🗞️ The storms flooded our roads and cut power to thousands, but the farmers are happy

🗞️ Another Triad plant is closing, and 150 jobs go with it

🗞️ Winston-Salem's youth curfew, one month in

🗞️ Storm cleanup: what to toss, what to save, and how to stay safe

🌦️ Cloudy and cooler | High: 74°F | Low: 65°F

We finally catch a break from the heat. A stalled front leaves us cloudy with a few scattered showers, around a 30 to 40% chance, and highs only in the mid 70s. After a soaking week, a calmer, cooler day is a welcome change. A stray shower is still possible, so keep an umbrella handy.

That severe weather we kept warning you about finally arrived, and it did not do it quietly.

Overnight rains of more than 4 inches rolled through Forsyth County and the rest of the Triad Wednesday night into Thursday, leaving flooding, downed trees and knocked-out power in their wake. About 11,000 customers across the region lost power, according to Duke Energy, with Guilford and Randolph counties alone accounting for 7,200 outages. The good news: most people had their lights back by noon Thursday.

The flooding was the bigger story in spots. In Greensboro, North Buffalo Creek shot up to 8 feet, and officials warned people across the region to watch small creeks, low-lying areas and underpasses. Parts of Salem Parkway and Interstate 40 closed because of high water. The rain totals over 48 hours tell the tale: Burlington got 6.3 inches, High Point 4 to 6-plus, Greensboro around 5, and Winston-Salem 4.46 inches.

Here is the twist. After weeks of us telling you about the drought, some folks were thrilled to see this. "We're super excited that we finally have good rain," said Matt Rudd, who farms 60 acres of fruits and vegetables at Rudd Farm in Greensboro. "This is the type of rain that fills our ponds back up."

Not everyone got the timing they wanted. "It woulda been a lot more helpful a month or two ago," said Isaac Oliver of Harmony Ridge Farms in Tobaccoville. "It's almost too much, too late." His root crops, the beets and turnips and carrots, had already come up small from the dry stretch.

So we take the win where we can find it: full ponds, a dented drought, and hopefully your basement stayed dry.

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The run of factory losses around here is not letting up.

Elevate Textiles, the parent company of the Burlington Industries and Cone Denim brands, is closing its finishing plant in Burlington by the end of 2026, cutting 150 jobs. The company filed the required WARN Act notice with the state Thursday for the plant at 906 Anthony Street, and said the wind-down starts within a few weeks, with most production wrapping up by September 30.

The reason given is a familiar one. "This closing is a result of changing market dynamics across several businesses and product lines that the plant supports, which are significantly reducing production volumes," the company said. Despite trying to bring in new product lines, it said the numbers were simply too low to keep the plant viable, and all affected employees have been notified.

There is at least a safety net. The federal WARN Act requires 60 days of notice for mass layoffs and provides laid-off workers with 60 days of pay and benefits, access to COBRA coverage, and state-run job-training and re-employment services. Elevate, based in Charlotte, still employs about 4,800 people across brands that include American & Efird, Gutermann and Safety Components.

For a region built on textiles, this one lands in a tender spot. It is one more reminder of the split we told you about earlier this week: the state's jobless rate is low, but the kind of manufacturing work that built the Triad keeps thinning out.

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Back in issue #047 we told you Winston-Salem's youth curfew was about to take effect. A month later, here is how it is going.

Under the Youth Protection Ordinance, anyone 17 and under is not allowed in public places within the city from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., unless they are with a parent, heading to or from work, responding to an emergency, or one of a few other exceptions. The measure was controversial and passed the city council by a narrow 5 to 3 vote, coming on the heels of "teen takeovers" downtown, including one on June 3 that drew charges against seven adults and juvenile petitions against eleven teens.

So far, police say it is working. FOX8 rode along with Corporal Scott Wells, who has spent years watching juvenile crime climb. During the shift, a call came in about a missing child, and within minutes Wells found a barefoot 6-year-old girl on a sidewalk and got her back home. "We're going to get you back home," he told her.

Officers say they are leaning toward education over arrest. Wells described following a group of teens home to a parent who promised to handle the discipline herself. Not every case ends softly, though. One teen was cited for violating the ordinance and also faces petitions for breaking into a vehicle, stealing a firearm and resisting an officer, and that teen's mother was cited for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The ordinance is set to expire October 12, so expect the debate over whether to keep it to heat up before then.

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If this week's storms knocked out your power or pushed water where it did not belong, here is a quick, no-drama checklist for cleaning up safely. Most of it comes down to a few simple rules from the FDA and CDC.

Start with the fridge. An unopened refrigerator keeps food cold for about 4 hours. If the power was out longer than that, throw away perishables like meat, poultry, fish, eggs and leftovers that have sat above 40 degrees for two hours or more. A full freezer holds its temperature for about 48 hours if you keep the door shut, a half-full one about 24. When in doubt, throw it out, and never taste food to decide.

If you are running a generator, treat carbon monoxide as the real danger. Generators go outside only, at least 20 feet from the house, with the exhaust pointed away from doors, windows and vents. Never run one in a garage or basement, even with the door open. A working carbon monoxide alarm inside is cheap insurance.

If water got into your home, keep out of floodwater when you can, because it can carry sewage and contaminants. Dry everything out fast, since mold can take hold within 24 to 48 hours. Toss porous items that soaked through and cannot be cleaned, and take photos of the damage before you haul anything away, because your insurance company will want them.

None of this is complicated, but after a long week it is easy to forget. Take it one room at a time.

Read the FDA and CDC guidance