Us Hurricane

Bomb cyclone knocks out power, downs trees across northwest US; 1 dead

A major storm swept across the northwest US on Tuesday evening, battering the region with strong winds and rain and causing widespread power outages and downed trees that killed at least one person. The Weather Prediction Centre issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect as the strongest atmospheric river a large plume of moisture that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season overwhelms the region. The storm system is considered a bomb cyclone, which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. Downed trees struck homes and littered roads across northwest Washington. In Lynnwood, Washington, a woman died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, South County Fire said in a statement on X. In Seattle, a tree fell onto a vehicle, temporarily trapping a person inside, the Seattle Fire Department reported. The agency later said the individual was in stable condition. Trees are coming down all ov

Tropical storm Sara makes landfall in Honduras, brings heavy rain to region

Tropical Storm Sara made landfall in northern Honduras late Thursday and threatened to dump torrential rains across parts of Central America and southern Mexico. Sara hit land about 105 miles (165 kilometers) west-northwest of the Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Honduras-Nicaragua border, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. That is near Brus Laguna, a village of about 13,000 inhabitants. There are few other population centers nearby. Mexican authorities warned it could cause intense rains over the resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula. Sara had winds of about 45 miles per hour (75 kph) and was moving west at about 10 miles per hour (17 kph). It was expected to remain roughly on that path before heading out to sea again and threatening the coast of Belize. The center said that along the way Sara was forecast to drop 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain, even up to 30 inches (75 centimeters) in isolated areas. Such heavy rain could lead to life-threatening floo

Oil falls over 2% on receding US hurricane risk, lackluster China stimulus

Energy producers shut in more than 22 per centof oil output in the US Gulf of Mexico by Thursday as a precautionary measure to brace against Hurricane Rafael

Hurricane Kristy intensifies into Category 4 storm in Pacific Ocean

Hurricane Kristy strengthened into a Category 4 storm on Wednesday and was expected to remain away from land as it churns in the Pacific Ocean, forecasters said. The major hurricane was 710 miles (1,140 kilometres) south-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, and was moving west at 20 mph (31 kph). It had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph (250 kph), just shy of Category 5 status, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre. The storm was expected to continue moving over open waters. Waves generated by Kristy will affect portions of the west coast of the Baja California peninsula late this week. The waves are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Hurricane Kristy strengthened into a Category 3 storm in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday and was expected to remain away from land as it grows more powerful, forecasters said. The storm was 650 miles (1,045 kilometres) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja Califor

DeSantis using state money, power to fight abortion rights' measure

After a month of updating Floridians on hurricanes, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is now focusing his official office on fighting an abortion rights amendment, holding a campaign-like rally at state expense two weeks before the election. DeSantis' event Monday, which was capped with a prayer from the archbishop of Miami and the lieutenant governor asking people to not vote like atheists, came after the Department of Health's top lawyer resigned over a letter he said the governor's office forced him to send to television stations in an effort to stop a pro-Amendment 4 ad. When you're dealing with constitutional amendments your default should always be no, DeSantis said at the event attended by doctors who opposed the abortion amendment. You can always alter normal policies and legislation. Once it's in the constitution, that's forever. You really have zero chance of ever changing. it. Just before the event, former Department of Health top lawyer John Wilson signed an affidavit stating

Oscar brings winds, heavy rains to eastern Cuba after striking Bahamas

Tropical Storm Oscar brought heavy rains and winds to Cuba, an island already beleaguered by a massive power outage, late Sunday after brushing the Bahamas. It made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) in the eastern Cuban province of Guantanamo, near the city of Baracoa, on Sunday evening. Oscar had weakened to a tropical storm with 70 mph (110 kph) winds by late Sunday, the US National Hurricane Centre said. The storm was 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Guantanamo moving west-northwest at 6 mph (10 kph). Thunderstorms and rain, along with moderate flooding in low-lying areas, were reported in the country's eastern provinces. Cuban media said 2-metre (6.5-feet) swells were hitting the coast and roofs and walls in Baracoa had been damaged. Authorities have set up 20 centres for evacuees. The system is expected to move across eastern Cuba on Sunday night and Monday. Forecasters said 6 to 12 inches (15 to 31 centimeters) of rain are ..

