ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 5am - April 17, 2026

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

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Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, breaking stories from overnight and this morning, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. Good morning, Carolina, and welcome on this Friday, April 17th. I'm Anna Rivera. And I'm Sean Coffey and for Joel Brown this morning. Thanks for joining us. Breaking news this morning. In Amber Alert, you'll see the signs on your way into work this morning. We'll show you who authorities want your help finding. Extreme drought. More cities. looking at ways to conserve water, what you need to know this morning.

I'm tracking just a stray shower, sprinkle chance today. The rain chance climbs a little higher, but no significant rainfall through the weekend. I'll have more on that, my forecast. And playoff hockey returns to the triangle. The Carolina Hurricanes dropping their full first round schedule. Looking forward to that. It is time for your first check of weather and traffic to get it this morning. Yeah, we're going to see near 90s today.

Yeah. I got to say the best part about this shift, guys, is you got to hit the pool in the after day. Fridays are the best. We can really use some rain. We're not really going to see very much. I'm a party poop for on Fridays because I'm so exhausted from the week. I'm usually in bed. But any, I will try today.

I will say that. We do have some rain in the forecast, but it's going to be very limited in terms of totals. I have a stray shower today. It's going to be hot again. High's upper 80s. Low 90s tomorrow, no rainfall. Some light showers on Sunday. But that's going to be a big transition day for us as temperatures fall through the morning and afternoon.

Here's our radar on satellite composite. And we haven't seen any images like this. We have some light showers out there near Greensboro and Rocksboro. Really light activity. Most of it will not be sustained through the day today. So just a sprinkled chance. I'll hold that at 10%. I'll walk you through predictor here.

And you can see not much happening outside of cloud cover. So again, don't expect much rainfall today. 65 degrees, your current temperature right now to argue you with a light wind coming in from the west. We do have some 50s in Sanford and also Siler City. It's 68 degrees in South Hill Fib, about 65 degrees. So on the way into school this morning, morning 60s on the way home, upper 80s and a nice amount of sunshine too. Heading to see some baseball this evening. Temperatures before the game mid 80s, upper 60s afterwards.

It's fireworks night tonight at the Warbird Stadium. We're tracking that drought scenario, unfortunately leading to the second highest drop classification for us. Extreme drought into parts of triangle, including Durham and parts of Wake County, Granville County, Vance Warren, all the way east along I-95, seeing that drop classification. And as far as the deficit goes, September we would need almost 14 and a half inches of rainfall to make up that full deficit we're not going to do that by any means this weekend 93 on Saturday the high 70s Sunday in the morning 60s by the afternoon light rain only for us coming into play get ready to bring out those winter coats again because by Monday

morning much chillier I'll have more on that coming up right now weather and traffic together back to you Anna okay wayland so right now the roads look really good for your Friday morning commute nothing that you need to worry about lots of green on that map let's take a live live live outside at the DOT cameras. This is 40 and Garner Road traffic still really light. All right, Anna, I'm in the breaking news center following an Amber alert out of eastern North Carolina. You might have seen it on your phone or on signs flashing along the highway. This is who authorities say they're looking for this morning.

13-year-old Olivia Kimbrough from Moorhead City. These are some more photos of Olivia. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and black pants. Investigators believe she was last seen with the she was last seen with the man you see there. He was last seen wearing black shorts, a black tank top, black shoes, and black. and a black du rag. They're believed to be in a white Chevy equinox in the 2005 to 2009 model range like this car here.

They were last seen along Highway 70 near Havelock. You've seen Olivia or know where she is, call 911 immediately. And now to the extreme drought spreading across the state. This clock counting down to when water restrictions take effect in Raleigh. And today Durham is set to consider new watering rules as well. Cindy Bay, live in Durham now with what we know.

Good morning. Good morning. Officials say triggers haven't been met yet, but more cuts could come if dry conditions continue. Now Durham has about 161 days of readily available water in the Mickey and Little River Reservoirs despite extreme drought. The latest update shows Lake Mickey just about a foot below full. The city's other primary source is nearly five feet below capacity, prompting conservation efforts. And so officials urge people to continue following the odd even schedule with No watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Outdoor watering is prohibited on Monday for all addresses.

And so we're going to have more on how the city is monitoring conditions ahead on eyewitness news in Durham. Cindy Bates, ABC 11 eyewitness news. Okay, lots of people listening to all of these restrictions and worried about what's to come next. Cindy, thank you. Meantime, neighboring Raleigh will begin stage one water restrictions on Monday. Officials urging everyone to limit outdoor and indoor water use. violators could face penalties. And we're also checking on the water situation down in the Sand Hills.

