Is it just me or has there been an awful lot of shark news lately? Hint: it’s not just me.

Not one, but two attacks took place last Friday when a shark bit a 6-year-old girl in South Carolina and another shark bit a 13-year-old from North Carolina. And in early June a shark bit an 18-year-old girl in Georgia. Fortunately, no limbs (or lives!) were lost.

But there have also been several shark sightings in the Hamptons near New York City, and recently and a great white shark was caught and then released in Massachusetts.

Now the U.S. National Park Service has announced that they are issuing an “enter waters at your own risk” warning for the area around Santa Barbara Island in Southern California. The Wednesday warning was due to three great white shark attacks on sea lions in the area and is in effect until further notice.

Holiday weekend, beautiful locations, and great white sharks. This sounds either like a movie plot or one of my worst nightmares.

And in a crazy coincidence, this summer marks the 35th anniversary of the release of Jaws. Which, if you didn’t already know, features one of the creepiest movie scenes ever, where the old fisherman, Quint, recounts the story of the USS Indianapolis. Terrifying!

via Shark Attack 2010: Feds Warn Southern California About Great Whites – TIME NewsFeed.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH – A woman bitten on the leg in the ocean near 16th Avenue South has prompted the annual summer vigilance for potential shark activity.

The 18-year-old woman was bitten about 2 p.m. Thursday in waist-deep water a few feet from shore, said Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue Capt. Thomas Wright. She was treated at Baptist Medical Center-Beaches for the minor bite wound, which was described as an outline of a small mouth with teeth.

Wright said the woman was bitten by something, but officials aren't sure it was a shark. Barracudas, bluefish and stingrays can bite or sting, he said.

“Unless it's a missing limb or something, I wouldn't necessarily call it a shark attack,” said Wright. “It's likely there is a lot of life in the water right now. The water's warming up.”

He said sharks, such as black tips and spinners, are migrating to their nursing grounds as far north as North Carolina.

Lifeguards along Jacksonville's Beaches haven't spotted large numbers of sharks recently, he said.

The incident had little impact on beachgoers. Many people were still in the water near the site after it happened Thursday. Even more people were at the beach Friday, since that was the last day of classes for many schools.

Jacksonville Beach Mayor Fland Sharp said he doesn't want to downplay any attack. But beachgoers have acclimated to the ocean's realities.

“We've had a shark attack what seems like every two or three years,” Sharp said. “There were a couple things that looked like they were shark bites and a couple things looked like it was something else.”

Sharp, a former lifeguard, said people should keep shark threats in perspective.

“If I was coming down here and felt a little uncomfortable, just walk up to a lifeguard on a chair” and ask if there are any reported shark sightings, he said. “I think the odds are much greater of being struck by lightning.”

Sharp said there are some simple rules to follow.

“In the summertime, there are pods of bait fish that come close to shore,” he said. “You definitely don't want to go swimming around those because there are sharks and other kinds of fish that are feeding around those. There are sharks here and you just have to use some common sense about it.”

Wright said it has been about four years since a shark attack in the area and that was at the Jacksonville Beach Pier off Fourth Avenue North. The woman's injuries were minor then, too. He advised swimmers to remember the ocean is the shark's habitat.

“Just know that is their home and they are out there all the time,” said Wright. “Just because you don't see fins swimming by like the movie “Jaws” doesn't mean they're not there. If you're concerned about being bit or anything, you probably shouldn't go out there.”

via Attack on woman in Jacksonville Beach waters may have been shark, raises concern | jacksonville.com.

He never got to pop the question.

Richard Butler was hiking up a North Carolina mountain with girlfriend Bethany Lott – and an engagement ring in his pocket – when lightning struck.

“God, baby, look how beautiful it is,” Lott said of the mountain vista just before the bolt hit her.

Those turned out to be her last words.

Butler, who was also hit, said “everything went black” and when he opened his eyes again “she was laying a few feet away.”

“I crawled to her,” he told the Asheville Citizen Times newspaper. “I did CPR for probably 15 minutes, and the whole time was trying her cell phone, but I couldn't get anything out.”

Later, when the paramedics arrived, a badly burned Butler used what remained of his strength to perform one last act of love.

“I put the ring on her finger while the EMTs were working on her,” he told the newspaper. “They are listing me as her fiancé in the obituaries.”

Butler, 30, and Lott, 25, both of Knoxville, Tenn., had set off for the summit of Max Patch Bald on Friday when it started to rain.

“I picked that spot because she actually said she would like to get married there,” Butler told a local TV station. “She absolutely loved the outdoors.”

And Lott was not deterred by the stormy weather.

“She hiked thousands of miles and spent a couple of years in Utah just hiking,” Butler's mother, Janet Delaney, said.

Then lightning bolts creased the sky, and one of them hit the lovebirds.

“I was spun 180 degrees and thrown several feet back,” Butler said. “My legs turned to Jell-o, my shoes were smoking, and the bottom of my feet felt like they were on fire.”

Another Knoxville couple raced over and also tried to revive the doomed hiker.

“They stood on the top of the hill doing what they could for probably 20 minutes until the rescuers got there,” said Butler, who suffered third-degree burns.

But there was no saving Lott, who was to be buried at a Tennessee cemetery on Tuesday with a view of the mountains she loved in the distance.

On his blog, Butler called himself “the luckiest man alive.”

“I was given a life with the most amazing woman in the world,” he wrote Tuesday. “I was loved more completely than I ever dreamed possible.”

Lott may be gone, the grieving would-be groom wrote, but “I have gained a constant companion in the wind.”

via Bethany Lott struck by lightning, moments before boyfriend Richard Butler was to propose.

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LINCOLNTON — A Dallas man bitten by a timber rattlesnake was flown to Carolinas Medical Center over the weekend.

Michael J. Jacobs, 32, of Dallas, was at an East Sycamore Street home in Lincolnton Friday night when he said he got an unwelcome surprise.

Jacobs opened a plastic container and was bitten by a rattler that was inside.

“I didn’t know that it was in there. If I had known it was in there, I wouldn’t have opened it,” he said from his hospital bed Monday afternoon.

Jacobs said he expects to be in the hospital a few more days but felt lucky it wasn’t worse.

“It was an unfortunate accident. I’m lucky to be alive,” he said. “Luckily I watch enough ‘Animal Planet.’”

Jacobs said he opened the container to put a lizard inside. When the snake struck, one fang sunk into Jacobs’ finger. His body quickly felt all warm inside and he knew he needed to get to the hospital. Jacobs had a friend drive him to Carolinas Medical Center-Lincoln. He was later flown by helicopter to Charlotte.

Jacobs said keeping a cool head was important and noted that he had experience with exotic animals from working at a zoo.

Jacobs said he doesn’t know who put the snake in the tub.

The venomous snake, indigenous to North Carolina, isn’t meant for captivity, according to Officer C.R. Arnold with the N.C. Wildlife Commission.

Arnold was contacted by Lincolnton Police and visited the Sycamore Street home Monday.

“I’ve got one of the snakes in the front seat of my truck right now and I’m not real comfortable with it,” he said.

