ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 9am - May 30, 2026

Episode Date: May 30, 2026

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Right now, live coverage from your local newsleader, 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. I'm Bianca Holman. It's Saturday, May 30th, this morning on eyewitness news. After 20 years, the Carolina hurricanes are going to the Stanley Cup finals. The Cains, now the Eastern Conference champions, hundreds of excited fans were inside the living. Novo Center as history was made. And take warning, Carolina is now just four wins away from their next Stanley Cup finals and win, and we are claiming it already. They're going to take it all the way.

Trayvon Miles and Kate Rogerson will show how the team dominated the game. Let's go ahead and take a live look at the Raleigh Skyline right now as you start your Saturday. Hopefully you have stepped outside because it's feeling pretty good, Steve. It is feeling pretty darn good. Yeah. Yeah, listen, it's going to be a decent day today for most of us. There's some thunderstorms near Charlotte, though. We'll see if that makes it over to the Sand Hill.

So we'll keep a chance to our south today, but generally just going to have passing clouds. 88 for a high, but it's not going to be like a typical 88 for us as we get closer to June. Humidity values are really going to come down as we go throughout the day today. 83 is average, so above that hit 86 yesterday. There's a deficit at 1.6 inches. Look at the last five days. The sand hills really won out. So did our northern counties.

But a lot of us got less than an inch of rain. and this is, of course, the watershed for Falls Lake. That's why it's all the way down to 4.7 feet below full pool and getting worse. Jordan Lake kind of hanging in there now improvements in Car Lake and also in Lake Gaston with the recent rain that we have had. Speaking of rain, look what's going on. Look at the thunderstorms near Charlotte right now. This is kind of moving in this direction.

We'll see if that can hold together. There's a little shower there. Hoke County. We might get a thunderstorm to our south, but most of us are going to miss out. Our focus is really Monday with the next front. of getting showers and maybe some thunderstorms that could last into early Tuesday morning. Out and about with the family today again,

at times there'll be plenty of clouds around. We'll get to those high eighties, but where humidity values coming down, really a nice afternoon to get out. Right now we're looking at 75 degrees with the clouds. Dewpoint has crashed all the way down to 56 now. It was 67 just a little bit ago,

so already feeling much better out there. Nice evening to fire the grill up. Numbers getting down to the low 70s by 10 o'clock in the evening hours. coming up. We are heating up as we get later next week. More on that coming up in just a few minutes, Bianca. The hurricanes brought the heat, twirled those towels, ring the siren, get excited. The Carolina hurricanes are going to the Stanley Cup final. They dominated Montreal in the game five, and the fans couldn't be more excited. Yeah, maybe you were cheering too last night at home. Our cameras were there to capture fans who've been waiting years for this moment,

celebrating the only way Cain's fans do loud and proud. On our chopper 11 up late last night flying over the Lenovo Center, as fans rushed out of the arena excited to witness. The Carolina Hurricanes beat Montreal 6 to 1 and see that 12 warning flag go up outside the arena. The clock is ticking now for game one of the Stanley Cup final. New this morning, if you want tickets, listen up. Tickets go on sale today at noon for season ticket members,

and then tickets for the team's home games will go on sale at 3 o'clock. for everyone else. The hurricanes, they earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 5322 7. With last night's win, the team has a few days to celebrate and rest. The puck drop in game one is next at the Lenovo Center. It's going to be here in Raleigh against the Vegas Golden Knights. And game two also in Raleigh on Thursday. The series will then shift to Las Vegas for games three and four for they swept Colorado in the Western Conference final. The Golden Knights did. Games five and three. six, if necessary, would return to Raleigh.

Every game starts at 8 p.m. And it airs right here on ABC 11. Now, the eyewitness team team coverage. We've got Kate Roderson and Trayvon Miles inside the Lenovo Center with locker room reaction from players. When Carolina Panthers legend Lou Keekeley sounded the siren to get the Lenovo Center going for game five of the Eastern Conference final, we should have known that this thing was a wrap.

