Hurricane Maria is now the second Category 5 Storm to devastate the Carribean so far this year, and there’s now a chance that it could affect the eastern seaboard of the United States early next week.

The powerful storm made its first landfall last night on the island nation of Dominica with sustained winds of 155 mph.

The National Hurricane Center reported that its record-topping winds reached 160 miles per hour when it hit the island nation at about 9:15 p.m. ET. It was so powerful that it tore the roof off the Prime Minister’s residence.

“We’re just waiting for daybreak to do an assessment of the damage,” Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told CNN. “Our first order of business will be search and rescue to ensure we can account for every single citizen and residents who were on the island during this really devastating hurricane.”

After hitting the island, the storm was downgraded to a Category 4 and is now on course to land a direct blow to the US territory of Puerto Rico – the first hurricane of its strength to hit the territory in over 85 years.

According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm is expected to turn slightly north after hitting Puerto Rits, but its exact track is still uncertain.

The forecasting website VenturiSky.com puts the storm just off the coast of North Carolina by Monday morning;

At this point, it’s unlikely that the storm will make landfall in the continental US, but storm surges from the hurricane will likely cause flooding along the North and South Carolina coastal regions.

We will continue to update this article as Hurricane Maria draws closer to the East Coast. 

Duke Energy and Dominion Energy have just hit a major roadblock in their attempt to build a massive 600-mile pipeline through the heart of North Carolina.

The pipeline would start in the fracking fields of West Virginia, wind through Virginia and North Carolina, and end at the bottom of our state. It would collect natural gas from several stations along the route, and distribute it across the 3 states.

The energy partnership claims  the pipeline would add, “17,000 new jobs, $377 million in annual energy cost savings, $28 million in new local tax revenue and the revitalization of the region’s manufacturing economy.”

Since its initial announcement, however, it’s faced continued opposition from environmental groups, community organizations, and government regulators alike.

According to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, a new letter has now been issued to Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC “directing the company to submit additional information as part of their 401 water quality certification application.” This new letter essentially freezes all progress on the pipeline until all information is received and reviewed by the NCDEQ.

The 4-page request includes 6 major questions and over a dozen sub-points, mostly related to stream and wetland crossings, drinking water protection, and discharge locations.

Without approval from the NCDEQ, the entire pipeline project would be stalled, which the letter clearly pointed out;

“Please be aware that you have no authorization under the Section 401 of the Clean Water Act or the Neuse or Tar-Pamlico Buffer Rules for this activity and any work done within waters of the state or protected riparian buffers may be a violation of North Carolina General Statutes and Administrative Code.”

Several environmental groups such as the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels initiative celebrated the letter this past week:

“We applaud Governor Cooper and DEQ for listening to North Carolinians and requiring Duke Energy and Dominion to provide more information so the state can thoroughly examine the water impacts that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would have on our communities,” commented Kelly Martin, director of Beyond Dirty Fuels.

Several other groups are actively fighting any progress on the pipeline, including; the Alliance to Protect Our People And The Places We Live (APPPL), Frack Free NC, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and a coalition of Virginia organizations including the Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance.

Upon final NCDEQ approval, the pipeline would still have to receive approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before proceeding.

If both governmental organizations decide to approve the project, construction could start as soon as this coming November. Economic developers have said the pipeline, which would bring fracked natural gas from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina, is critical in luring job-heavy manufacturers to eastern North Carolina.

What are your thoughts on the proposed pipeline? 

Between Main Street’s flowering trees and the patchwork facades of historic buildings, the Shute Family Parking Garden provides about 60 parking spaces for downtown Monroe, N.C. Soon, the parking garden will become even more green when the city installs its first electric vehicle charging station.

Monroe is one of about 80 cities and towns in North Carolina to receive a Duke Energy grant to install electric vehicle charging stations. The Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Project is investing $1 million to help municipal governments add about 200 charging stations in the state – a 30 percent increase.

Duke Energy’s new grant provides up to $5,000 for each charging port and was part of a recent settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups. Most city governments will install two ports with the grant, but some, including Kinston, N.C., are installing up to five. Monroe voted in June to install a station with two ports, allowing two vehicles to charge simultaneously.

The city is located in Union County about 25 miles southeast of Charlotte. It’s a convenient stop on a trip to the beach via U.S. 74, and Pete Hovanec, City of Monroe communications and tourism officer, said he hopes the stations will attract travelers who need to recharge.

“It’s not only for tourists,” Hovanec said, “but for our residents as well.”

More than 170 electric vehicles have been registered in Union County since 2012, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. ChargePoint, the nation’s largest electric vehicle charging network, found that while most people charge their vehicles at work, the second most popular place to recharge in public is in cities and towns, and the third is at shops.

The new charging station will be steps from Main Street businesses — it will be especially convenient when renovations are complete at the historic Center Theatre. In 2013, the city purchased the theatre, which operated from 1940 until 1991, and a nonprofit is transforming it into a performing arts venue.

Cars parked during an hour-long show could charge long enough to drive bout 20 to 30 miles, according to Lang Reynolds, Duke Energy electric transportation manager.

“Any kind of advantage or additional amenity we can offer to draw folks in,” Hovanec said, “is a real asset.”

New station charges bus faster than you can charge your phone

In addition to charging stations for personal vehicles in Monroe, the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Project is providing $450,000 for Greensboro to install a rapid charging station that can charge an electric bus in 7 to 10 minutes.

The Greensboro Transit Authority plans to convert its fleet of 47 diesel and hybrid buses to electric in 10 years. Each electric bus will save $350,000 over the lifetime of the vehicle, said Adam Fischer, Greensboro transportation director.

“It was really a business decision [to transition the fleet] and then the fact that there’s zero emissions and there’s no noise from the buses – those are added benefits,” Fischer said. “Same look and feel except they’re quieter, and there’s not that belch of black diesel smoke coming out either.”