Arnold drove the snake to The Schiele Museum of Natural History Monday afternoon where the snake will be kept indefinitely.

A snake and a lizard are just two of the animals Lincolnton Police Detective Jason Munday saw when he went to the home.

Munday said he saw a caiman, part of the crocodile family.

Not typically found in this region, caimans come with regulations, Arnold said.

Local police did not press any charges, but the Wildlife Commission investigation is ongoing, said Arnold.

An important lesson can come from Jacobs’ venomous encounter, according to Arnold.

“Poisonous snakes don’t make good pets, especially if they’re indigenous to North Carolina,” he said. “If they find a rattlesnake they cannot keep it. It’s not a pet. It’s a wild animal. They cannot be bought, sold or traded.”

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A 10-year-old boy drowned Saturday afternoon at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, and rescue workers at other area beaches said rip currents were the cause of several other near-drownings.

Just after 4 p.m., after a two-hour search off the beach of Fort Fisher, the U.S. Coast Guard located the boy in the surf. The boy was not conscious. He was transported to New Hanover Regional Medical Center, where a doctor pronounced him dead, said Deputy Charles Smith of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.

Lifeguards at Fort Fisher reported about 2 p.m. that three swimmers were in distress. The lifeguards rescued two adults who were swimming with the boy, but the boy was missing in the water, Smith said.

The search included officials with the Coast Guard, the sheriff’s office and a number of local police and rescue units. The Wilmington Police Department’s SABLE helicopter flew overhead and there were at least three search boats in the waters.

Coast Guard members located the boy’s body from a helicopter and sent a diver into the water to retrieve him. After bringing the boy to shore, rescue workers tried to revive him while family members sat in a circle on the beach, just in front of the rescue vehicle, in prayer.

Hundreds of bystanders at the state park huddled while they watched the rescue. Officials made sure people didn’t enter the water while the search was under way.

Smith said the boy’s parents were taken to the hospital. Officials were withholding the boy’s name pending notification of other family members.

Near-drownings and ocean rescues were reported at other New Hanover County beaches.

Cpl. Simon Sanders, of Carolina Beach Ocean Rescue, said one woman was transported to the hospital at about 5 p.m. after she was rescued from a rip current near the Oystershell Lane beach access. He said the woman had a pulse, but he did not have information about her condition.

He said lifeguards on duty were flying red flags to signal rip current danger and advise swimmers to use caution.

Kure Beach Ocean Rescue director Tom Cannon said lifeguards had rescued a handful of swimmers caught in rip currents Saturday, but he said none of the rescued individuals had serious injuries.

At the beginning of the tourist season, budget cuts had forced Fort Fisher to eliminate its lifeguards.

But in one rough weekend, Kure Beach lifeguards repeatedly responded to emergencies at Fort Fisher, Some eventually remained stationed at Fort Fisher.

But that left Kure Beach understaffed, so town officials and concerned residents lobbied state legislators to put lifeguards back on Fort Fisher, and on June 6, the lifeguards returned.

Earlier this season, an Ohio woman died after being caught in a rip current at Kure Beach.

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A Pittsburgh man whose body washed up along North Carolina’s Outer Banks after he went for a late-night swim died from shark bites, a medical examiner determined Friday.

It was the first reported shark attack in the region in more than eight years.

The body of Richard A. Snead, 60, was discovered Thursday morning near the 1300 block of N. Virginia Dare Trail in Kill Devil Hills by a tourist who was taking a walk, police said.

Shark bites killed Snead, the regional medical examiner’s office in Greenville, N.C., said Friday.

Snead suffered extensive injuries and there is no question that a shark attack caused his death, an autopsy assistant at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University said.

“Living tissues look different when they receive an injury, versus tissues that are already dead,” she said.

Officials had not determined what type of shark might have attacked Snead, who was on vacation with his family when he went for a swim sometime after 9 p.m. off Corolla, about 30 miles north of Kill Devil Hills.

His family reported him missing about 12:45 a.m. Sunday. Red flags had been posted Saturday warning people to stay out of the water because of dangerous surf.

It is likely Snead was attacked near the area where he went swimming, said Lt. Jason Banks of the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office, and the current carried his body south.

Swimmers were warned Friday to be alert, “and to be aware that this incident occurred while the person was swimming at night,” a sheriff’s statement said. Snead had gone into the water at mile post 4-1/2; the mile posts are measured beginning at the Currituck County-Dare County line.

“I haven’t heard of any (shark) sightings, but I haven’t checked with any other jurisdictions,” Currituck County Sheriff Susan Johnson said. The drowning of a 12-year-old boy late last month did not appear to be shark-related, she added.

Johnson said she couldn’t recall any recent shark bites.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported  that a woman who answered the phone Friday at the Snead residence and identified herself only as Snead’s wife said he worked as an engineer and that he is survived by two grown children and one grandchild.

“He was a good man,” she said. “He was a good father.”

Last year, 41 shark attacks were recorded in the United States. One was fatal, said Maylon White, the director of exhibits and animal husbandry at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach.

“Shark attacks are really a fairly rare event when you consider how many people… go swimming,” he said. “There’s very little chance of something like this, as tragic as it is, happening to an individual.”

For safety, swimmers should not swim alone and should avoid swimming at twilight or at night, he said. That’s when sharks look for food.

“They don’t look to humans for food, but if we happen to get in the way, then we suffer the consequences.”

The last reported shark attacks in Virginia or the Outer Banks were in September 2001, when two people were killed and a third was hurt.

On Sept. 1, 2001, David Peltier, 10, was surfing with his family at Sandbridge in Virginia Beach when a shark bite severed an artery and he died. It was the first fatality recorded by a shark attack in Virginia and the first that year in the United States.

Experts said David could have been bitten by a bull shark because of the location and time of year that the attack occurred.

Two days after David’s death, Sergei Zaloukaev, 28, was swimming with his girlfriend off Avon, N.C., when they were attacked by a shark. Zaloukaev was killed, but Natalia Slobodskaya survived.

Experts said the couple could have been bitten by a tiger shark or bull shark.

The attacks set off a wave of shark hysteria. But in 2002, a study released by University of Florida researchers showed that attacks in 2001 actually decreased from the year before.

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Matthew Glomb had been looking forward to spending time with his son this week on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

But the father-son trip ended tragically Monday evening when Glomb was struck by lightning while jogging along the beach near his retirement home. Rescue officials in Southern Shores, N.C., said he was killed instantly.

Glomb’s Lake Ridge neighbor and good friend of nearly 30 years, Joe Malinowski, said Glomb spent a lot of time at the beach, and was excited for the family getaway.

The retired Coast Guard officer and attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, along with his wife Lucy, son Alex and daughter Emily, had been at the beach house for about a week.

Lucy Glomb and their daughter had just returned home Monday night to drop off one of Emily’s friends and pick up another before heading back down. Alex, along with some of his college pals, stayed at the beach.

It was going to be the last family trip this summer before Alex returned to James Madison University this fall for his junior year of college and Emily headed back to class at Woodbridge High School, neighbors said.