You knew it was over from there when Luke did his thing. The Keynes ride six different goals scores and they get a six one win. to advance to the Stanley Cup final. Just so proud of every guy in here, and it's been a crazy journey. Yeah, it feels good. There's no question. The way we did it, too, you know, how hard we played.

And, you know, the way we did it, it feels good. It's been a long journey, for sure, but just really proud of the group. Like I keep saying it, but how hard they work and come every day to work from day one at training camp So now to get the best chance. And it's nice that it paid off. It's the next step in the journey, obviously.

You know, we have a great opportunity in front of us against a really good team, so we're excited. 20 years in the making, and you saw fans and everybody inside of this place just elated with joy, a scene after for the Carolina Hurricanes and their fans. I don't think a single person left this building waiting until that final horn. It was such a special scene here inside the... Lenovo Center. And I'm going to leave everyone with this. The Carolina Hurricanes are the first team since 1976 to advance to the Stanley Cup final with a 12 and one record. So they're going to the Cup for the first time in 20 years, but they're the best team to go to the cup and let's say,

what, 50 years? Yeah. They deserve it at the way they played all series long and the way they played all postseason long. All I can say, bring on Tuesday. Guys, back to you. All right, Kate and Trey, thank you. And as the advance to the finals for the first time in 20 years, we had to go down into the crates for some footage of that big win 20 years ago. So check out this video. That is a young Rob. Brenda Moore raising up the cup high above his head. All the excitement there.

He was the captain on that championship winning team. Brenda Moore spent 10 years with the Keynes from player to coach, leaving the team back towards another cup. And check out this video from after the wind where thousands of Keynes fans, they crowded to the streets. They were all out there for that big parade. A lot of excitement that day and now we're ready to celebrate another Stanley Cove.

A time now, 906 on this Saturday morning. And now to the economy, a new survey finds Americans are saving at the lowest rate in four years. Inflation, higher living cost and impact from the pandemic are the main reasons. Are Akela Davis in Durham talking to folks trying to stress their dollars in this tight economy? When every trip to the gas station and grocery store costs more, what's left to save? I spoke with people living here in Durham who say the answer is not much. haven't saved. Samuel Fisher is looking for ways to stretch every dollar. I met him at this Durham gas station moments after filling up his daughter's car. She doesn't know it yet, but while she's

away on vacation, he's driving her car instead of his to save money on gas. I have an SUV. It cost me, I want to say it was $90 to fill up. And I was like, okay, she's not here, so I'm going to drive her car. Save you some money. Yeah, exactly. For many people finding ways to cut back has become a necessity. Everything I have on is from the goodwill. To make her dollars go further, and McCombiell shops at thrift stores. A black jumpsuit, a black top. This was only $3. This is beautiful. She says shopping secondhand helps her make sure she has enough money for the grocery store. Every time I go shopping, I spend $100 for me, and I just buy really produce. A new report shows Americans are saving less money. The U.S. personal savings rate failed to 2.6% in April.

of this year. Economists say rising cost on things like food, housing, and gas are leaving people with less money to put away for the future. I always recommend that people put something away no matter what. Pay yourself first. People have probably heard people say before. Arkell Barnes has been a triangle-based financial advisor for the past 30 years. He says even in tough economic times, saving something is better than saving nothing. And every little bit counts. He recommends looking for small ways to cut costs. Refonancing, doing things like taking meals to work instead of going to eat out, watching your subscriptions. It's advised 79-year-old Jerry McLean is already taking. I met him pushing his grocery cart towards his car. I'm older, so I don't do as much. I don't go out as much.

I don't eat out as much. In Durham, Akela Davis, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Aheel, thank you. A free food distribution is happening today in Raleigh. It's part of the Giving Tree at Covenant Life Fellowships Monthly giveaway. Families are invited to come out to select fresh food items and non-perishable foods. The distribution is from 10 a.m. until noon on Forestville Road. The Bull City wants to make sure firearms in homes are under lock and keep. Just ahead, information on the free giveaway. And Raleigh Police making an arrest in a cold case rape investigation that happened more than two decades ago. Find out whether led to a break in the case.

