ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 4pm - July 23, 2026

Episode Date: July 23, 2026

Eyewitness News at 4pm - July 23, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next on eyewitness news at 4, it is a first alert day, a day of heavy rain causing power outages, down trees, and slick roads across Central North Carolina. We're tracking the aftermath of it all and what you need to know. And breaking news out of Raleigh, a car crash closing down both directions of a busy road. Our crews live at the scene as we work to find out exactly what happened. Police arrested teenager in connection to the violent Glimwood South takeover on July 4th, what we know about the charges that Tina's facing. Eye Witness News at 4 starts now.

Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, keeping you connected to your community, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11I Witness News. We have a first alert day as we track slash flood concerns. The rain is coming down. It almost seems like we're in the thick of this. Look over here. We got some crews from the city of Raleigh chopping down this tree right now.

This large oak tree. has fallen on top of this house. It's been a very busy first alert day. Thanks for joining us here for eyewitness news at 4 o'clock. I'm Amber Ripinta. And I'm Barbara Gibbs. Yes, it has been a wet, rainy, nasty day across Central North Carolina. Severe weather triggering heavy rain down trees and flood threats.

And while the worst of the rain is moving out, we're now saying the aftermath of the storms. Let's go to live team coverage from the triangle to the sand hills. Our crews checking out some of the damage left behind. First, let's begin with meteorologist Steve Stewart, though, in the first alert forecast letter. So Steve, a lot of this much-needed rain as we continue to deal with the ongoing drought conditions, though. Right, yeah. The drought monitor did not take into account last night in today's rain.

So we did get an improvement. We'll show you that later, but it's going to improve even more so as we look to next week. Flood watch in effect until midnight. I wouldn't be surprised if our northern counties let that go earlier. And the southern counties might extend it all the way overnight tonight because closer to the front, That's where most of the rain is going to be. These are not flash flood warnings. These are flood advisories for ground that is completely saturated to have more rain coming into that area.

Up around the triangle, just some light showers south of downtown. Durham, not much going on at all, but I think the lion's share of the rain will continue being closer to the front. And notice of movement coming in from west to east. And that trend's going to continue for a while. We'll zoom it out here and look at stretches all the way back past Asheville. And that moisture is going to continue moving closer to the front. And at times we'll get pockets of very heavy rainfall and the ground down here is saturated. Doesn't mean we're not going to catch a few showers as we go into the evening.

Some of this is going to be very light, though. Our northern counties, I don't think you're going to have really a concern about flooding as to go through the night tonight. Boy, the rain today where you see the yellow shade, that's Doppler estimate of two. The orange is three. So already two to three inches of many areas down in the sand hills. But look up around the triangle and parts of Wake County, widespread three inches of rain. And this is Falls Lake right here. And where we needed the rain to be was in the watershed, which is north of it.

And that's where we had widespread two, three, even four inches of rain. We've been watching Falls Lake all day just going up, up, up. I mean, it was closer to six feet below full pool. Now it's getting closer to five. And it's going to continue seeing those smaller creeks and streams spilling into Falls Lake. And that number goes up. Listen, we have a long way to go. Well, with the exception of Lake Gaston, but definitely need to continue.

seeing that lake level go up. As we go through the evening, notice a lot of the clouds will stay with us, but the rain is really closer to the front. So we'll get waves of showers coming on through. And at times very heavy rain. That's why I think you're still going to be a flooding threat overnight tonight, well to the south. But the farther north that you live, less chance of that being an issue. And we'll probably get some rain around tomorrow in the morning, but it's going to stay closer to the front. That front's not necessarily coming back. It's going to be lingering just to our south. So the farther south you are, better opportunity of more rain, not only tonight, but into the day tomorrow. So around the triangle, if you want to take the pups out, honestly, the chances are fairly low. One in five chance, maybe late evening will get a shower and temperatures are going to hold right around 70 degrees. In the meantime, as we look to next week, we're not completely dry, but less rain. And we're going to start to heat up again, too. More on that coming up in the 70 forecast, Barbara. All right, Steve, thank you.

Well, today's heavy rain is creating concerns for people in Wake County. the rain leading to dangerous road conditions in Raleigh. And the saturated ground also causing several trees to topple, including this tree in Raleigh. This is on Tallwood Drive off of Carpenter Pond Road. Our John Dowding is joining us live from Spring Forest Road where another tree fell. So John, you've been tracking the storm damage left behind from this. Tell us what you're seeing. Well, Barbara Amber, it caused a lot of headaches for drivers.