When Lucy Glomb heard the news about her husband’s death, she called many of her close knit neighbors, including Malinowski.

“She said ‘I wouldn’t want you to hear about this from anyone else,’ and she called all of us last night,” he said.

Glomb was remembered Tuesday as not only a consummate career and family man, but also a man of the church. He was an auxiliary pastor at Old Bridge United Methodist Church in Lake Ridge.

Pastor Burton Robinson said he was one of the top members in his church.

“He led a mission trip to North Carolina for at least six or seven years, he worked with youth … did a whole lot of different things and did a whole lot for the church,” said Burton.

Malinowski said his latest youth mission trip, in North Carolina somewhere off of Interstate 95, was to install a handicapped ramp at a home of a disabled person.

Mary Jane McQuade, who lives next to the Glombs, remembered the holiday block parties the family helped organize three times a year. She said his passing is made even sadder because Thursday would have marked the couple’s 26th wedding anniversary.

She also received a call Monday night from Lucy Glomb.

“The first words out of her mouth were ‘isn’t it a shame this happened to Mister Safety?’” said McQuade.

She said Matthew Glomb always saw to it that everyone had a good time while ensuring they stayed as safe as possible.

McQuade held a copy of the “Cruel Sea” in her hands, a book Glomb gave to her son. Inside the front cover was an inscription that read, “Stay close to your parents … while not salty, they’re worth their salt.”

Malinowski said he’s also received an inspirational note from Glomb.

“The Vietnam War kind of got in the way of me graduating from college in 1969, but 30 years later I got my degree in 1996 and he sent me a note that said ‘your work matters to God.’ That was just the kind of person he was,” said Malinowski.

Last summer, another lightning strike claimed the life of a 23-year-old Woodbridge woman jogging along the oceanfront in Virginia Beach.

The woman was vacationing at the resort town after graduating from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.

Officials said there had also been severe weather in the area when the woman was killed.

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HATTERAS VILLAGE, N.C. — A Springboro man has died while saving his children from a rip current off the North Carolina coast.

Robert Cook, 43, was pronounced dead after he was found in the water about 75 feet from shore just after 5 p.m. Saturday.

Cook was with his children and a friend finishing a vacation at the north end of Hatteras Village, Cyndy Holda, a spokeswoman for Cape Hatteras National Seashore, told the Virginian News-Pilot.

Cook’s children and his friend’s child were having trouble swimming, so Cook and his friend were bringing them in to the beach, she said.

When they went back for the last child, Cook became tired and couldn’t make it back to the shore, Holda said.

Rescue crews found Cook a short time later while conducting a grid search of the water, but could not resuscitate him.

Officials said red flags were posted at the time due to rough water conditions.

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KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. – Officials believe a lightning strike caused a man’s death in the Outer Banks.

The Southern Shores Fire Chief told WAVY.com they received a call around 5:30 p.m. for a body on the beach. Chief Harvey says the body was found near Mockingbird Lane.

He says he is “reasonably certain” a lightning strike is to blame.

The male victim did not have ID on him, but Chief Harvey says investigators found his vehicle near by. They believe he is in his late 40s and from Northern Virginia.

Neighbors described a wave of thunderstorms with lots of lightning and heavy rain.

The incident has been turned over to the Southern Shores Police Department.

In Suffolk, three lanes of eastbound Rt. 58, in the area of the scales, were closed due to a downed tree. Two lanes have since reopened.

The National Weather Service reported a tree down at the corner of Suffolk Meadows Boulevard and Baron Boulevard in Suffolk.

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Holden Beach | The first shark attack in the Cape Fear region since July 2007 occurred Wednesday afternoon at Holden Beach, police said.

A shark bit Julia Anne Mittleberg, 26, of Morton, Ill., about 3 p.m. while she was in 3 to 4 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean near the 400 block of Ocean Boulevard West, Holden Beach police said.

Mittleberg told emergency responders that she felt something bite her left foot when she was in the water. She was taken to the Brunswick County Community Hospital in Supply.

Police said a spokesperson from the hospital confirmed that Mittleberg is in good condition.

Shark attacks are not common and the most recent attack in the area in 2007 occurred at North Topsail Beach when a 14-year-old boy sustained minor injuries from a shark bite.

“We regret that this unfortunate incident occurred in Holden Beach, but consider it an isolated, chance occurrence.” a press release from the Holden Beach Police Department said.

For ways to minimize chances of shark bites in coastal waters, visit MyReporter.com and enter “shark” in the search field, or go directly to http://www.myreporter.com/?p=2254.

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Carolina Beach | A man who lifeguards pulled from a rip current at Carolina Beach late last month died at an area hospital this week, according to his family.

David Weaver, 41, of Leland was brought to shore June 27. Though he wasn’t breathing, he was revived on the way to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, officials have said.

But family members say Weaver remained on life support after the rescue attempt.

On Wednesday, the family took him off life-support to see if he would survive, said Debbie Ward, Weaver’s sister-in-law. He died soon after.

The death is the third drowning to occur this season at New Hanover County beaches, and the second at Carolina Beach.

Earlier this summer, authorities said high winds had cut deep troughs in the sand just off shore at the area’s east-facing beaches.

Those areas between the shore and sandbars are conducive to the formation of rip currents, officials have said.

Weaver’s emergency and the prior drowning at Carolina Beach this year occurred near the Hamlet beach access, officials said. In May, a 19-year-old man from Fayetteville disappeared in the water there. His body was found days later. Then in June, a woman from Ohio drowned at Kure Beach after she was pulled from a rip current.

The emergency

Weaver’s emergency occurred around 7 p.m. on a Saturday, while the beach was crowded with swimmers, according to Weaver’s wife Sandy.

Authorities said lifeguards had recently finished their shift but were still in the area. Sandy said the family did not see any flags indicating the surf conditions, and said the flags, which could serve as a warning, should remain even after lifeguards leave.

Sandy says Weaver went into the water to help his 13-year-old daughter Amanda, and Kesha Davis, a 27-year-old family friend, who was swimming with her. Both were caught in a rip current. But Weaver never made it to them, Sandy said. Instead the current took him in a different direction.

Davis said trouble began when she and Amanda were in waist-deep water. “We were not far out,” she said. “One minute we could touch the bottom of the ocean, the next minute we couldn’t.”

Davis and Amanda eventually made it back toward the beach, where Sandy helped them ashore. Lifeguards brought Weaver to shore, started CPR and handed him off to EMS workers who took him to the hospital.

Ward, Weaver’s sister-in-law, remembered Weaver as fun and friendly. After a burn-injury, which family members say he sustained while painting streets, Weaver passed his time as a stay-at-home dad.

Sandy said he lived for their three children – Michael, Megan and Amanda – who are between the ages of 11 and 13.

His funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday at Andrews Mortuary, with burial to follow at Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Authorities have said anyone caught in a rip current shouldn’t fight it. Instead, swim parallel to the shore until you can get out of the current. Swimmers should swim near lifeguards, officials say, and signal to them if they get in trouble.

