Hurricane Dorian

Visitors are now allowed back on Ocracoke Island nearly three months after record flooding from Hurricane Dorian. The September storm produced flash flooding that saw water rise several feet in less than an hour. The flooding broke modern records and damaged hundreds of structures on the island. Authorities reopened the island to tourists this week. 

Gov. Roy Cooper has signed into law bills designed to help his cash-strapped Department of Transportation and the continued recovery from hurricanes Florence, Matthew and Dorian.

County commissioners on the North Carolina coast have moved to reopen an island ravaged by Hurricane Dorian.

Updated at 2:18 p.m.

The federal government has denied individual assistance for residents in four North Carolina counties hit hard by Hurricane Dorian just days after approving other funds to help local governments repair infrastructure, North Carolina's governor said Wednesday.

Class is back in session on a North Carolina island which was severely damaged by Hurricane Dorian.

President Donald Trump has approved a request from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper for public assistance for 14 counties affected by Hurricane Dorian.

Updated at 4:25 p.m.

Governor Roy Cooper made another visit to Ocracoke Island today as the community recovers from Hurricane Dorian. 

The storm inundated the island with several feet of storm surge earlier this month. Cooper stopped at the island's volunteer fire department and temporary medical center. 

North Carolina tobacco farmers say Hurricane Dorian destroyed at least 20 to 25 percent of their total harvest, hurting the state's overall tobacco industry, according to David Thomas, of the U.S. Tobacco Cooperative.

North Carolina will get some much-needed money to help with mounting repair costs the state has incurred in response to devastating hurricanes and other storms.

The Federal Highway Administration said in a statement Tuesday that North Carolina would get $51 million for the cost of repairing roads and bridges.

Hurricane Dorian churned off the North Carolina coast, but by Friday evening had headed further into the Atlantic Ocean, prompting forecasters to lift hurricane and tropical storm warnings south of the Virginia-North Carolina border.

State elections officials have added early voting hours in North Carolina's 9th and 3rd Congressional Districts, where polling sites in particularly storm-prone areas had been closed because of Hurricane Dorian.

The lights are out for thousands of people in southeastern North Carolina as crews assess damage from Hurricane Dorian.

Hurricane Dorian has created new challenges in the final days of campaigning for a North Carolina congressional seat that was already getting scant attention.

Ocracoke Island resident Leslie Lanier says some residents on the thin strip of land on North Carolina's coast have had to climb into their attics because of high water from Hurricane Dorian.

As Hurricane Dorian begins lashing Camp Lejeune, the sprawling Marine Base is unusually vulnerable because it's still badly damaged from Hurricane Florence a year ago.

Last year's storm caused more than $3 billion in damage to the base, much of it from water pouring through shredded roofs.

Updated 5 p.m.

Forecasters say Hurricane Dorian is expected to slowly weaken as it travels near and along the coasts of South and North Carolina.

In its 5 p.m. advisory, the National Hurricane Center says Dorian has weakened slightly and remains a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

Updated 5 p.m.

Duke Energy is projecting there could be more than 700,000 power outages due to Hurricane Dorian – including some that could last days.

As Hurricane Dorian nears the North Carolina coast, shelters across the eastern part of the state are preparing for evacuees from coastal communities where the Governor ordered a mandatory evacuation.

At the Northgate Mall in Durham, state officials have turned a former Sears department store into a hurricane shelter. The group had set up more than 500 beds before noon and said it could add another 500 if needed.

Robeson County and Lumberton suffered some of the worst damage from Hurricane Florence last year and Matthew in 2016. Now it's bracing for Dorian.

Several North Carolina counties will open emergency shelters ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

The National Weather Service has downgraded Hurricane Dorian to a Category 2 hurricane, however flash flooding, strong winds and rip currents are still a possibility beginning Wednesday or Thursday.

Forecasters are warning of significant storm surge as Hurricane Dorian slowly moves up the east coast.

Updated 12:45 p.m.

Pope Francis is urging prayers for victims of Hurricane Dorian , saying they're suffering from the loss of their homes and their lives.

Animal rescue organizations are working to get some shelter animals out of areas likely to be hit by Hurricane Dorian.

N.C. Governor Roy Cooper issued a mandatory state evacuation order for vulnerable coastal areas.

The evacuation order, effective at 8 am on Wednesday, applies to barrier islands along the entire coast, from the Virginia line to the South Carolina line.