And North Carolina made the scented products being produced with your family in mind. But first, good morning, Steve. Yeah, good morning, Bianca. Good morning, everyone. Mid and high level clouds with us right now. It's humid, but it's improving. Matter of fact, the dew point has dropped significantly in the triangle already. Mid-70s for temperatures, Roxburgh, right at that 70-degree mark.

We'll have highs in the upper 80s, but not a bad afternoon. Maybe a shower to our south. We'll explain after the break. In Toronto, every arrival is a state. and nothing says it better than this. Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 2025. Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19-speaker AKG surround audio system.

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weather from ABC 11 I witness news. Welcome back everyone. Humidity already crashing in our northern counties in the triangle. Temperatures in the 80s, but it won't feel that bad. Really a good day to get out. Maybe a shower, thunderstorm in the sand hills or farther south, you'll have the better opportunity of that. You can see some showers down there right now. That's a nice little thunderstorm going on, just leaving the Charlotte area. And that's, it looks like either aerial flood advisory or a flash flood warning. Pretty impressive. Most of this is going to scoot to the south. There's a little tiny, there south of Fayetteville. So there's an opportunity to get a shower the farther south you live, but most of us are missing out. Good day to have lunch outside. Midday around that mid-80s or so.

We'll keep going up from there, but generally speaking, going to be just fantastic with some passing clouds or we'll call it some filtered sunshine. Most of these clouds are high level. 75 into North Hills with the clouds right now. Dewpoint was 67. It's all the way down to 56. That is significant. That means the air is drying out. It's going to feel pretty good to you today. 72 in Roanoke Rapids, 77 Rocky Mell Wilson and Fayetteville with more clouds and thicker clouds about 73 degrees. Evening planner, really nice for a walk with low humidity. We'll see these numbers coming down to 79 by 8 o'clock in the evening hours and maybe sleep with the windows open tonight. We're going to get down into the 50s. Boston might get some showers.

New York, a couple of spotty showers. Watch out for some thunderstorms in and around Atlanta that could cause delays. And the Midwest have been active today, but so far all the major hubs looking good. Got you 7, 8, 8 a few minutes. Bianca. All right. Steve, we'll see in a moment. The Durham County Health Department and District Attorney's Office are hosting a free gunlock giveaway next week.

It's part of the statewide initiative to raise awareness of the importance of securely storing firearms. So officials will give out free gun locks on Monday outside the Durham County Courthouse. The giveaway is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. And if you can't make it out, it's okay. You can stop by the Health Department Monday through Friday for a free gun lock. Affordable senior housing will open in Durham and applications are being accepted right now. The Durham Housing Authority launching a wait list for two of its project-based senior communities and they are open to people 62 years or older.

Applications are available in both English and Spanish. The White House releasing the results of President Trump's latest physical exam. That story just ahead. And a date has been set for the groundbreaking for the first Buckees in North Carolina and gearing up for hurricane. season just ahead. Officials at the Office of Emergency Management explain how they prepare. And as we head to break and you get ready to head out the door to start your Saturday and weekend, here goes a live look outside. This is the Raleigh Skyline.

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the Meb and Buckies will feature 120 gas pumps and a massive convenience store. The intertribal powwow returns today to Dix Park and Raleigh. The annual event includes a day of competitive dancing. They're going to have some music, vendors, and a chance to showcase the legacy and culture of indigenous communities here in North Carolina. The powwow is from 1130 to 6 p.m. at Harvey Hill. All right, the time now, 918. Let's go ahead and take a look outside at the beach. This is Carolina Beach out there. It looks a little, like, slightly gray, but still probably comfortable out there, Steve, right?

Yeah, I got one too. I got Wrightsville Beach up. It is, yeah, but they're probably going to get some showers and maybe a thunderstorm a little bit later. Today is that front settles to the south. So not a washout. A couple surfers, there you go. That guy's doing pretty good. Still haven't tried that.