Florida's resilience grows post-hurricanes, embracing future storms

No sooner had residents of the Bahia Vista Gulf condominium complex dug out and from Hurricane Helene than they were faced with the same daunting cleanup from new damage inflicted by Hurricane Milton. The beachfront units had been gutted, treated and dried out after Hurricane Helene and mounds of sand that had blown in from the beach had been removed. Then, less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton barreled in and undid all the progress. They've got to start the whole process over, cleaning, sanitizing, bringing in drying equipment, getting them all dried and prepped for renovations, lamented Bill O'Connell, a board member at the complex in Venice, about an hour's drive south of Tampa. The second hurricane brought all the sand back on our property. Some longtime Floridians have grown accustomed to the annual cycle of storms that can shatter and upend lives in a state known mostly for its balmy weather, sunshine and beaches. It's the price you pay to live in paradise, O'Connell sa

Harris resumes campaigning, meets Black leaders in hurricane-hit N Carolina

Vice President Kamala Harris met Saturday with Black leaders in North Carolina and was to help volunteers prepare relief packages for hurricane victims as she resumed campaigning in the state, followed on Sunday by attending church and holding a campaign rally. The weekend trip is her second to the battleground state after it was struck by Hurricane Helene, with Harris stepping back into campaign mode in a place that Democrats see as a potential pick-up in November's election. North Carolina narrowly backed Republican Donald Trump in 2020. The Democratic presidential nominee went to North Carolina last week to survey the destruction caused by Helene and pledged assistance for its victims. She was to attend church Sunday as part of her campaign's Souls to the Polls effort in Greenville, a city of roughly 90,000 on the state's coastal plain. Before departing the Washington area, Harris told reporters accompanying her that she looked forward to talking with residents first and foremost

Floridians evacuated after wake-up call from devastating Hurricane Helene

Florida residents who fled hundreds of miles to escape Hurricane Milton made slow trips home on crowded highways, weary from their long journeys and the cleanup work awaiting them but also grateful to be coming back alive. I love my house, but I'm not dying in it, Fred Neuman said Friday while walking his dog outside a rest stop off Interstate 75 north of Tampa. Neuman and his wife live in Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall Wednesday night as a powerful, Category 3 hurricane. Heeding local evacuation orders ahead of the storm, they drove nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) to Destin on the Florida Panhandle. Neighbors told the couple the hurricane destroyed their carport and inflicted other damage, but Neuman shrugged, saying their insurance should cover it. Nearby, Lee and Pamela Essenburm made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at a picnic table as cars pulling off the slow-moving interstate waited for parking spaces outside the crowded rest stop. Their home in Palmetto, on the

Over 3 million without power as Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida

Hurricane Milton crashed into Florida as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday, pounding the coast with ferocious winds of over 100 mph (160 kph) and producing a series of tornadoes around the state. Tampa avoided a direct hit. The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (205 kph) as it roared ashore 8:30 p.m. near Siesta Key, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said. Siesta Key is a prosperous strip of white-sand beaches that's home to 5,500 people about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. The Tampa Bay area has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century, but the storm was still bringing a potentially deadly storm surge to much of Florida's Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers. Heavy rains were also likely to cause flooding inland along rivers and lakes as Milton traverses the Florida peninsula as a hurricane, eventually to emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. More than 1 ..

Hurricane Milton destroys homes, weakens as it moves across central Florida

Eye of the storm made landfall in Siesta Key, a barrier island town of some 5,400 off Sarasota about 60 miles (100 km) south of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than 3 million people

Polluted waste from Florida's fertiliser industry in path of Milton's fury

As Hurricane Milton pummelled Florida's west coast with powerful winds and flooding rain, environmentalists worry it could scatter the polluted leftovers of the state's phosphate fertilizer mining industry and other hazardous waste across the peninsula and into vulnerable waterways. More than 1 billion tons of slightly radioactive phosphogypsum waste is stored in stacks that resemble enormous ponds at risk for leaks during major storms. Florida has 25 such stacks, most concentrated around enormous phosphate mines and fertiliser processing plants in the central part of the state, and environmentalists say nearly all of them are in Milton's projected path. Placing vulnerable sites so close on major waterways that are at risk of damage from storms is a recipe for disaster, said Ragan Whitlock, a staff attorney at the environmental group Centre for Biological Diversity. These are ticking time bombs. Phosphogypsum, a solid waste byproduct from processing phosphate ore to make chemical ..

Hurricane Milton makes landfall along Florida's coast as Category 3 storm

Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday along Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, bringing powerful winds, deadly storm surge and potential flooding to much of the state. Milton drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, twice reaching Category 5 status. The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (205 kph) as it roared ashore near Siesta Key in Sarasota County, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said. The storm was bringing deadly storm surge to much of Florida's Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers. Heavy rains were also likely to cause flooding inland along rivers and lakes as Milton traverses the Florida peninsula as a hurricane, eventually to emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. Milton slammed into a Florida region still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which caused heavy damage to beach communities with storm surge and killed a dozen people in seaside Pinellas County ...