Anybody who was trying to go out and about today to get anything they needed to get done, obviously right here you see this is this. This tree came down earlier today. You see all the sawdust on the ground from when crews were cutting it down because this tree went all the way across Spring Forest Road, leaving only one lane of traffic open for cars earlier today. We have some video from earlier today when this tree just stopped traffic. Raleigh Police was out here directing traffic.

They had flares out making sure drivers slowed down. Traffic was completely stopped in one direction and only one lane of traffic was able to pass in the other direction at that time. No, Raleigh crews were from the city, we're able to get out here pretty quickly and chop down that tree. You heard, we saw a lot of that happening today with with axes coming out and chainsaw is coming out to get rid of these trees that were falling on those roadways. So not just here at Spring Forest Road, but we also saw one like we said on Tallwood Drive in North Raleigh, not far from Falls Lake as well. A large tree coming across a residential roadway over there as well, blocking neighbors from being able to get into that neighborhood. but thankfully over there and here on Spring Forest Road, no power issues.

We had spoken to some neighbors around the area here off camera who said they didn't have any power issues, but we spoke to one man off camera who told me he had a doctor's appointment plan for today, saw the tree come down and so hard about how much rain was coming down today and he decided to reschedule, didn't want to get caught in any potential issues because of the weather for today. Definitely a lot of the same sort of stories we're hearing from people out and about today and not a lot of people out because of the rain, but the ones we did spoke to speak to say they were trying to do whatever they could to try to to stay inside today to just avoid any potential issues, especially something like this

that can block your way out when you got stuff to do today. We'll be out again more seeing any of the other cleanup going on across the triangle as well because there's definitely a lot more to clean up after the storm from earlier today. As we go into the evening, live here in North Raleigh, I'm John Dowding. ABC 11, eyewitness news. The sound of chainsaws is what a lot of folks are hearing in many neighborhoods around the triangle after these storms. John, thank you.

As the severe weather moves through, try to avoid driving of course, as John was saying, many people are but if you must be on the road here's some safety tips be sure to turn your headlights on so you can be you can see and be seen by other drivers also as always slow down even new tires can lose contact with the roadway at speeds as low as 35 miles per hour also increase your following distance wet roads require more time to slow down and stop do not use cruise control the chance of losing control of the vehicle increases when that is used on wet roads and also avoid hard breaking or sharp turns. Well, it's because we've been saying the relentless rain moving through the viewing area, falling off and on throughout the day with the latest band hitting the sand hills pretty hard. Check out this video here. It shows the downpour on I-95 near Fayetteville earlier today. It was really coming down with one of those bands. The wet weather leading to some very slick road conditions in Fayetteville, especially Penelope Lopez is live in Fayetteville this afternoon. So Penelope, how are conditions now? What are you seeing?

Good afternoon. Things are pretty much calming down, which is great. We are currently on Yagen Road. I'll show you what that looks like right now. So Yadken Road is prone to flash flooding, but as you can see right now, it's moderate rain, which is much different than when it was, like, around noon and 1 p.m. and we saw just downpour rain moving through Cumberland and Harnock County. At times, you guys saw that the rain was so heavy. It was hard to see. the road and the cars in front of you. Some drivers even turning their emergency lights on just to see the cars ahead. We saw many vehicles just driving through standing water, especially during those heaviest bursts, like I mentioned around that noon to 1 PM mark. And I spoke with some Fayetteville officials today,

and they told me that they responded to eight car wrecks between that noon to 1 p.m. hour. Just it really shows you how dangerous the roads were, during that time. Thankfully, as you can see right now, things have calmed down. It's still raining so that, you know, drivers still have to drive cautiously and just be mindful of other drivers. There's quite a few cars out there on our left-hand side, so people are still out and about. It's just a matter of being safe. We'll monitor the storm as it rolls on by, but the good thing is that things are calming down for now. Live in Fayetteville. Now, Lopez, ABC 11.

eyewitness news. Calming down is good, especially when it comes to the roadways. It was very busy throughout the day as you've been showing us, Penelope. Thanks so much. Also in the sand hills, the Fayetteville, Cumberland Parks and Rec, alerting families, all community pools closed today with the severe weather impacting the sand hills. Well, hundreds of customers lost power during the storms today, especially in the Durham area. That includes the streets at South Point Mall and some businesses along Renaissance Parkway and Fayetteville Street. Let's go to Akela Davis. She joins us live now in Durham. So Akela, tell us, is the power back on? Hey, yeah, the good news is the power is, in fact, back on here at the streets of South Point.

I want to draw your attention just across Renaissance Parkway. At the mall there, you can see it is a pretty full parking lot there. A lot of customers back inside the stores, but earlier today, much different scene. Power outages brought business to a standstill, forcing every store inside the mall to close. Despite the storefronts, the dark storefronts, I should say, the outage didn't stop some people from getting their morning walk in. So across Fairville Street at Renaissance Center, it was the same story. Signs posted on business doors told customers they were closed because of the power outages. Hundreds of customers across the Bull City were without electricity for hours today.