It would be kind of fun, though, right? All right. Listen, as we go through the day today, we're going to call it, pleasant weekend. Most of us are going to be dry. The sand hills might get a shower. I'll show you that coming up. Sunday's a better half all day, really low humidity in about 80 degrees. We're flirting with 90 today, believe or not. Showers on Monday, maybe some isolated storms in the afternoon when the front moves in. Also Monday, yeah, kicks off hurricane season. And generally in June, these are the areas that we get development off our coast and also in the Gulf. Fronts come in, they stall out, a wave of low pressure develops.

And wouldn't you know it next week? We could see it. Area of low pressure developing off our coast along a stalled front. The American model kind of similar here. Now the hurricane center says no development expected, but we'll watch and see very closely. Obviously this time of year you get an area low pressure along our coast. We're going to watch it close. There you see the clouds around. Look at that thunderstorm near Charlotte. There's a lot of lightning going on. There's a flood advisory as well. Look at all that's impressive, heavier downpours. Now the question is can that hold together? There's a little shower south and west of Fayetteville right now. But most of this I think is going to push to the south and we'll miss out. But the farther south you live, at least you have an opportunity. Farther north, not so much. Good pool day climbing to those upper 80s. Again, lower humidity today. UV index way up there at about a nine today.

And there's our model suggesting that thunderstorm could make it over to the Fayetteville area as we get to the midday hour. Then pressing south and we'll get a mixed bag today. Plenty of clouds around filtered sunshine we'll call it. And we're seeing that right now. 75 in North Hills. The dew point down to 56. It was 67. That's significant drying as that dryer air punches in. Widespread 70s, Oxford's at 68. But look at the dew points already seeing that dryer air come in. And we can see dew points fall to the 40s, really humid farther to the south. But just give it some time. That dryer air is going to punch south a little bit later. Making for a fantastic evening.

Numbers in the low 80s by 7 o'clock. Maybe you want to dine outside tonight. And then we'll fall down to the low 70s by 10 o'clock and we keep going down. It's going to be one of those nights. You might want to crack the window open as we fall down to the 50s tonight. Really pleasant start to the day tomorrow. High pressures with us. We'll catch some late day high clouds,

but that's about it. And then we'll maybe get a morning shower and then a band of some thunderstorms out ahead of the front in the afternoon on Monday. And that's it for our chance of rain this week. Meantime, the mountains getting showers and some thunderstorms today. Tomorrow looks better.

And the beaches might get caught in a shower two not that bad don't cancel plans and tomorrow's going to be a dry day. Mid upper 80s flirting with 90 today with lower humidity. I know it's humid now in the sand hills but give it some time. It'll improve and a cooler night in the 50s and flirting with the 40s in our upper northern counties. So it's going to be a cool start tomorrow. A fantastic day about 80 with some passing high clouds. Monday showers, isolated thunderstorms as we welcome June and meteorological summer. Maybe a leftover morning shower two. but an improving day. Wednesday's my pick day of the week, low humidity, low 80s, looking good. We do heat up later in the week, but not terribly humid, but here comes near 90 on Friday.

All right, Steve, thank you. Now's a great time to go ahead and download the ABC 11 mobile app. It's free. We'll send all the headlines to your devices. We're also looking for bargains wherever we can find them. Just ahead. Today's secret sales. How can working at your local Tims take you further?

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All right, well, coming up, the top prosecutor in the Seashell case against former FBI director James Comey has stepped down. That story just ahead. And the canes crushed the Canadians and advanced to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 20 years. A look at the economic impact here in the triangle. And as we had the break, here goes alive, looking to downtown. I'm getting out and enjoy the day. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues next.

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Visit Wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. It is 929 as you get your day started with a live look into downtown Durham. Good morning, Carolina. It's Saturday, May 30th. I'm Bianca Holman. You are watching eyewitness news right now on ABC 11 and wherever you stream.