Fayetteville Public Works says there are no water restrictions at this time, but they are keeping an eye on water levels. The Cape Fear River is down four feet since March. And with the dry weather and high temperatures this week, now is a good time to download the ABC 11 mobile app. You can check the seven-day forecast anytime right in the palm of your hand. New this morning, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to leave his post. As acting director Todd Lyons oversaw the largest expansion of ice in U.S. history, Lyons' last day is May 31st. We're learning some local school districts are closing on May 1st as the North Carolina Association of Educators is encouraging teachers to call out of work that day. Teachers are planning to rally at the legislature calling for more state funding for public education.

Last night, the Chapel Hill Carborough School Board voted to make May 1st a teacher work day. It comes just days after the Chatham County School Board voted to close school on May 1st. We'll keep you updated as more school districts make a decision about how to handle May 1st. All right, Caniacs. Playoff hockey is back in Rock. A lot of people excited about this. Yeah, the Carolina Hurricanes hit the ice at the Lenovo Center on Saturday. And this morning, we know their entire first round schedule. Tamara Scott, live in Raleigh, breaking it all down. Tamara, good morning. Hey, good morning, Anna and Sean. Yeah, Carolina Hurricanes opening round one tomorrow afternoon here at the Lenovo centers.

They're taking on the Ottawa senators. first post-season matchup meeting before these teams have ever had before. Now if you're planning on coming the parking lot it opens at noon, the doors open at 1.30 and the team says that the pregame celebrity siren sounder will be the new NC statement basketball coach Justin Ganey. Now the canes earned the top seat in the Eastern Conference after finishing the regular season with 113 points. So Ottawa gets in as a wild card team but head coach Rod Brendan Moore says this is not a team that anyone should overlook and key players say that

that they're taking it one day at a time. It's really just one game at a time. I mean, you can win one and be riding the high and lose the next one. So just kind of play the game, win or lose. You kind of forget about it. And always on to the next one.

It was released overnight. So after game one tomorrow, game two is on Monday night, then two games in Canada, Thursday and next Saturday. And if you can't make it inside the Lenova Center, you can also watch over on ESPN game one. Back to you.

It's going to be rocking in there, you know. It definitely will. 507 now the Artemis astronauts home from the moon and sharing their stories yeah this morning we're hearing from khrina cook and her team on what it was like going farther to space than anyone ever has and with this early warm up many of you might be considering a trip to the beach will tell you why warning flags are up along the coast and one of wake county's fastest growing towns is making plans for future development quaila some clouds maybe a stray sprinkle or two this morning that's it another hot afternoon not as hot in the raleigh

area, the upper 80s, low 90s of Fayetteville, mid-80s, Rocks Pro. Some sprighty rain Sunday. More on that coming up. Crash count sitting at zero still. Things looking good for your Friday morning. Now let's take a look at those traffic hotspots brought you by the first alert weather team. The ABC 11 First Alert forecast team is working to keep you safe. One ease across the region. Some cloud cover starting to build up. That rain is going to push on through cold air coming in. The first alert forecast team. Only on ABC 11. I witness news. is brought to you by Nespresso. Hear that? That's your next obsession.

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Like actually effortless. Simply press, brew, and explore. Nispresso, what else? Keep exploring at nespresso.com. 510 on this Friday morning. Welcome back. A live look from North Hills. We do have some clouds around. There's a spotty stray shower chance this morning. 10% or less. So that gives you an idea of how much dry air we're going to see around here in general. 60s this morning. Lunchtime temperatures low to mid 80s. Highs today in the sandhills. Low 90s. We could break a record high in San Phyatville today. Near 90 in the triangle. So backing off just a bit from yesterday's 92. And then mid 80s northern county. So not as hot overall today. There's a cold front starting to push into the central U.S. That's our front for Sunday. There's a weak little disturbance here. And though, that's why we'll see that spotty shower chance later today.

But the front moving into the central United States will prompt severe weather concerns from Dallas to St. Louis, Chicago, all the way up to Minneapolis throughout this afternoon and evening. 90 in Atlanta today. New York City could see a few spotty showers. Temps in the 70s. 70s for Pittsburgh, Memphis 88, New Orleans, 83, 90s from Dallas to San Antonio and Phoenix up to 87 this afternoon. It's a little bit warmer there. At the coastline, the rip current threat not as high as yesterday, but it's still on the moderate side. So take it easy out there, but enjoy sunshine upper 70s, low 80s at the coast, and the same range in the mountains today. Getting ready for some tailgating tomorrow ahead of the playoffs for the Stanley Cup, excuse me, for the canes. 82 degrees at 11, temperature 91 at 3.