Duke Energy saying crews responded quickly and that down trees were the main cause of the outages as heavy rain moved through the area. We knew that there was no electricity because of the power outage and the lights. went out. But they allowed us to come in and it was pretty full of people. People here were very kind to allow us walkers to be among the others. So you just heard from Ms. Renee there, even with the stores closed, some mall walkers were still able to get their steps in. But again, the good news tonight, power has been restored here at the streets of South Point. Back to you. Good news. Akela Davis, Live Force in Durham. Akila, thank you. We're not the only ones dealing with the flood threat across the nation, stalling storms dumped dangerous downpours on multiple

cities. Take a look at these dramatic new images showing the aftermath of the devastating flash flooding that swamped parts of West Virginia. Entire neighborhoods submerged there. The National Guard vehicles out in force. More than 80 water rescues reported in a 20-hour period. Some people even paddling in to help however they can. ABC News is tracking the severe storms and the tropical threat from Tropical Storm Bertha. You can see the cover. tonight here at 630 on world news tonight with David mirror. Breaking right now at 4, a traffic alert for drivers in Raleigh. Right now, both directions of Wake Forest Road from St. Albans Drive to Navajo Drive are closed after a car crash.

And we want to show you a live look of the area near that crash. And it looks like the roads are slowly getting a little bit of traffic, but you see the emergency vehicles there. So be aware of this if you're going to be in this area. It looks like they're trying to get the situation under control. is light, the roads are wet. We will continue to follow this breaking situation and give you more on alternate routes and more information as we learn more. Well, next to four, RPD is making an additional arrest in the violent Glenwood South takeovers on July the 4th. What we know about the teenager now charged. And a show of support for law enforcement, Governor Josh Stein, meeting with

members of the Raleigh Police Department today. Steve's keeping an eye out the window. That's right. Yeah, looking out the window right now. And we're looking at some rain down in Fayetteville, boy, they've been hit pretty hard at times today. A little break in the action. It's a moderate shower happening now, but I do anticipate more rain to come into play as we go overnight tonight. They're closer to the stalled front, so flooding could be an issue, and we're not done yet. We have more rain in the forecast. We'll talk about that coming up.

But first, here's your traffic hotspots. Brought you by West Shore home. This is what a bathroom is supposed to look like. No grout lines to scrub, no surfaces to seal, no maintenance every other week. Just a finish that looks beautiful. every single day. This is the new standard in luxury bathroom design, and it's only available through West Shore Home.

Right now, buy a full bathroom model, get a shower free. Plus, locking 12 months of no payments and no interest financing. Call 1-800 West Shore or visit westshorebath.com. Don't miss out. My name is Peter Parker, but I'm also Spider-Man. This July, we're faced with a threat. That can be anyone. The world may have forgotten.

and Peter Parker. I'm just a neighbor. Friendly neighbor. But he hasn't forgotten them. Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing. That's my responsibility. Dr. Banner? I didn't know you could get that big. Spider-Man, brand new day in theaters July 31st. New this afternoon, a 16-year-old is facing charges in connection with one of the shootings that happened during the July 4th holiday weekend in Raleigh. Raleigh police arrested the teen yesterday in connection with the shooting along Glenwood Avenue. The teen is now facing multiple charges, including two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a minor. The teen is being held at a juvenile detention facility. New at four, Governor Stein visiting Raleigh's Police Department Special Operations Division.

The governor highlighting the recent state budget and its investment in law enforcement, supporting departments with more funding and bonuses and pay raises for officers. That is why earlier this month, I was proud to sign into law. a budget that makes historic investments in public safety. It includes a 16.2% pay increase for SBI and ALE officers, a 15% pay raise for state highway patrol officers, a 13% pay raise for correctional officers who serve with Secretary of Smukes, and a 6.5% pay raise for probation and parole,

also with the Department of Adult Corrections. Governor Stein today also recognizing the work the Raleigh Police Department is doing on officer recruitment and retention. Today's rain is not stopping cosplay lovers from heading out to the Raleigh Convention Center for GalaxyCon. Yeah, the four-day festival of fandom kicked off today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. More than 50,000 people are expected for a weekend full of celebrities, panels, wrestling, cosplay, music, and more. A long list of celebrities are attending this year's event. GalaxyCon runs through Sunday and at last check, tickets are still available. And it's Watermelon Day at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh, our camera stopping by the big celebration today featuring a giant watermelon contest, live music, face painting, and of course, free slices of the fruit.