The top stories in all the day's news is just ahead. But first, let's go ahead and check in with meteorologist Steve Stewart with a look outside for the weather. We've got some soccer games still to go today. Fine. Perfect. Yeah, good. Hey, humidity's coming down too. Right now it's the triangle and points north.

where the drier airs in place. Sandhills, you're going to have to give it some time, and you might get a shower farther to the south. I'll show you that coming up. 88 for a high today. I know that's a that's pretty darn warm, but with dew points in the 50s and maybe falling to the 40s, not going to be that bad at all. Hit 86 yesterday. And of course, there's that deficit on the rainfall 1.6 inches. Look at the last five days. The sand hills won out. Our northern counties did too. But a lot of us didn't get that much rainfall. And of course, this is the watershed here for Falls Lake. And that's why, just keeps going down. We haven't had enough rain. Jordan Lake's down a bit as well, but car lakes improving almost at full pool now and Gaston's going up as well, where they had some heavier rainfall. Speaking of rain, look at what's going on right now. We've got some heavier rain in and around Charlotte. That question is, can that hold together and make it over to the

sand hills? We'll see a couple little spotty showers starting to pop up now. Our focus is really Monday. That's the best chance for most of us to get rain and that can last into early Tuesday morning as well. How about riding the bike today? Get the family out. We'll be in those upper 80s, but lower humidity, not bad. At times there'll be plenty of clouds.

More filtered sunshine today with mid and high level clouds. Like we're seeing now, 75 into North Hills. The dew point was 67 all the way down to 56 with that north breeze now. That's pulling in that drier air. Heading out this evening, maybe just wanna fire the grill up. This is really gonna be pleasant

with low humidity temperatures in the 80s, falling to the 70s by 8 o'clock in the evening hours. Meantime, coming up, We're going to be heating up late next week, maybe flirting with 90 again. More on that coming up in just a few minutes. All right. Well, it was hot on the ice last night, Steve.

The clock now ticking down for the game one of the Stanley Cup finals. Tickets go on sale and noon for season. Ticket members and tickets for the team's home games will go on sale today at 3 o'clock for everyone else. And so the hurricanes earned the top seat in the Eastern Conference with a record of 5322. And with last night's win, the team has a few days to celebrate and rest. And then it's a new countdown to the cup. The puck drops in game one Tuesday at the Lenovo Center here in Raleigh against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Game two in Raleigh on Thursday, the series then shifts to Las Vegas for games three and four, who swept Colorado in the Western Conference final games five and six, if necessary, would return to Raleigh. Every game starts at 8 p.m. and airs right here on ABC 11. And for fans, they couldn't make it inside the Lenovo Arena. There was plenty to plenty of watch parties all over the area on Friday. night, including hundreds of people gathering here at Smoky Hollow in Raleigh. Kaniacs lining up well before the puck dropped to secure a seat, and they had plenty to cheer for early with the first three points on the board in the first period goals that there were,

there were three of them. And so those large crowds for providing a boost to the businesses in that area, and they shared the excitement with the added foot traffic. Super excited. You know, people are coming out, they're supporting the Cains. We're very new here, and this is a new deal that we're doing right here with the television, but people are supporting and coming out. It's growing as it comes along.

A lot of people will come, they'll stop in, they'll get a bite to eat before the game, maybe a little drink afterwards, so it's good exposure for sure, especially for everyone in the hollow. And ABC 11 is your home for both the Stanley Cup final and the NBA finals. as you can watch both championship rounds starting next week right here on ABC 11. Raleigh Police make an arrest and a cold case rape investigation, DNA linking a suspect and linking the suspect to a similar sexual assault in Charlotte. 48-year-old Reginald Taylor was arrested in Orange County, Virginia. RPD says on December 1st, 2001, a man and a woman were in the 7,700 block of Morning Dove Road off of Sixth Road. when Taylor forced them at gunpoint to remove their clothing.

He then allegedly sexually assaulted the woman. Investigators learned a similar crime happened in Charlotte within the same year. Clothing from both crime scenes were preserved and recently underwent DNA testing. A hit was made in the DNA index system linking Taylor to both the Raleigh and Charlotte rapes. New this morning, the lead federal prosecutor on the case against former FBI director James Comey over his alleged seashel photo has stepped away from the case. According to court documents, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina

asked that Matthew Petrake be removed from the court's docket as a lawyer representing the government. It'll be replaced by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo. It's not clear why Petrake is no longer on the case. The charges against Comey stem from a picture. This picture you can see there on your screen, posted to social media last May of seashells on a North Carolina beach arranged in the form of figures.

