WILMINGTON, N.C. -- At least three firefighters were injured after a building exploded Tuesday in Wilmington, North Carolina. The explosion was captured on video by someone nearby. Wilmington Police said the blast was likely caused by a traffic crash that ruptured a gas line.

Most of the tourists have left Ocracoke Island, and the surfers are watching closely as deadly rip currents lurk below the waves.

Hurricane Erin could dump up to two inches of rain in parts of North Carolina this week as the category 2 storm churns over the Atlantic. On Hatteras Island, some tourists have relocated after a mandatory evacuation order and some residents are deciding to stay.

On Tuesday, a panel of Los Angeles city commissioners appointed by Mayor Karen Bass voted to declare a swath of Valley Plaza a public nuisance after a hearing that drew neighbors who complain about decrepit conditions and crime at the site at Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Victory Boulevard.

Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

O ne person was taken into custody Tuesday after driving into a natural gas line, causing a fire and explosion at a North Carolina veterinary clinic that injured three firefighters, according to local news outlet WWAY. The driver allegedly showed signs of impairment, WWAY reported.

A 34-year-old Plano man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the fatal beating and strangulation of his mother, the Collin County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday. Robert Lee Timmons Jr. was convicted in the 2024 death of his mother, Rene Timmons.

A Chinese national will spend nearly 10 years in prison for conspiring to smuggle weapons and sensitive U.S. technology to North Korea and accepting million-dollar bribes.