Plenty of local watermelons available for purchase as well. So much going on today, despite all of the rain, you've got the Guns and Roses concert at Carter Finley. People are like, I'm still going. I'm going. Here's the thing. I mean, the way it's trending right now, Barbara, our guidance is pulled back this evening for the triangle. So they might just have clouds and a little warm, little humid. We can handle that. Every rose has its thorn. Oh, welcome to the journal.

Yeah. That's pretty good. All right. Hey, let's get right to it, shall we? The flood watch continues until midnight tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if our northern counties could be let go a little sooner. And the sandals might be extended all the way overnight, potentially into, tomorrow. That's where the front is and that's where we're going to continue having some rounds of rain coming in from west to east. You got the drops on the lens there. He just had a shower that moved through downtown. It's damp in a lot of areas. That flooding risk remains with us south, but more showers to be around tonight. But again, periods of rain are going to be heavy at times closer to the front.

The front lingers there. So it's a wet start for a lot of us, but a good part of the day tomorrow might just be cloudy, especially in and around the triangle. Weekend plans, Sundays is a better half. I can't rule out an isolate. storm Sunday, but a good part of the day will be fine. Saturday is a little bit of a question mark. I've increased the rain chance Friday night into Saturday. A lot of the high resolution guidance been a little bit bullish on that. And we'll show you one. This is our in-house model. So overnight Friday into Saturday, we could have some rounds of maybe some heavy rain and then tapering off later in the day. And the only reason I'm showing you that that far out is because a lot of the high resolution models are picking up on that. So we've increased the rain for that. Meantime, farther north,

not much rain. You see where all the rain is closer to the front to our south. These green boxes are flood advisories, not flash flood warnings. But man, we had numerous trees down today. The saturated soil equals weaker root anchoring and it doesn't take a lot of wind at all. Even gusts less than this could actually cause some trees to topple. And we've seen this all good part of the day today where we have some really heavy rainfall. Sand hills picked up again two, three inches of rain, but look at the widespread three. inches of rainfall. That's that orange color there. And where you see some of that red, that's upwards of around four to five inches of rainfall. And of course, where the Falls Lake is, we needed

that heavy rain to be north of that in the watershed to help out. And absolutely, it's been slowly filling up the lake. Burlington over six inches of rain. Greensboro over four, Raleigh, or in and around Raleigh, three inches, Hillsborough, 3.06, Durham, 2.45. RDIU picked up 2.03 and by the way, that's a record for the day. I believe the old record is like 1.7, 8 inches for the day. But again, good soaking rain and we're still not done, especially in the sand hills. Here's our model. Again, drier north, but closer to the front, we have waves of rain just kind of coming in from the west. At times, it's going to come down fairly heavily. That's why I think that flooding risk could continue overnight down in the sand hills, but

be allowed to not be an issue farther to the north, if you will. into North Hills, 20 degrees cooler than this time yesterday with a breeze at about eight miles an hour. Low 70s at many spots, mid-70s down in the sand hills. And again, closer to that front, that's where we're seeing most of the rain. So right now, I'm telling you, our in-house model is pulling back and a lot of the guidance that I'm looking at similar. Might get through the evening okay out at Carter Finley for the big concert tonight with temperatures near 70. I can't rule out a shower. But if it was down in, say, Fayetteville, for example, I would say you're going to get wet for sure. Now, Saturday showers around, mainly in the morning hours, but notice the front is still kind of lingering here.

There could be an isolated pop-up storm on Sunday. Not going to be a washout at all. So tonight we have rain, but it's mainly south. The farther north you are, less chance at that rain. And then for tomorrow, I've got us in the 70s and most spots, the low 80s down in the sandhills. A lot of clouds, mainly a morning shower, and then a good part of the day, especially triangle in points northward, just features cloudy skies until we get to tomorrow night and Saturday. That's what we'll probably see some showers coming back in the place.

We'll call it still unsettled Saturday. Sunday now, just an isolated shower, thunderstorm and back to 88, starting Monday and lasting most of the week, in a more seasonal temperatures with temperatures in the lower 90s, maybe Tuesday evening into Wednesday. We can see a few more thunderstorms. We'll be back after the day. We are back now with a live look at the Raleigh Skyline from our Pendo Sky Cam after this wet and rainy Thursday. A flood watch is in effect for the entire viewing area to about midnight tonight, but be weather aware as things could change. We'll have the forecast coming up with meteorologist Steve Stewart in just a minute.