8647. The Trump administration officials claimed it amounted to a death threat. Combe's trial is set to begin in late October. The White House has released the results of President Donald Trump's recent physical. Late Friday night, the administration shared a memo from the president's doctor, noting he is in excellent health. The doctor also recommended that he lose weight and exercise more. Trump's visit to Walter Reed Medical Center on Tuesday marked the third time he has had a medical exam since his inauguration last year. The results come as Trump gears up to celebrate his 80th birthday on June 14th. Virginia State Police have identified some of the victims had a deadly crash that happened on Interstate 95 in Stafford County. Police say a bus was headed from New York to Charlotte

when the bus failed to slow for traffic near work zone, setting off a chain reaction crash. Four of the victims were in an accurate SUV that caught fire, including two children. A fifth victim was in a suburban. State officials say, state police, they say that charges are pending against the bus driver. The Pentagon recruiting troops to watch the UFC fight at the White House, but there are some special requirements, we'll explain just ahead, and Walmart expanding its 30-minute delivery service. But first, we can deliver the weather to you right now. Absolutely. Yeah, outside, we got some mid-level clouds streaming overhead. Temperatures are already in the mid-70s, at 77 Sanford, 75 Raleigh, Durham and Roxburgh at 72.

We're flirting with 90 today, but lower humidity, maybe a shower, thunderstorm south. All the details after the break. This is First Alert Weather from ABC 11, I Witness News. Welcome back, everyone. Now you made it to the weekend. We're looking pretty darn good today. Maybe a shower, a thunderstorm, the farther south that you live, but most of us are going to be dry.

Numbers in the 80s, but humidity values have already come down from the triangle and points northward. It'll take a little while for that drier air to make it down into the sand hills. There is a shower thunderstorm that's really just blossomed up here, bringing some heavier rain, a lot of lightning going on as well. You can see the direction it's kind of drifting. We'll see if that does indeed hold together and make it down to the sandhills. Otherwise, we're just dealing with some passing clouds around lunch outside, fantastic, around the triangle. Humidity's already dropped. Numbers are going to be in those mid-80s at that time.

Right now we're 75, but the dew points at 56. It was 67 this morning. the drier air is coming in with that north breeze at about 10 miles an hour. 78 Rocky Mount Wilson, 75 Smithfield up now 77 and Fayetteville at 73 with the thicker clouds and the sand hills with those showers off to the south and west. A nice evening for a walk around the neighborhood. Numbers in the 80s but low humidity values falling to the 70s by the time we get to 8 o'clock in the evening. The northeast will get some showers. New York gets a little bit, maybe some delays in Atlanta with some thunderstorms. Midwest will have thunderstorms and heavy rain again, a second day in a row up into Montana.

So far all the major hubs have been looking good, but up, we got some delays down in Charlotte with that big thunderstorm I showed you about 40 minutes right now. Got you seven to eight a few minutes, Bianca. All right, Steve, thank you. Some service members will be getting a free tickets to attend the USC fight at the White House next month. But there's a catch. Tickets will only be given to those who meet the new military fitness standards with a specific waist to height ratio. This new requirements went into effect in January. The Pentagon guidance going out to commanders asking them to give tickets to only genuine UFC fans, preferably from outside the Washington area.

But any service member who gets a ticket will have to pay their own way to get there. More Walmart customers will now be able to use its fast delivery service. Walmart has announced it's expanding as 30 minute or less delivery to 33 cities. It was previously in just seven cities. The retailer says customers can shop for more than a. 100,000 eligible items, including groceries and prescription medications. Walmart also says it plans to expand the service to additional cities later this year. Hurricane season starts on Monday, June 1st, just ahead. We will talk with the emergency officials about lessons learned from

other major disasters like Hurricane Matthew. And as we had to break, here goes a live look at Downtown Raleigh. We are Local News. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. All right, 944 on this Saturday morning, and we talk about the weather. Last year, it was Chantal. The year before that, Helene, and this hurricane season marks 10 years since Hurricane Matthew. So what has the state learned in response to these historic disasters? Quaylon Murphy went to the North Carolina Office of Emergency Management as they run full-scale simulations to prepare for this year's hurricane season. Make landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina as a category two of hurricane on Monday.