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Woman dies after being caught in Kure Beach rip current

KURE BEACH | An Ohio woman vacationing at Kure Beach died Monday after being pulled from a rip current on Saturday, officials said.

New Hanover County Medical Examiner Dr. Dennis Nicks said he learned of the death Monday. He did not have the woman’s name available when reached at his home Monday night.

Kure Beach police and ocean rescue have said the woman, her husband and a 16-year-old boy were pulled from a large rip current around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Once on shore, the boy was fine, but the couple was rushed to New Hanover Regional Medical Center. By Sunday, authorities said the man had been released from New Hanover but the woman remained in critical condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

The couple who are in their 40s, were vacationing from Ohio, officials have said.

On Monday, Kure Beach Fire Chief Harold Heglar said the drowning was the first on a guarded stretch of Kure Beach in probably 20 years.

“It was a huge rip current, as big as I’ve ever seen,” Heglar said.

It took five lifeguards to get the woman, her husband and the boy out of the water, Heglar said. Lifeguards worked together to pull the swimmers in, Kure Beach Ocean Rescue Director Tom Cannon has said.

After bringing the couple on shore, lifeguards began CPR, which was continued by EMS workers, Cannon said.

Lifeguards at Kure and Carolina beaches flew red flags to warn swimmers of dangerous surf conditions.

Cannon asked people with questions about swimming to check with lifeguards. If you are caught in a rip current, the key is not to panic, he said. Rather than fight against the current, swimmers should swim parallel to the shore. If a current carries someone far out, lifeguards will swim to them, Cannon said, so swimmers should save their energy and not fight the rip current.

Related Links:

• Drowning victim’s spouse praises Kure Beach staff
• Body of missing swimmer found Thursday morning in Carolina Beach
• Missing swimmer is presumed drowned at Carolina Beach
• Beach hazard – Lifeguards rescue dozens during weekend
• Missing man last seen in waters off Carolina Beach
• Follow these safety rules, tips for a fun summer in the sun
• Ocean Safety | Video
• Carolina Beach Rescue | Video
• Coast Guard improves boat location system
• Swimmer taken to hospital after rescue by lifeguards at Carolina Beach
• Beach life comes with rules, regulations

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Woman injured by mother bear

BLACK MOUNTAIN — More people moving into the mountains are learning to live with an increasing number of bears as neighbors – and for good reason.

Encounters between humans and bears have exploded in a little more than a decade, though few have been like the altercation near Black Mountain where a bear protecting her cubs swatted a woman protecting her dog.

“You can’t have a low-hanging bird feeder or a trash can out on the street. We have trash containers that we have to chain up,” said Lyons Williams, whose Great Aspen Lane neighbor was hit by the bear.

“We’ve had bears break into houses to steal food,” Williams said.

Neighbor Gaynell Lumsden was in her garage near the Asheville watershed when the bear and cubs entered her yard about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Lumsden’s Maltese – weighing about 15 pounds – went after the bears, and she was struck trying to get the dog out of the way. Lumsden was treated at Mission Hospital and released late Sunday.

She could not be reached Monday. Her dog, also slapped by the bear, did not suffer major injuries.

“I would not call it a bear attack, but a bear incident,” said Mike Carraway, a wildlife biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

“It was just a mother bear defending her cubs,” Carraway said. “If it had been the bear taking aggressive action, the injuries would have been much more serious.”

Authorities in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and areas west recorded 13 bear complaints or sightings in 1993. Sightings peaked at 397 in 2005, while 302 bear incidents were reported last year.

Mother bears are not necessarily more dangerous than others, but they can be more aggressive when their cubs are small at this time of year.

“Later in the summer, when the cubs can run faster and climb, the mothers won’t be so protective,” Carraway said.

Bears also react instinctively to dogs, even small ones barking at them. “Dogs and bears don’t mix well,” he said.

Bear sightings so far in 2009 have been fairly normal, Carraway said.

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Lightning suspected in Fairview man’s death

FAIRVIEW — A Fairview man died Monday after being struck by lightning.

Donald Michael Lynch, 65, of 1872 Charlotte Highway, was killed in a field near his home during a strong thunderstorm, investigators said.

The incident happened at about 6 p.m. on U.S. 74 near Smith Farms in Fairview, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Ross Dillingham said.

Lynch had been working clearing some brush on his property and was reported missing by his family when family members couldn’t locate him, Dillingham said. He was found dead in a field near his home.

Dillingham said “some evidence at the scene” led investigators to suspect a lightning strike, but he wouldn’t elaborate. A medical examiner at Mission Hospital later confirmed Lynch died from being struck by lightning, Dillingham said.

The storm began sometime shortly after 4:30 p.m. and lasted until about 6:30 p.m., said Fairview Fire Department Chief Scott Jones, among rescue personnel who responded to the fatality.

“We took a terrible storm out here,” Jones said. “There was lightning every 10 seconds.”

The storm dumped more than 2 inches of rain on the Fairview area, according to the National Weather Service. Another storm cell in the Fletcher area also produced 2-3 inches of rain at about the same time.

More scattered strong storms are possible this afternoon and every day this week, according to the Weather Service. Most of the severe weather will occur in the afternoon and evening hours.

Some lightning safety tips from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to remember:

- Use the 30-30 Rule. If the time between lightning and thunder is 30 seconds or less, go to a safer location. Wait at least 30 minutes after hearing the last thunder before resuming activities.

- The top locations for lightning causalities are open fields, high ground, under trees (or other tall, isolated objects), on the water, golf courses, and open vehicles Avoid these during a storm.

- Where possible, find shelter in a substantial building or in a fully enclosed metal vehicle. Canopies and picnic shelters are not safe enough.

- Inside, avoid using regular telephones. If lightning hits the telephone lines, it could flow to the phone. Turn off electrical appliances and avoid using plumbing.

- If your skin tingles or your hair stands on the end, a lightning strike may be about to happen. Crouch down on the balls of your feet with your feet close together. Do not lie down.

- Lightning first-aid: Call 911. Move victim to safe location. If unconscious, perform CPR or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Don’t worry about touching a lightning victim — they no longer carry a charge.

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Search suspended for missing 19-year-old from Fayetteville

The Coast Guard suspended the search for a missing Fayetteville man, who was last seen swimming off Carolina Beach on Saturday afternoon.

Angel Gonzalez, 19, was swimming with his brother when he was swept away by a riptide, said Lt. j.g. Scott Hembrook, a spokesman for the Coast Guard.

Lifeguards, police, fire departments and Coast Guard officials searched for the man day and night, Hembrook said.

Boats, helicopters and other aircraft were used in the search, Hembrook said.

The Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday at 3:48 p.m., but it could be resumed if more clues are found, Hembrook said.

Local officials will continue to look for the missing man, however.

Hembrook said some swimmers panic when caught in a riptide, which is a strong flow of water near the shore that pulls swimmers seaward.

Hembrook said it’s important to relax, because panicking can cause you to swallow water and drown.

“They should relax. It’s going to let you go,” he said. “Just let it take you until it spits you out.”

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This gator is out of its normal range.