Well, new at four, global oil and gas prices are rising again after an escalation and hostilities between the United States and Iran. Oil prices today rose to their highest levels in nearly two months. surging to $100 a barrel, that is up more than 6%. The new surge in prices comes after Tehran-backed Houthi rebels claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. After their announcement of a naval blockade on the kingdom, President Trump threatening retaliation in a social media post that he will inflict military punishment on Iran and Houthis if an attack happens again. President Trump has approved an agreement with Saudi Arabia to partner on developing the kingdom's civil nuclear. energy program. The president says it's now contingent on whether Saudi officials are willing to

enter into an accord to normalize relations in the region. ABC's Raina Roy has the very latest. Growing questions around the U.S.-S.-S.-Saudi Arabia nuclear deal. On Wednesday, the Trump administration said U.S. and Saudi energy officials signed to develop the kingdom's civilian nuclear energy program. But now, President Trump says it's contingent upon Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements meant to normalize relations between Israel and Arab nations. He wants to see these countries to sign the Abraham Accord. It was one of the most historic accomplishments of his first term, and it continues to be a long-term goal of his to expand those accords to ultimately come to a place where the Middle East can be a peaceful and stable region.

Experts say with this 11th hour stipulation, the deal could very well be called off. They might be inclined to join the Abraham Accords, but not doing it in such a public way. If this was not a part of the deliberations, a part of the talking, I think this is going to fall apart. Meanwhile, House Democrats are warning if the deal goes through, it could spark a nuclear arms race. I mean, the president says what we're trying to do is to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. But if Saudi Arabia does not meet all the protocols, et cetera, then it could cause an arms race where the Egyptians or others in the area wants a nuclear weapon. They're also questioning whether it's intended to benefit the president. friends and allies. These deals should be about national interest and instead they are about

personal enrichment for whoever has an inn in the White House. An organization that represents 9-11 families is calling this deal highly offensive, saying America is rewarding a country that helped 9-11 terrorists map out and plan the attacks. Rina Roy, ABC News, New York. Next on I Witness News at 4, the show must go on. Guns and Roses is in concert tonight at Carter-Findley Stadium in Raleigh, despite the rain and the gloomy weather. Our Diane Wilson is live at the venue with more on what you need to know if you're attending tonight's show. Right now, for a limited time, everyone's part of the Buick team, even you.

Buick's employee pricing for you event is on now. Get a purchase credit of up to $3,168 on a 2026, Buick Envision. Surround yourself with signature Buick refinement from an available massaging driver's seat to an expansive panoramic moonroof and a stunning ultra-wide 30-inch diagonal screen. Don't miss Buick's employee pricing for you event. Visit buick.ca for more details.

We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. And we are back now with your top stories at the bottom of the hour. First, a 16-year-old is charged in one of the shootings over the July 4th holiday weekend violence in Raleigh. According to Raleigh police, the teenage suspect was taken into custody in connection with a shooting on Glenwood Avenue. That teenager are now facing multiple charges, including two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

The teen is being held at the juvenile detention facility. And it is a first alert day heavy rainfall across Central North Carolina prompting flash flooding concerns. This is a live look at road conditions in Fayetteville this afternoon where they have had some heavy rain just pushed through. Indeed they have. Right now, floodwatch is in effect for the triangle through tonight as severe storms. are expected to continue. So let's send things over to meteorologist Steve Stewart. Busy day for you timing out all the rest of the day in the first floor forecast. Absolutely. Yeah. And we're not concerned at this point about severe storms as much as we are just about

rain on top of saturated ground. And everyone has that flood watch. But I wouldn't be surprised if our northern counties are pulled out of that early and down in the sandhills that could be extended overnight because closer to the front, that's where the rain is going to be. And that's where it is right now. Now what we're looking at here is not a flash flood warning. It's the flood advisory. These areas did flood earlier today. The rain is receded, but with saturated ground, and you see what's common. Some pockets of heavier rain going to move right into Cumberland County. We don't have much at all going on around Wake County. It's wet out there. There's spotty little showers, but the lion's share of the heavier rain is down in the sand hills. A little bit of thunder and lightning going on. So these heavier downpours continue almost moving due west to east. And that trend stretches all the way back to the mountains and beyond. So this rain is going to continue moving in. So the farther, closer to the front. That's where the lion's share of the rain is going to be. And speaking of rain, we had a lot of it too. In the sand hills so far, two pockets of three, but widespread three inches of rain and parts of the triangle, two inches up in our northeastern counties. But look at some of these pockets around Hillsboro at five, even six inches. Butner, about four to five inches of rain. And this is Falls Lake, by the way. And so this just north of that, this is the watershed of Falls Lake. And that's where we needed the heavy rain. And we've been watching this number. getting smaller and smaller. It was closer to six feet below full pool, so it's improving today. And that trend continues. We have a long way to go with our lakes, except Gaston. Gaston's doing pretty

good there almost at full pool. As we go through the evening, you see the waves of rain continuing mainly south farther north, not much. Now it doesn't mean we can't get a shower up there. We can't take this literally, but this seems plausible considering that's where the front is stalled. And at times that rain is going to be heavy. And again, that's moving over saturated ground. This front really isn't going to go much at all. It might beander here and there, but it's really going to stay to our south. Evening out, if you're taking the pups out for a walk around the triangle, yeah, probably not going to be too bad.