Biden condemns un-American lies on federal response as hurricane nears

President Joe Biden on Wednesday blasted his predecessor for spreading an onslaught of lies about how the federal government is handling the damage from Hurricane Helene as another hurricane, Milton, was on the verge of making landfall in Florida. Quite frankly, these lies are un-American, Biden said from the White House. Former President Trump has led this onslaught of lies. Biden said that Donald Trump and his allies have misrepresented the response and resources of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The president singled out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R- Georgia, who claimed the federal government could control the weather. Asked why he believed his Republican opponents were not talking accurately about the government's response, Biden said, I don't know. I simply don't know. ... I use a phrase more than I did in my whole career, un-American. It's un-American. It's not who in the hell we are. The president talked about the potential damage from Hurricane Milton and ...

Time to evacuate running out as Hurricane Milton closes in on Florida

Hurricane Milton churned Wednesday toward a potentially catastrophic collision along the west coast of Florida, where some residents insisted they would stay after millions were ordered to evacuate and officials warned that stragglers would face grim odds of surviving. The Tampa Bay area, home to more than 3.3 million people, faced the possibility of widespread destruction after avoiding direct hits from major hurricanes for more than a century. The National Hurricane Centre predicted Milton, a monstrous Category 5 hurricane during much of its approach, would likely weaken but remain a major hurricane when it makes landfall late Wednesday. Milton was centred late Tuesday about 650 kilometers southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of 260 kmh, the National Hurricane Centre reported. Forecasters predicted the storm will retain hurricane strength as it crosses central Florida on Thursday on a path east toward the Atlantic Ocean. The hurricane's precise track remained uncertain

Residents flee Tampa bay area as hurricane milton approaches Florida coast

Fearful Florida residents streamed out of the Tampa Bay region Tuesday ahead of what could be a once-in-a-century direct hit from Hurricane Milton, as crews worked furiously to prevent furniture, appliances and other waterlogged wreckage from the last big storm from becoming deadly projectiles in this one. The preparations marked the last chance for millions of people in the Tampa metro area to prepare for lethal storm surges, ferocious winds and possible tornadoes in a place that has narrowly avoided a head-on blow from a major storm for generations. Today's the last day to get ready, said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA director who previously ran the state's emergency operation division. This is bringing everything. Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state deployed over 300 dump trucks that had removed 1,300 loads of debris left behind by Hurricane Helene by Tuesday afternoon. In Clearwater Beach, Nick Szabo spent a second long day hauling away 3-foot piles of soggy mattresses, couches and

Category 5 hurricane Milton threatens an already battered Florida

The densely populated west coast of Florida, still reeling from the devastating Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago

FEMA continues pushback against false claims as Helene death toll hits 230

The head of the US disaster response agency continued to forcefully push back on Monday against false claims and conspiracy theories about her agency's response to Hurricane Helene as the death toll from the storm continued to climb. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell pointed to the agency's massive, collaborative effort that keeps growing, and she strongly urged residents in hard-hit areas to accept the government's offer for assistance. We have thousands of people on the ground, not just federal, but also our volunteers in the private sector, Criswell said at a news conference in Asheville, North Carolina. And frankly, that type of rhetoric is demoralising to our staff that have left their families to come here and help the people of North Carolina. And we will be here as long as they're needed. Misinformation has spread over the past week in communities hit the hardest by Helene, including that the federal government is intentionally withholding ai

Florida orders evacuations, scrambles to clear Helene's debris

Florida's storm-battered Gulf Coast raced against a Category 5 hurricane on Monday as workers sprinted to pick up heaps of appliances and other street debris left over from Helene two weeks ago and highways were clogged with people fleeing ahead of the storm. The centre of Hurricane Milton could come ashore on Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region, which has not endured a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than a century. Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before landfall, though it could retain hurricane strength as it churns across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. That would largely spare other states ravaged by Helene, which killed at least 230 people on its path from Florida to the Carolinas. This is the real deal here with Milton, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told a news conference. If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100 per cent of the time. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Monday that it was imperative for debris from Helene to be cleared ahead

US lets Starlink provide direct-to-cell coverage for areas hit by hurricane

The FCC often grants such emergency temporary approvals during disasters to help restore wireless and internet services