Alligator spotted again in Lake Hickory

A resident at Lake Hickory snapped these photos of a 4-feet-long alligator. (Photo by Len Mendat / via WCNC)

GRANITE FALLS, N.C. — It’s green, has four legs, as many as 80 teeth and now calls Lake Hickory home. An alligator measuring about 4-feet long was photographed at the lake by a neighbor.

“It was right next to my backyard,” said Len Mendat, who rushed inside his house to get a camera.

The gator climbed up a log, floating along what locals call Gun Powder Cove.

“It scared me,” said neighbor Barbara Benfer. “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness. Our cove has been taken over by this big alligator.’”

Other neighbors photographed a smaller gator last year at the lake. These reptiles do not belong in this part of the Carolinas.

“People get these things as pets,” said Brad Howard, a biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Commission. “They think they’re cool. They get them when they are about 12-inches long and then they get bigger and they dump them.”

Howard couldn’t say for sure that the latest gator citing in Lake Hickory is not the same gator from last year.

“But it’s pretty unlikely,” he said. “The big question is, if it’s the same gator from last year, where has it been for the last 10 months?”

The wildlife commission refuses to capture gators, saying they don’t pose an immediate threat.

“Almost all of the alligator attacks in their native range occur when people have been feeding an alligator and they associate that area with someone throwing them some food,” said Howard.

Wildlife officers say that relocating the reptile could spread disease to other animals.

We asked Howard if he would allow his children to jump into the water knowing there’s an alligator in the lake.

“Oh, yeah,” he responded. “Certainly people swim in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, all those states and those are big alligators down there.”

That’s not what neighbors around Lake Hickory wanted to hear.

“I would love to see it removed,” said Benfer. “(I) don’t even feel comfortable sitting on my own dock anymore, dangling my feet in the water.”

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Two Hospitalized After Dogs Attack in High Point

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Two people were taken to the hospital Wednesday after their own dogs attacked them in their yard, police said.

One of the owners was badly hurt and was being treated late Wednesday afternoon at High Point Regional Hospital, High Point Police Lt. Steve Myers said. The other had minor wounds, said Myers.

Neighbors said they saw several dogs attacking their owners behind the owners’ house on Flint Ave, where a sign reads “Warning: Guard Dogs.”

Police said two dogs were involved in the attacks.

“I was just sitting here (and) all of a sudden, I hear somebody holler,” said neighbor James Owens. “She’s laying down behind the house with three or four dogs on her.”

“I walked outside and I walked up there to that house, and she was saying ‘Help me.’ She had blood down her legs,” said another neighbor Amanda Biddix.

Biddix said the dogs were out of control.

“The dog came after me and my cousin. She fell on the ground and like six dogs jumped on top of her, biting her stomach. Two of them had the back of her neck. They had her hand … shaking it and everything,” she said.

Police described the dogs as mixed-breed.

“Animal control officers took both the dogs that were involved,” said Myers. “They have been taken for the rabies observation period.”

Police said they had been called to the same house about a month again in reference to a dog bite.

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This reminds me of Back to the Future.

Bell tower was struck by lightning

BY MARTHA QUILLIN - STAFF WRITER

Published: Wed, May. 06, 2009 12:14PM

Modified Wed, May. 06, 2009 12:48PM

The storm that rolled through Raleigh on Tuesday evening sent a bolt of lightning that struck the southeast corner of the N.C. State University bell tower, knocking loose a football-sized piece of granite and sending a shower of fragments to the ground.

Campus Police Chief Tom Younce said officers roped off the base of the 115-foot tower to prevent passersby from being hit by falling debris, until repairs can be made.

NCSU graduate student Matthew Robbins, who has advocated the installation of bells in the tower to replace the amplified chimes that now play through speakers in the belfry, lives in an apartment 100 feet away and was on the porch with friends when the tower was hit. Robbins said there was a flash of light and a loud crash just before 7 p.m., and that he and his friends smelled something like an electrical fire.

A file photo of the N.C. State Memorial Bell Tower

When the rain stopped, they went out to see what had happened. The clock on the bell tower was stopped at 6:55 p.m., and the tower was dark.

“The weird thing was the chimes were not affected because they’re in another building, so they continued to ring,” Robbins said. “The lights were out, the clock was out and it was really foggy, so you couldn’t see it, but you could hear it. It was really eerie.”

The clock was reset this morning after power was restored.

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Severe storms flood Charlotte; flood threat continues

By David Perlmutt, Cleve R. Wootson Jr., and Steve Lyttle
dperlmutt@charlotteobserver.com / cwootson@charlotteobserver.com / slyttle@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Tuesday, May. 05, 2009

A series of thunderstorms triggered flooding in parts of east, central and southeast Charlotte on Tuesday evening, forcing the rescue of dozens of people from cars and homes in high waters.

The storms, which struck the Charlotte area during the height of the evening commute, also produced scattered reports of wind damage, including an unconfirmed report of a tornado in the Matthews-Mint Hill area.

Firefighters have used boats this evening to rescue stranded motorists and residents, and Charlotte officials have called in extra help to deal with flash flooding across the city.

A flood warning is in effect for central and eastern Mecklenburg County this evening.

The flooding washed out a portion of East Independence Boulevard near Briar Creek, and the inbound lanes remained closed at 10:15 p.m. Crews are trying to repair the road tonight, before the morning commute.

In addition, much of Freedom Park was under water at 10 p.m., as the Briar Creek poured over its banks.

The area remains under a tornado watch until midnight, although meteorologist Melissa Hurlbut at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said the storms have been weakening over the last hour or so.

“Little rotation and supercell structure has been observed recently,” Hurlbut said, adding that the loss of daytime heating is causing the storms to weaken.

However, new showers and storms continue to form this evening in the Greenville-Spartanburg area and move toward Charlotte. While those storms lack the power of the severe weather which hit the area earlier, they will dump more rain on already-soggy ground.

More than 2 inches of rain fell in two hours this evening at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, and Doppler radar estimates indicate that between 3 and 4 inches might have fallen in east Charlotte, Matthews and Mint Hill.

An automated weather gauge in the Annecy neighborhood near Sam Newell and Rice roads in Matthews measured rainfall coming down at a pace of 3 inches per hour at 6 p.m. — moments before the storm knocked out power to the weather station.

Thousands of Duke Energy customers in Mecklenburg County lost power, but electricity had been restored to all but 2,000 customers by 9:30 p.m.

Additional severe weather is possible late Wednesday, forecasters say.

Capt. Mark Basnight of the Charlotte Fire Department said there were more than 70 flood-related incidents, with firefighters making about 50 rescues.

A number of people have been forced to flee their homes because of high water, including residents at the Doral Apartments on Monroe Road. The American Red Cross opened a shelter at East Mecklenburg High at 9 p.m. for anyone displaced by the storm.

The storms moved into the Charlotte area about 4:45 p.m. and intensified over the city. At 6:10 p.m., there were unconfirmed reports of a tornado touchdown near Interstate 485 between Matthews and Mint Hill.

The National Weather Service also reported several trees blown down at Thompson and Idlewild roads, along the Matthews-Mint Hill line.

