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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