightened risk of severe weather was an area stretching from east Texas to Alabama that’s home to more than 7 million people. Cities under threat included Baton Rouge and Shreveport in Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and Mobile, Alabama.

Nationwide, nearly 400 flights scheduled to travel through the U.S. on Tuesday were canceled, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks delays and cancellations. Airports in Dallas had canceled the most flights among U.S. airports.

Region braces for severe weather during Mardi Gras

New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick ordered parade-goers to not bring umbrellas, tents or “anything that could fly in the wind and cause mayhem.”

Just outside New Orleans in neighboring Jefferson Parish, officials canceled planned Mardi Gras Day parades due to anticipated high winds and thunderstorms.

Mardi Gras floats “could become unstable” and heavy winds could “blow down trees and power lines,” the National Weather Service warned, adding gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph) were expected Tuesday afternoon.

In Pointe Coupee Parish, near Louisiana’s capital city of Baton Rouge, the incoming weather forced drastic changes to one of the oldest Mardi Gras celebrations in the state. The parade there was scheduled to roll without any bands, marching teams or dance groups — a staple of Carnival Season parades.

Officials also moved up the start time and urged residents to immediately remove all tents and trash afterward “due to the dangers they can present during weather.”

Other cities with Mardi Gras parades watching forecasts

Elsewhere, large crowds were expected Tuesday for Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama. Police said they were monitoring the forecast and would announce any celebration changes.

Other cities hosting large events included Biloxi, Mississippi, where an annual parade was set for Tuesday afternoon.