While vivid lightning and gusty winds hit parts of the area, the heavy rain caused the biggest troubles. By 6:30 p.m., two to three inches had fallen in some areas and Charlotte firefighters began rescuing people trapped in cars or homes by high water.

Firefighters rescued more than a dozen people. Most calls were for motorists trapped in rising waters on major thoroughfares, but firefighters were also being called out to houses with power lines on them. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

East Independence Boulevard’s inbound lanes were closed for a time this evening at Albemarle Road, because the Briar Creek overflowed and flooded the roadway. Reports from crews dealing with the flooding indicated that several feet of water were on Independence Boulevard at one point.

Fire officials, who were bringing in additional resources from outlying parts of the city and from neighboring cities, encouraged people to stay home until the storm had passed. They asked residents to call 911 only if they have a life-threatening emergency, and be ready with information about the location and any injuries.

The first flooding calls came in around 5:20 in areas just west of uptown Charlotte, according to Capt. Rob Brisley, spokesman for the Charlotte Fire Department.

“As the system has moved from west to east,” Brisley said, “so did the calls for service.”

At the height of the storm, a motorist was trapped in a car at Buick Drive and Electra Lane. At least two people were trapped in a car on East Independence Boulevard near North Wendover Road. And a house had flooded on the 800 block of Crater Street, according to the Charlotte Fire Department.

The fire department was also pulling people from the water at Randolph and Wendover Roads, on Villa Court and near Third Street and Caswell.

“We’re asking people to get off the road and stay off the road now,” said fire department spokesman Capt. Mark Basnight.

Flooding was happening all over the city, but concentrated on Freedom Drive and Independence Boulevard near the end of rush hour.

Flooding has closed North Tryon Street near East 16th Street. Freedom Drive at Thrift Road and 9th Street between College and Brevard streets were also flooded, the Charlotte Fire Department is reporting.

The storms developed what meteorologists call a “training” process. That means thunderstorms continued to form and follow the same path. A weak and stalled frontal system across the Piedmont provided a focus for the thunderstorm develop.

Larry Gabric, chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C., said the storms in Charlotte were training. “It’s just an east-west line through the city,” he said.

This trend of afternoon thunderstorms is expected to continue Wednesday and Friday — with a quiet Thursday forecast.

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National Weather Service Confirms Tornado Touchdown Near Mayodan

Mayodan, NC — The National Weather Service out of Blacksburg, VA has confirmed storm damage in Rockingham County was due to a tornado.

NWS says the EF-0 tornado touched down two miles north of Mayodan between 8:38 and 8:40 pm on Sunday evening.

The EF-0 had estimated wind speeds of up to 75mph with a path width of about 20 yards. The tornado was estimated to have been on the ground for about 1.3 miles.

NWS confirms earlier reports that the tornado was on the ground near Manuel Road at the intersection of Brewer Road and Ledbetter Road.

The storm downed numerous trees, caused significant damage to one barn, and some spotty roof damage to homes in the area. 

“It was like a loud stick of dynamite,” explained Frank Miller, describing the sounds outside his home Sunday night. The severe weather destroyed his barn. “That’s a whole lot of

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Tornado sweeps across Triad-area towns

By: Stephanie Stilwell

MAYODAN, N.C. – The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down during a severe storm in the Triad Sunday evening.

The Mayodan and Stoneville areas of Rockingham County appear to have been hit the hardest, leaving behind some structural damage and downed trees.

Frank Miller sought cover at about 9 p.m. after he said he heard a “freight train coming through the house.” After he emerged Sunday night, he found some of his property had been damaged by the tornado.

“I have a total loss to my barn down here, tore a bunch of stuff off into my house over here, tore the top off of this old house and threw limbs into it,” Miller said. “All these trees is broke all to pieces.”

Miller said he thinks he’s looking at about $100,000 worth of damage.

Northwest Rockingham Fire Chief Jimmy Lawrence said his crews worked to clear the debris and downed trees from the roads during the night.

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Copperhead Snake Bites Student On School Camping Trip

According to one of the commenters, who appears to be an aunt of the victim, “He cannot bear any weight on his leg without a great deal of pain still, so if any of you folks out there could find it in your heart to perhaps say a little prayer for him, Jacob and our entire family would be so grateful!” Good thing he’ll be all right eventually!

Greensboro, NC– Nine year old Jacob has a ‘snake’ of a tale to share with classmates when he returns to his school next week.

Jacob was bit by a Copperhead snake while on an overnight camping trip. He was with other students and staff from Elon Elementary schoolwhen the incident happened.

The group spent the night in Harp’s Park Thursday and Jacob was bitten Friday morning when he was walking. “My foot sunk into a hole and I was trying to get away but the snake jumped up and bit me,” said Jacob.

His mom and twin brother Joseph are with him at a local hospital while he recovers. The twins will turn 10 on Monday.

Jacob admits the bite is a lesson he’ll never forget, and a warning he wants to share with his brother and friends: “Watch the ground for holes,” he says. Because there could be snakes in there.

North Carolina is home to 37 different species of snakes, but only six are venomous.

While it’s unlikely a dangerous snake will bite you, because of the numbers the Copperhead is the greatest potential danger.

Here’s advice from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension:

Venomous snakes have a large triangular head, and vertically elliptical pupils, like cat eyes. They also have long fangs.

If you are bitten by a venomous snake, the bite will look like two puncture marks. You should seek medical attention immediately.

A non-venomous snake bite will look like a horseshoe of tiny scratches. You should wash it with soap and water.

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Feeding ‘Gators Illegal, Dangerous

CAROLYN RICKARD
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
NC WILDLIFE RESOURCES
Published: April 28, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. (April 28) – The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is reminding residents and visitors that feeding alligators is not only dangerous, but also illegal.

As the weather warms, Wildlife officials receive more reports of people seeing – and feeding – alligators. The American Alligator is listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and, under North Carolina law, it is illegal to feed them in the wild.

In addition, feeding these animals can cause them to lose their fear of people, making them more likely to approach and possibly attack. 

For more information on the American Alligator, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s fact sheet. For information on threatened and endangered species in North Carolina, visit http://www.ncwildlife.org.

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Sinkhole closes Gastonia road to through traffic

April 27, 2009 – 6:48 PM

Kevin Ellis

A sinkhole has required the emergency closure of Washington Street to all traffic between Franklin Boulevard and Overman Avenue, the city of Gastonia reported Monday.

The street, located west of U.S. 321, will remain closed until the cause of the sinkhole is determined and a plan to repair is developed and executed, according to a city release.

The majority of the traffic utilizing Washington Street is local traffic; therefore, no signed detour will be implemented at this time.  Access to adjacent properties will be available.