That's when the puck drops at Lenovo. So you'll get a chance to get some cooling, refreshing air inside. Sunday we have a chance for some light showers, 50%, but we're going to have really light rainfall. The totals are going to be very limited overall. Early next week starts off much drier but also much colder. I'll have more on that and a few. Anna. Okay, Gwitland, thank you. Happening now, red flags are flying on Emerald Isle beaches due to a dangerous rip current risk.

Officials say they changed warning flags from yellow to red because of an increase in currents in moderate surf. Officials are strongly encouraging beachgoers to stay out of the water. during red flag conditions. They say even experienced swimmers can be quickly overcome by strong and frequent rip currents. And eyewitness news is committed to keeping you safe during severe weather. The first alert team breaking down everything the season can bring from tornadoes to flooding and even the ongoing drought conditions. Tune in on Saturday night at 7 o'clock right here on ABC 11 and wherever you stream eyewitness news.

The town of Holly Springs is taking steps to protect its water source, leaders celebrating a groundbreaking for the expansion of the Utley-Cruly, creek water reclamation facility. This project will give the town's sewer capacity to support future population growth. Town leaders say, well, this may not be the most glamorous infrastructure. It is one of the most vital services in that community. At approximately $240 million, this expansion project is the most expensive infrastructure project the town has ever undertaken. Still ahead, a Cumberland County Sheriff's Deputy shot and killed in a domestic dispute. It's been two weeks, but still no arrests what we're learning about that case.

and Virginia's former lieutenant governor and his wife killed in a murder suicide, their ties to the triangle. And we're hearing from the crew of the Artemis II on their incredible trip around the moon. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. I'm taking a live look outside at 516 on your Friday. Here's a view of downtown Raleigh from our Pendo Sky Camp at 301 Hillsborough Street. Going to be another hot day to day, still in the midst of this mini heatwave meteorologist Quaylon Murphy is coming up in just a few minutes with your weekend forecast. We now have the latest on a Cumberland County sheriff's deputy who was shot to death at a home

in Hope Mills. It's been more than two weeks since Captain Adam Beam was found dead, but officials will only say it involved a domestic dispute between two off-duty law enforcement officers. An investigation by our news gathering partners at the News and Observer found the other officer is a highway patrol trooper, the woman at the center of that dispute, described by authorities as a domestic violence victim, is the system. of the Highway Patrol commander, Colonel Freddie Johnson, according to the news and observer. ABC 11 and the N&O have reached out to the Highway Patrol, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, and the State Bureau investigation for more information about that incident,

and to find out why no one has been charged. We'll continue following and updating that story. Police in Virginia are investigating the deaths of the former lieutenant governor of Virginia, Justin Fairfax, and his wife, Serena. Investigators believe Justin shot and killed his wife inside of their home and then turned the gun on himself. According to the Fairfax County Police Chief, it was the couple's son who called the police. Police believe the shooting stemmed from an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding their messy divorce. The couple had been married since 2006 after meeting at Duke University where they were both students.

And now to the astronauts home from the moon. After going farther into space than any human ever has, they're now sharing the story of their incredible journey. Here's ABC's Hannah-B-C-'s Hannah-B-Tah. We are bonded forever. I mean, that's the closest war humans can be and not be. family. The Artemis 2 crew is giving us new insight into what they saw during their voyage to the far side of the moon. When the sun eclipsed behind the moon, I said, I don't think humanity has evolved to the point of being able to comprehend what we're looking at right now because it was otherworldly and

it was amazing. The crew hoping to inspire a new generation of scientists, urging young people to challenge themselves. You have to go do really hard, really challenging things. Find your fulfillment, do what scares you. The next mission, Artemis 3, is scheduled. next year with the moon landing in 2028. Hannah Batav, ABC News, New York. I was listening to Christina Cook talk about her dog greeting her. Yeah. The video was wild to see.

And the photos they sent from that journey were just incredible, too. Yeah, lots of great stories coming out of. I watched that presser yesterday, and it's just, I can listen to them talk all day. I really did. The presser went for quite some time. But we're so grateful for them, the advancements they continue to make, and we're happy they're back safely. happy about this though our drought monitor shows that extreme drought now into the triangle

as of yesterday with the update no good news here have your rain chance at 10% today up to 50% on Sunday then after that we have dry conditions to start early next week but with the rain through the day today and Sunday we're looking at just a tenth of an inch or less so there's not much there I am looking to not this weekend but next weekend between the 24th and 30th there's potential that we'll see some better rain as our next front approaches. So those are what will be tracking, of course, through early next week and into next weekend, too.