This is a test, a test to make sure the next. North Carolina emergency management team is ready when disaster strikes. Tell us the importance of doing these kind of exercise with a preparation for maybe natural disasters that do occur or everything else that can happen. Yeah, these exercises are so important to making sure our state emergency preparedness team is ready and prepared to respond to any type of emergency that we could face throughout the hurricane season. Talk to us about what you've learned from Helene and that experience that occurred in Western North Carolina. Yeah. I first want to acknowledge the staff that are still out physically located in western North Carolina, responding behind the scenes.

We've learned a lot from the state emergency response team perspective, not only in terms of preparedness, but how we interact with local jurisdictions and those emergency managers. They can't move all their supplies with them. It's not just state leaders and first responders taking part in this exercise. Private companies are also involved. their ability to support disaster recovery can help get much-needed supplies to people in need. We had a shelter in Western North Carolina that was short on baby formula. And that evening we were trying to figure out how are we going to get a shipment of baby formula there? We came over to the Business Surmurge Operations Center and were able to talk to several private sector partners.

One had a palette of baby formula in a warehouse outside of Garner. And we were able to work with another private sector. partner that had a truck going west and we were able to get it there before morning. This year will be 10 years since Hurricane Matthew, which is hard to believe. But 2016 was a good example of just the cascading effects that events across the state can have. Matthew brought flooding, damage, and power outages to our state. And after this storm, there were also wildfires to deal with and a fuel shortage. Hazards don't care if other hazards are going on. Sean Tall last year,

created a familiar set of problems that this training is working to tackle. Chantal was a great example of that last summer where it doesn't matter if you're in the the eye of the storm. You really need to be prepared. That was the case in Matthew, in Florence, in Helene. All of our major storms of record are our testaments to being prepared well outside of where the track of the storm may go. That was our Quaylan Murphy reporting. And be sure to watch our hurricane specials a great way to make sure that you are prepared for any storm airs tonight at seven right here on ABC 11. And Steve, you were telling us that much of our rain 20 percent. So that's a fifth.

On average. Yeah. On average come from these tropical storms. Absolutely. Yeah. We get tropical moisture just about each and every year. So because something it kind of depend on it, especially in a drought. Look at the folks setting up out into Wrightsville Beach right now. A lot of clouds out there. You can see as a camera does a slow pan. Seas are looking pretty good. But they're going to have a lot of clouds and maybe a shower, a thunderstorm if you're heading out in that. direction around here. Most of us fantastic. The farther south you leave, you could get a shower, thunderstorm. I'll show you that coming up. Humidity's already dropping around the triangle in our northern counties. It'll take some time in the sand hills. Sunday is going to be low humidity all day. Great day to get out. Showers Monday may be an isolated storm when the front moves on through. And hurricane season also starts on Monday and we generally get development off our coast and down in the Gulf as well. And wouldn't you know it? The European model has a stalled from with an area of low pressure trying to develop.

by we get time and get to Wednesday, Thursday, and the GFS is very similar. Hurricane season says no development in the next week, but we're going to watch. Anytime you get a swirl like that off the coast, it's going to grab our attention. We have clouds here, but look at that thunderstorm. That's some significant rainfall that's been going on with the aerial flood advisory and a lot of lightning going on as well. And we'll see if that can make it down into the sand hills probably won't, but I'll keep a chance going from Fayetteville southward for today. Meantime out around to the triangle, we get to those upper 80s. Suncloud mix this afternoon, a lot of high-level clouds, UV index in a nine,

and humidity values are going to be low. Our model tries to hold that together from Cumberland County and pushing to the south as we get to the early afternoon. Otherwise, just some clouds around as we go throughout the day today and humidity lower. Dewpoint already at 56. It was 67, so the dry air is coming in with that north breeze at about 5 to 10 miles an hour. Mid-70s in most spots, Southern Pines-O-81 and a lot of clouds in Fayetteville at 73. We're already seeing that drier air. Do you point of 49 Oxford, so the dry air punches in really means it's going to feel fantastic as we go later on today. And tonight, maybe dining outside, mid-80s feels pretty warm, but with low humidity, we can easily handle that. And by 10 o'clock, we're in the 70s.