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Canine attacks, injures teen

By Richelle Bailey | The McDowell News

Published: April 27, 2009

A Buncombe County teen told local authorities he was attacked by a coyote in the woods off Mill Creek Road Sunday. Animal Control officers say he suffered extensive injuries from some sort of canine, but it’s unlikely it was a coyote.
Simon Joseph Sexton, 17, and a friend were scouting for places to turkey hunt around 5 p.m. They had walked two-tenths of a mile into the woods close to the first pull-off on the left coming from Ridgecrest, according to McDowell County Animal Control Sgt. Brian Walker.
Sexton got ahead of his friend and out of sight. A canine jumped toward the teen and went for Sexton’s throat and then his groin area, Walker stated. Sexton’s friend heard the commotion and came running, which, in turn, scared the animal off.
“The victim said it was a big coyote, about a hundred pounds. His friend said it looked like a German shepherd mix,” said the sergeant.
Monday, Walker, Animal Control Cpl. Frank Holder and Sexton’s father, Rodney, went back to the area of Mill Creek where the attack occurred to search for any signs of the animal.
“We found the tracks of a canine, but this animal would only weigh about 50 pounds,” Walker stated. “Generally, a coyote that weighs 35 to 40 pounds is considered a big coyote. Based on the tracks we found, we think the animal might have been a hybrid or a domesticated dog that someone turned loose that is now feral. … More than likely, it was probably a female that had pups nearby and felt threatened because they usually don’t want to be around people.”
The sergeant said that Sexton’s friend carried the 17-year-old out of the woods. He was taken to an Asheville hospital, where his wounds were stitched and he was started on rabies vaccines and was released.
Walker advised anyone walking in the woods to be aware of their surroundings and carry a stick.
“It might not protect you against everything, but it’s better than nothing,” he stated. “Also, go with someone if possible. If you’re going by yourself, let someone know when you will be out so if you’re not back on time they can call for help.”

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Progress made, but ‘this fire is not done’

BY TONY BARTELME (CONTACT), WARREN WISE (CONTACT)

The Post and Courier

Saturday, April 25, 2009

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH — A ferocious wildfire that has scorched nearly 20,000 acres and caused at least $16 million in damage here began in the backyard of a home eight miles inland — and a world away from the resort homes hit hardest by the flames.

The yard belongs to Mark Torchi and Megan Brogan, and Friday afternoon, with the woods still smoldering around her home, Brogan told The Post and Courier that people shouldn’t blame them for what happened.

The roots of this week’s wildfire — the worst South Carolina has seen in three decades, destroying 69 homes — actually began last Saturday, she and fire officials said. Brogan said her husband built a trash fire behind their home that day.

“Yes, the only thing we did wrong was that we didn’t get a burn permit, but that happens all the time in the country.” When the fire accidentally got into the woods, she said she immediately called 911. “We called 911 and they were supposed to put out the fire. That’s what we pay our taxes for.”

Firefighters with Horry County Fire and Rescue responded quickly, but she felt they could have done more to prevent the fire from reigniting. “I totally blame the Horry County Fire Department because they could have soaked up the whole woods around here,” she said, pointing to a hydrant in front of her home. “But they never used that hydrant.”

Horry County firefighters who responded last Saturday to Woodlawn Drive thought they had put out the fire until it flared up with high winds and dry conditions Wednesday.

“Nothing was happening that anybody noticed. We responded on Wednesday with the firefighters when we learned it was spreading,” said Russell Hubright of the state Forestry Commission, who is based in Columbia. “In fairness to these guys (Horry County firefighters), they put out hundreds of these fires every year. Why this one rekindled is a little bit of a mystery.”

On Wednesday, high winds hit the area, and the fire behind her house quickly spread to the woods and the rest of her neighborhood, a mix of mobile homes and modest vinyl-sided houses.

Fire spreads

From her backyard, the fire traveled more than 10 miles in two days, consuming 31 square miles of forest and subdivisions, an area roughly three times the size of the Charleston peninsula. The fire traveled as far east as Barefoot Resort and Grande Dunes golf club, which at one point used sprinklers to prevent the links from going up in smoke, officials said.

Paul Whitman, Horry County’s Director of Public Safety, said low winds and a temperature inversion early Friday morning helped keep the fire tamped down, though at times visibility from the heavy smoke made it impossible to see your hand in front of your face. Despite the scale and intensity of the fire, no serious injuries or fatalities had been reported.

Whitman said emergency crews used NASA satellite images to pinpoint hotspots and help them decide where to dispatch crews and helicopters. More than 450 firefighters from 33 agencies across South Carolina and North Carolina, including crews from North Charleston, Charleston, Isle of Palms and Summerville, were on the scene Friday. More than 30 volunteers helped evacuate several dozen horses and other animals.

Whitman said he was worried that coastal winds and higher temperatures would push the fire from the Lewis Bay Ocean Heritage Preserve, an unpopulated area on the outskirts of North Myrtle Beach, to the Poplar and Wampee communities, where several thousand people live. “This fire is not done,” he said. “We have several days to go.”

But Friday afternoon, as ash drifted into North Carolina, officials were becoming more optimistic about getting the fire under control.

‘Tornado and a fire’

Officials said late Friday that firefighters had the wildfire had been 80 percent contained after ridding the area of underbrush that serves as fuel.

Breezes were keeping the fire inland, still away from the main tourist areas.

Crews continued to plow firebreaks into critical areas and burn underbrush and trees ahead of the blaze to rob its fuel. They hoped the winds would stay calm into this morning, said state Forestry Commission spokeswoman Holly Welch.

Still, winds were expected to increase after sunrise and the fire remained dangerous.

“If just one ember gets out in front of a firebreak, this thingcould flare back up quickly,” Welch said.

Pete Rogers of Awendaw, a public information officer for the Lowcountry Incident Management Team, said his crew was told it could go back home to Charleston. “If you are going home, that means there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Gov. Mark Sanford flew over fire area Friday and then visited the North Myrtle Beach neighborhood where dozens of homes were destroyed. Later, at a press briefing in Conway, he said half of the wildfire was under control, but that “the storm is not over.” He said the blaze had caused $16 million in damage and that he expected that number to rise.

“It was like a tornado and a fire,” he said of the damage in Barefoot Resort, a subdivision along the Intracoastal Waterway that was hit hard. “This is cataclysmic damage to individual homes but not on a scale of a hurricane.”

Sanford added that people should focus now on fighting the fire instead of finding someone to blame. He says once the flames are out, he will ask for a review of everything that happened.

Did what they could

The neighborhood where the fire began is off S.C. Highway 90, a country road that leads out of Conway toward the swamps of the Waccamaw River.

Friday afternoon, white smoke still drifted from nearby stumps as Brogan, 29, said she was furious that people are blaming her family for the disaster.

When the trash fire got out of control last Saturday in her backyard, she immediately called 911. “What else are we supposed to do?”

Torchi, 39, said late Friday he fears for his family because people are upset about the damage. Brogan said the family has received death threats.

Several neighbors said that it was wrong to blame Torchi and Brogan for the fire.

Al Whittaker said firefighters spent several hours putting out the fire last Saturday after Torchi’s yard debris fire started to spread into the brush by his home.

“They didn’t come in with a bulldozer or anything,” Whittaker said. “Sunday, Monday and Tuesday goes by. How come nobody comes by and checks? … How is this thing coming back on him five days later? It’s one of the more twisted, insensible things I’ve heard.”