For this weekend, we're tracking more heat as our heat wave continues. It won't be as hot today. We'll be in the upper 80s, close to 90 around the triangle this afternoon, low 90s of the sandhills, but low to mid 90s tomorrow, so near record highs again. And then by Sunday, we'll top out in our highs in the morning. We'll drop in the afternoon. A cool start to next week, back to those mid-80s by the middle of next week. We're tracking some near record highs on Saturday. Fayetteville's record 93. I think we'll get to 94. Record in Raleigh is 95. I think we'll come in just below that by a couple of degrees. 93 on Saturday. Here's a live look downtown. We do have a few clouds out there. Our temperature range once again, upper 50s to around the mid-60s right now. Our satellite radar composite shows those clouds working in and a few showers now just off to the west of person county. I think we'll see a sprinkled chance today. The best we'll do is around 10%. 72 at 9 o'clock, partly cloudy, noon, 8.

82, 88 by 3 by this time, a lot more sunshine. Mid-70s as we head towards 9 o'clock tonight, and then we're back into the 60s tomorrow morning. So this disturbance working in now, this is the front we're watching for Sunday. That's going to bring us that better chance for showers and a big temperature drop. So today mainly dry conditions, maybe a little wind shift for a short time. And then winds resume coming in from the south and west into tomorrow afternoon. That's why more big heat comes for us on Saturday with a lot of sunshine.

into Sunday morning clouds increase. I think by 8.9 a.m. we'll have some scattered rainfall, maybe moderate pocket of rain at times, but that's it as we head to the evening hours. We'll be dry, front moves through and a big temperature drop for the second half of your weekend. Low 90s on Saturday into the 70s Sunday as we head into Monday. High temperatures only in the 60s after starting in the 40s early in the morning. Here's your forecast for pollen through Monday still on the high side. So today, mid 80s for high. north mid to upper 80s in the triangle upper 80s low 90s and the sand hills this afternoon we'll see some 50s tonight north even Durham could be in the upper 50s tonight 60 in Raleigh and Clinton Fayetteville 60 degrees here's your first

alert seven-day forecast so we get that light rain Sunday your morning temperatures will be the highs for the day by the afternoon we're in the 60s 40s at night Monday refreshing with the breeze but definitely a different wardrobe necessary upper 60s on Monday 40s at night Tuesday we're in the upper 60s again with upper 40s at night. And then Wednesday and Thursday, we're back to those 80s. Okay, Kwaylan, things looking really good for your morning commute so far. We're not seeing any crashes. Also, there's no red on this map, which means we're not seeing any congestion either. Let's take a live look outside at the DOT cameras. This is 40 and 540. You can definitely

see it starting to fill in just a little bit, but so far I haven't seen any break lights. All right, you're going to want to stick around for Good Morning America later. Coming up at 7 o'clock, how airlines are bringing new amenities to economy class. And the Carolina Panthers giving us a first look at their new practice facility. Alerting you first. This episode is brought to you by Tellus Online Security. Oh, tax season is the worst. You mean hack season?

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Conditions apply. First alert weather on ABC 11. Social media site Blue Sky is explaining why it was down for nearly a day. Here's ABC's Sophie Flay with this morning's Techbytes. In today's TechBites, outages at Blue Sky. The platform says a denial of service attack is to blame. It disrupted feeds, notifications, and threads, and intermittent issues continued through the night.

Sky says there's no evidence of unauthorized access to users' private data. Next, a shocker from Netflix. Co-founder Reid Hastings announced he's leaving the company he founded 29 years ago. At that time, Netflix was a DVD delivery service. Hastings helped make it a streaming service in 2007. Netflix stock fell slightly after the announcement. Finally, anyone hoping to see a Call of Duty movie is going to need some patience. The company behind the game says an adaptation will hit the last.

theaters, June 30th, 2028. No word yet on the cast, but producers of Yellowstone and Friday Night Lights are involved. Those are TechBites. I'm Sophie Fly. Have a great day. The Carolina Panthers giving us a first look at their new practice facility. The space features two indoor fields, two outdoor fields, and a number of other areas. It's set to be adjacent to Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte and due to open by next year's training camp. 526 now. We are tracking the extreme drought. Yeah. what we could learn today about Durham's plan to conserve water. And the war with Iran, the overnight headlines

as the US military expands efforts to control the critical strait of Hormoos. We'll be right back after this.