Late evening, we could see a few more showers start to roll in. Now next week, yeah, we're going to crank the heat back up a little bit, but no zero rain, but less rain is coming. More on that coming up in a few minutes. All right, Steve, thank you. Well, right now, tens of thousands of people are making their way to the Guns and Roses concert. That's scheduled for tonight. It's at Carter Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Diehard fans not letting the wet weather get them down. No way. Stadium officials are urging concert goers, though, to prepare for the delays in heavy traffic. Diane Wilson joins us now live from Carter Finley. Diane, I know you've been seeing those concert goers all afternoon. What do people need to know if they're going to the concert tonight? You know, they need to know the concert is still on here at Carter Finley Stadium. And you would not know anyone's worried about weather here as they are lined up ready for. for this concert.

The gates have not opened yet. The parking lots have been open since 1.30. And you can hear inside Carter Friendly Stadium, come on, if you're a diehard Guns and Roses fans, can you hear what song they're playing right now? Take a guess. If you're trying to figure it out, they are doing a sound check.

And we have people who are ready in line. You guys are ready for this concert, right? Absolutely. What do you think? Are you worried about the weather? If it comes, If it comes, I mean, it comes. What are you going to do?

I don't see a rain jacket, umbrella. I see nothing. So what are you going to do? Okay, look, this one has a plan. She has a plan. I'm going to rock out. And, you know, it is what it is. I've waited since I was freaking a child to see guns and roses.

Okay. So you're ready. All righty. Let the rain come. Let the rain come. And happy birthday. We need it. It's slash his birthday?

It is. Okay. You know. Oh, look, you know it all. Thanks to these people. Oh, you told us. They have the good facts. All right. So the parking lots are open. It doesn't seem like it's that packed yet in the parking lot. Maybe they're all outside trying to get in. But what you do need to know if you're coming out here is be prepared for severe weather. They are going to monitor the weather out here. They're going to put it on the video board, social media. And you can also, concert growers can sign up for text emergency alerts by texting a go pack. But these fans, they're not too excited yet. But they will be. Do you know what song they're doing the sound check for? Anyone know? Anyone know? It's hard to tell. I'm not a guntonversal. You can't really, yeah. You can just hear music. So that's what's going to happen. Everyone's excited, they say. Back to y'all. Okay, we were trying to hear too. We want to see what song it was. Okay, they're excited. They're ready for it. And maybe it's slashed his birthday. I don't know. We'll take her word for it. Thank you, Diane. Well, much of the viewing area, getting a good soaking rain today. We've been needing it so bad. So badly. So in Wake County, that's where our Elena Athens is this afternoon.

Elena, you have made your rounds to different areas today. So I guess tell us where you are and what you're seeing now. Looks pretty good out your window. It does look good, but I'm not ready to be out of this chair already. But yeah, as we've been traversing around our viewing area, Johnson County earlier, we're in Holly Springs right now. There are spots that we're seeing water lining either side of the roadway. But where we are right now, things are looking good.

So let me take you outside, live look. If we can switch the camera. look outside Highway 55. We're heading southbound right now. It is mostly just a sprinkle at this point. This is nice. What a reprieve from the rain we had earlier. Okay, so things are looking good here now. However, there was flash flooding earlier this afternoon and the town of Holly Springs did have to shut down a road. New Hill Road was closed at White Oak Creek between Gateswood Court. Due to flooding, there were officers and cones out, blocking drivers from kind of heading into that. particular stretch of roadway the creeks had swelled because of all that rain and spilled over on a small bridge there however we did drive by the water there has receded so some folks who have homes along that route are have been able to return home and they're able to kind of find their way back but that bridge there was flooded out earlier but again just a reminder of flash flooding how quickly things can change over we've seen a number of municipalities send out warnings

to people that you know you just never know how it could go johnson county has warned drivers that there could be flash flooding in through tomorrow morning. So just something to keep your eye on. But as far as things are now here in Holly Springs, things are looking better, just like drizzle here. So we're live in breaking news one. Elena Athens, ABC 11 eyewitness news. Yes, certainly has pushed out of that area for the time being.