Forestry Commission Forest Protection Chief Darryl Jones said it’s common for brush fires to appear to be out but then smolder underground and rekindle. But he said blame belongs to the person who set it. “The Fire Department didn’t start the fire,” Jones said. “Someone lit it and somebody let it escape and that’s where this all started.”

The Forestry Commission ticketed Torchi for last Saturday’s fire, not the one that reignited Wednesday. He was cited for failing to notify the commission of an outdoor burn, which carries a fine up to $262.50, as well as for allowing the fire to spread, which carries a fine up to $470. Hubright said no additional tickets will be issued.

Brogan said when the fire reignited Wednesday, it built quickly. She said Horry County firefighters watched as the flames headed toward nearby homes. “The only reason my house didn’t burn down is that my neighbors and I got a garden hose and put water on the house.”

Horry County Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Alderman said firefighters often let woods fires burn close to the house and let the flames consume fuel before they attack it in force. Sometimes the flames are so powerful, however, that firefighters have to practice a form of triage, letting some houses go that can’t be saved. “It’s often a split-second decision,” he said. “For every house that was destroyed, we saved six others.”

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SC wildfire destroys homes near popular beach area

By BRUCE SMITH – 7 hours ago

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — A coastal wildfire spread early Thursday toward one of the busiest tourist stretches in South Carolina after destroying more than three dozen homes.

No injuries had been reported in the fire that started Wednesday afternoon west of Myrtle Beach, but officials said gusty winds were making the situation worse.

The fire jumped a state highway near North Myrtle Beach and destroyed about 40 homes early Thursday, said Scott Hawkins, a spokesman for the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

In North Myrtle Beach near the North Carolina state line, officials began evacuating about 2,500 people in a four-mile stretch west of Highway 17, city spokesman Nicole Aiello said.

Shelters were set up at North Myrtle Beach City Hall and the House of Blues at Barefoot Landing, she said.

The blaze jumped the busy six-lane Coastal Bays Parkway on Wednesday, stopping not far from the Intracoastal Waterway. Firefighters were expecting the waterway to act as a natural firebreak, protecting the larger city of Myrtle Beach.

A gray-white smoke had engulfed restaurant row between Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach on Wednesday evening. It looked like a winter fog, with car headlights and neon signs peeking through the haze.

Tourists watched the smoke move over the tree line at the Cane Patch driving range, where one of the holes on the par-3 course was on fire Wednesday night, said cashier John Paulhus.

“We can see the smoke clearly from here,” he said. “A lot of them have come in and inquired about it. I think it’s more curiosity than anything else.”

A cause has not been determined for the fire that began around noon in woods about six miles east of Conway, Horry County Fire Rescue spokesman Todd Cartner said.

The fire had spread into several Carolina Bays, geographic structures full of organic material that fuel the blaze. Tropical downpours are often needed to extinguish the burning peat, Hawkins said.

“When a bay starts burning, they burn for a long, long time,” Hawkins said.

Jo Hillman, 52, joined her husband, Chuck, and 13 other people at a shelter set up at the Tilly Swamp Baptist Church about midway between Conway and North Myrtle Beach.

As a prayer meeting went on inside, the couple recalled the tense moments as the fire started spreading.

“First they said ‘You’ve got 15 minutes.’ Then they said ‘Get out now,’” Jo Hillman said.

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Florida wins, hands down.

# 1	Florida:	337
# 2	Texas:	15
= 3	Georgia:	9
= 3	South Carolina:	9
# 5	Alabama:	5
# 6	Louisiana:	2
= 7	Arkansas:	1
= 7	North Carolina:	1

DEFINITION: Number of documented alligator attacks since 1948. There have been 17 fatal attacks in Florida and one fatal attack in Georgia. Additional deaths which were previously reported have been ruled out because the wounds appeared to be post-mortem. The most common cases were lacerations or scratches on the hands, whereas the most common activity attributed to the attack was an attempt to capture, pick up or exhibit the alligator. Other common activities that led to an alligator attack were swimming, fishing activities and retrieving golf balls.

SOURCE: Alligator Attacks on Humans in the United States, Ricky L. Langley, MD, MPH. Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 16, 119 124 (2005). Additional figures taken from news reports.

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Sinkhole closes Gastonia’s U.S. 321

By Steve Lyttle
slyttle@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Thursday, Apr. 16, 2009

One lane of Highway 321 in Gastonia will remain closed overnight because of a sinkhole. PHOTOS from AirStar36

A major Gastonia route remains closed this morning, while crews battle to repair the impact of a sinkhole.

Two of three lanes on northbound U.S. 321 are closed, just north of Interstate 85. In addition, the ramp from southbound Interstate 85 to U.S. 321 is closed.

Crews closed this road about 9 a.m. Wednesday and had hoped to complete repairs by the end of the afternoon.

But the sinkhole, estimated to be about 12 feet in diameter, proved too much a hurdle. Crews are still working this morning to make the repairs. Department of Transportation officials say a drainage pipe broke underground, causing the sinkhole.

Crews are not sure when repairs will be completed, but the latest estimate is 5 p.m. today.

To reach U.S. 321 from southbound I-85, motorists must go to Exit 14 (N.C. 274) and then take N.C. 275.

For northbound motorists on U.S. 321, only one of the three lanes is open.

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Almost 36 million U.S. residents live in hurricane zones

> Posted by Ken Kaye on April 15, 2009 06:30 AM

Some interesting stats, courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau:

35.7 million: The number of people who live along the coast from North Carolina to Texas as of 2008. That’s about 12 percent of the nation’s population.

17.9 million: The number of people who live along Florida’s coast. Of these, 10.6 million live on the Atlantic side and 7.3 million live on the Gulf side.

10.2 million: The number of people who lived along the coast, from North Carolina to Texas, in 1950. That was about 7 percent of the nation’s population at the time.

311,853: The population of New Orleans in 2008, three years after Hurricane Katrina struck. The population before the hurricane: 455,056.

29,431: The population of Homestead at the time Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992. The city’s population 15 years later: 56,601.

180,155: The number of square miles in the coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas.

8: The number of Atlantic hurricanes that emerged in 2008. Of these, five were major and three (Dolly, Gustav and Ike) struck the U.S. coastline.

3: The number of large metropolitan cities on the coast from North Carolina to Texas areas – that also are among the nation’s 20 most populated. They include Houston (sixth), Miami-Fort Lauderdale (seventh) and Tampa-St. Pete (20th).

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Wildfire burns 25 acres in coastal NC county

The Associated Press

Posted: Monday, Apr. 13, 2009

WILMINGTON, N.C. Authorities say a 25-acre wildfire in coastal North Carolina has been contained and that no homes were threatened.

The Star-News of Wilmington reported that the fire burned in Brunswick County between Southport and Supply on Sunday afternoon.

State forest ranger Phillip Inman said the fire was contained in a few hours by about two dozen firefighters who knocked down the flames with water sprayed from trucks at each end of the burn zone.

A bulldozer dug lines around the fire and an airplane kept tabs on the area that was burning.

Inman said windy spring weather makes brush fires a risk despite recent rains. He said lightning may have sparked the fire.