There's giddy. Open the windows tonight. Good sleeping weather. Numbers are going to fall all the way down to the 50s. And in our northern counties could be flirting with the 40s early tomorrow morning. A beautiful day. We'll catch some high clouds and that's about it. And then there's a risk of a shower, thunderstorm out ahead of our front as we go into Monday. And that is it. That is our chance of rain as we go through this week. Some showers are in the mountains today. Tomorrow likely dry.

Very similar at the beaches. Not all the beaches get rain, but there'll be a few thunderstorms around. Upper 80s today near 90 in the sand hills. So going to be a warm one today. Again, a shower chance to the south. A chilly night with low 50s in our northern counties, mid-50s in the triangle. We should be in the lower 60s. First of our seven day, great day tomorrow.

There's the showers around on Monday, maybe a leftover morning shower Tuesday. Then we're heating up to finish the work week. All right, Steve, thank you. Now's a great time to go ahead and download our ABC 11 mobile app. It's free and you can check the seven-day forecast at any time. Mindfully made candles in today's North Carolina made. We introduce you to a to grow fragrance. It's a company helping to fill homes with fresh scents while also caring for your well-being.

9.53 on this Saturday morning, there is nothing better than walking into your home or getting into your car and it smells good. But sometimes the products that you're using to make your space smell good aren't really good for you and your family. So this week's North Carolina made, we are introducing you to scented products that are made right here in the triangle that you can feel good about. Anna Rivera explains. We make everything here. From start to finish. We make candles here, we melt the wax. It's all plant-based wax and fragrances, and we pour and let everything cool and set up here.

The products that grow fragrance are handmade with you and your family in mind. The vast, vast, vast majority of products in the market are synthetically derived from petroleum and grow products are made wholly from plants, and we certify that. Daniel Swim started out in the candle business and he realized there was something missing in the home fragrance world. Our goal is to provide customers an alternative to traditional synthetic fragrances. We want them to have an option that's plant-based, that is safe, that they feel good about, and something that smells a little bit more like nature. Woodland sage, lavender blossom, and cucumber aloe to some of the farmed table scents offered in their candles, car fresheners, and room sprays. Here's where we do all the pouring of the fragrances.

Dan, our engineer from NC State, built and designed all this equipment. And so we mix and pour and set up over here and then cap over here with our sprayer cap. And every part of this process, North Carolina made. We're a small business, but it's quite complex. We need creative people. We need engineers. We need people to work in production. We need marketers.

really all different types of jobs. And we're really fortunate to have all of those people here in the triangle. Anna Rivera, ABC 11, eyewitness news. All right. Well, perfect for all those who are cleaning their house on Saturday. You know, Saturday's morning is for cleaning. So great way to have something locally made that set off the all the scents in your house. Yeah, I like that.

All right. Well, last check of the weather. All right. Lower humidity today. We'll be in the upper 80s. Maybe a chance at a shower thunderstorm south. Tomorrow's fantastic. Monday, watch out for some showers.

We need the rain. That's our only chance. After that, we have a nice stretch of weather. Some sunshine and temperature is pretty nice. All right, pretty decent. Okay, I'll wait until Tuesday to wash my car. Okay. Even though I probably should do it today.

The second hour of Good Morning America is next for the eyewitness news team. I'm Bianca Homa for Steve Stewart. And our entire eyewitness news team, there they are, giving us a wave. Our news continues online right now at ABC11.com. Have a great Saturday. ABC 11 eyewitness news is sponsored by Ruggin Home of Raleigh.