Elena, thank you for all the updates throughout the day today. And here's a tip. If you lose power in this storm or any storm, Duke Energy would like you to report that outage by texting the word out to 57801. You can also use the Duke Energy app or website to report outages. Still ahead at 4. The Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to killing a top Democratic lawmaker and her husband from Raleigh has learned his fate. How many years that man will

now spend behind bars? Plus new details on what sparked the killings. And we're getting a glimpse of what the future Bank of America Stadium will look like. We'll show you the newly released renderings when we come back. We're back with this new here for a Minnesota man who killed Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Raleigh. Her husband, her husband, Raleigh native Mark Hortman inside of their home has been sentenced now to two life terms in prison plus 40 years. Vance Belter pleaded guilty last month in the June 2025 fatal shootings. ABC's Christian Cordero has the latest. It was an act of political violence that changed two families, their communities, and Minnesota

politics forever. Roughly one year after the murders of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and their family dog Gilbert. Today, a shirt. the man responsible will never walk free again. Vance Bolter today was handed two consecutive life sentences, plus an additional 40 years in federal prison. Last month, Bolter pleaded guilty to murder and stalking in a deal to avoid the death penalty. In addition to the killings, Bolter also shot and wounded Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, plus attempted to shoot their daughter Hope. Federal prosecutor said the attacks were politically motivated. Today, according to ABC affiliate KSTP, who was in the courtroom, Yvette Hoffman called

Bolter a parasite and a murderer during her victim impact statement, adding, quote, he destroyed the lives of so many. In the end, he destroyed his own life. Melissa Hortman's son, Colin, told the court, quote, just resting my head on her shoulder could take the pain away. That was her power. That memory was shot 15 times. What drives a criminal to want to commit this sort of brutal murder, and to do it as coldly as it was done, I wonder if any of us who live law-abiding lives will ever really be able to understand that sort of motivation. KSTP reports Bolter spoke briefly, only saying, quote, to every person I have caused loss, pain, heartache, confusion, sadness, shame, or loneliness. I am truly sorry.

Bolter still faces several state charges, including first-degree premeditated murder, attempted first-degree murder and felony cruelty to an animal. He is pleaded not guilty. Kristianne-Cornero, ABC News, Washington. Well, news this afternoon, the State Board of Community Colleges has selected Dr. Monty Sullivan to lead the North Carolina Community College system. Sullivan has been in higher education for more than 30 years, working in both Louisiana and Virginia.

His nomination now goes to the North Carolina General Assembly for confirmation. He is expected to serve as acting president pending contract approval. while legislators consider the nomination and a start date has not been set. In Charlotte, Teper Sports and Entertainment shares these new renderings of the upcoming renovations to Bank of America Stadium. In Charlotte, this comes as the company has just announced a long-term extension of their naming rights, partner Bank of America and a significant additional private investment and owner David Teper to the renovation. The initial upfront cost is now expected to be north of $1.3 billion. That includes the addition of new fan-gathering spaces.

a 500-level social patio and a 4,400-seat entertainment venue. The phased project is expected to be fully complete by 2030. Ahead here at 4 Smoky Hollow in Raleigh, getting a new bakery and coffee shop. The business is taking over the space formerly occupied by the Tucker Street Diner. Also, the souped-up cooling station promising to cool people off in just a matter of minutes. The unique way one Japanese company is helping people beat the heat. And as we had to break, check out this video from East Durham, showing just how hard the rain was coming down. Drivers pushing through some rainy conditions and some ponding on the roadways.

It's been a first alert day here this Thursday. Here is another look at today's storm damage on the first alert weather day. This is Hage and Lumley roads near the airport in East Durham. Crews working earlier today to clear the roads after a tree fell. A lot of crews have been hard at work today. New at 4, we now know what will replace. the Tucker Street Diner in Raleigh's popular Smoky Hollow area. Iris Coffee Lab sharing on Instagram today, Madeline and Raleigh,

a coffee and bread bakery will soon open in that location. Owners of the shop say that they're hoping by the end of the year to be in place. This news comes just days after Tucker Street Diner closed after less than 18 months in operation. I witness news stopping by the retro-styled restaurant earlier this week. A note on the door thanking customers for their support. Time now for some news. this Thursday looking ahead to the weekend. The Center for Biological Diversity will give away sexual and reproductive health emergency preparedness kits in

Kerry. The group will be at the carry really really free market Saturday. The kits include things like menstrual pads, pregnancy tests and more. That giveaway happening Saturday from 2 to 4 at 1420 Walnut Street in Kerry. Also happening this weekend Verizon is hosting a back-to-school giveaway. It's all happening Sunday afternoon at 1. Families are invited to receive a backpack and take part in family-friendly activities. The giveaway happening at multiple stores across our area. We have a list of those stores on ABC11.com. And that is news you can use. Barbara, back to you. All right, Amber, thank you. Well, it turns out Jonesboro, Arkansas has its very own friendly

neighborhood Spider-Man. Check this out. The man in the mask is caught on camera jumping into action to give someone a helping hand. You see there from this traffic camera, a person in a wheelchair, slowly crossing a very busy intersection and before making it halfway, the Spider-Man, as you see there, jumps out of that red Jeep, runs to help out. The Spider-Man pushes the person safely to the other end of the crosswalk. So who is this masked person? Turns out it's a man who works at a trampoline park and he was dressed up for superhero day for toddlers. He turned into a real one, didn't he? Well, so let's go to Japan now where one company has created a huge, human-sized fridge to help people beat the extreme heat.

Temperatures in Tokyo have climbed close to 100 degrees. This week with some parts of the country even hotter than that. The company behind the human fridge says it's designed for people who work outside, including construction workers and event staff. That's a good idea. It is. You need food in there? While you're there.

It's the opposite of a sauna. It absolutely is. That's true. All right. So it'd be very active. We knew this was a last night early this morning triangle. And then is that front move south, then the sand hills got it. And they're still getting it down there as well.

I do want to mention really quick the today's rain 2.03 inches. And again, that's probably going to go up. We're still getting some showers out there. But that's a record rainfall out at RDEU. So that's fairly impressive to say the least. So we do have that flood watch in effect. Basically for the entire viewing area, I wouldn't be surprised if our northern counties let that go a little bit sooner,

but it could be extended overnight down in the sand hills closer to where that front is. Right now we have the drops on. the lens there as we look downtown. Flooding risk is mainly going to be south, closer to the front of the farther north. Just some spotty showers will continue, but on and off as we go overnight. But where that front is lingering, that is where we're going to get most of the rain. Now, around the triangle, we could get some rain around tomorrow morning, but a good part of the day might just be cloudy. There should be plenty of dry time tomorrow. And then as we go into the weekend, Sundays are better half. There still could be an isolated shower with thunderstorm. But I've increased that chance of rain as we go on to Friday night and Saturday. A lot of the high resolution models are picking up on that. Here's our in-house model. It does show overnight Friday into Saturday morning. We could have some rounds of heavy rain and a lot of the high resolution models are picking up on that.

But right now, we just have spotty showers here where you see these green boxes. That's a flooded visory. These are areas that are absolutely saturated right now. And you see what's coming. That's some heavier rain moving into the region. And we had numerous trees down today with the absence of really strong gusty winds. But when you have saturated soil, that equals a weaker root anchoring system. And it doesn't take a lot of breeze at all to have some of these trees go down.

And we've seen that today. And look at the saturated ground that we have. Sand Hills, many areas around two to three inches, but that continues to go up. And it could look more like this when we're all said and dumb because most of our rain was last night and early this morning. But look at Burlington. Over six and a half inches of rain. Greensboro, Raleigh, 3.1. Creedmore got about 2.97 and RDEU that is record rainfall at 2.03.

And again, we're adding to that as we'll see more showers tonight. But likely the lion's share of the rain is going to be to our south, where that frontal boundary is kind of stalled out just south of Fayetteville. So at times more pockets of heavy rain down there the farther north. I'm not saying you're not going to get rain, but the chances are going to be definitely lower. Right now we're 71 degrees at North Hills with a breeze at about 10 miles an hour. widespread low 70s out there with mid 70s right now down around Clinton.

We're not done just yet. Coming up at 5 will have the 70 forecast and we'll detail this a little bit more. Right now let's get a little tease of what's coming up tonight at 5. Steve Lauren. Steve is you're tracking the rain on the radar, breaking news crew tracking the slick conditions on the road. Check this out. A driver who bought a brand new Audi just this morning crashes right into a home in Grace Creek. What we're learning there from that scene.

That's a tough exit from the car dealership right there. The FDA is investigating a new. potential outbreak of cyclospore. There's a new cluster of 72 people who were sick. The details on that coming up. A TikTok influencer is charged in an alleged murder for hire plot, targeting a singer and former member of a boy band. What we learned about the plot in court today. And a very pregnant woman and her husband. We're trying to make it to the hospital for the arrival of their baby, but the baby wasn't waiting. And boy, do they have a story to tell after the little guy arrived there in the gas station parking lot? Uh-oh. Now I need a name.

Yeah. All right. We'll see you for the news in just a few minutes. Amber and Barbara. So sweet. Quite an entrance. Next year for the flash flooding threat in mid-Atlantic states. Yeah, storms stalling over the region, dumping torrential rains. A look at the damage when we come back.