Hurricane

Helene's death toll reaches 200 as crews try to reach areas hit by storm

Hurricane Helene's death toll reached 200 on Thursday and could rise higher still, as searchers made their way toward the hardest to reach places in the mountains of western North Carolina, where the storm washed out roads and knocked out electricity, water and cellular service. Officials in Georgia and North Carolina added to their states' grim tallies, padding an overall count that has already made Helene the deadliest storm to hit the US mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A week after the storm came ashore in Florida before carving a path of destruction through the Southeast, connections between friends, neighbours and even strangers have provided hope in the worst-affected areas. While government cargo planes brought food and water to these areas and rescue crews waded through creeks searching for survivors, those who made it through the storm leaned on one another for support. Sarah Vekasi, who makes and sells pottery out of her Sarah Sunshine Pottery store in Black ...

Hurricane Kirk strengthens into Category 3 storm in Atlantic Ocean

Hurricane Kirk strengthened into a Category 3 storm in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday and was expected to grow rapidly into a major hurricane, forecasters said. There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect, and the storm system was not yet deemed a threat to land. Kirk reached Category 3 status on Wednesday, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said. The storm was about 1,855 kilometres east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres per hour. It was moving northwest at 19 kilometres per hour. A gradual turn toward north-northwest and northward was expected this week. Swells generated by the storm could affect portions of the Leeward Islands and Bermuda by the weekend, likely causing "life-threatening" surf and rip current conditions, the center said. Kirk grew as many people in the US Southeast still lacked running water, mobile phone service and electricity as rescuers searched for people unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene

Harris surveys Hurricane havoc; gives meals, consoles families in Georgia

Vice-President Kamala Harris handed out meals, embraced a shaken family and surveyed Hurricane Helene's "extraordinary" path of destruction through Georgia on Wednesday as she left the campaign trail to pledge federal help and personally take in scenes of toppled trees, damaged homes and lives upended. She visited Augusta, where power lines stretched along the sidewalk and utility poles lay cracked and broken. The vice-president spoke from a lectern erected in front of a house with a fallen tree teetering on its roof, acknowledging those who had died in the disaster while also trying to project a tone of unity and hope for communities now facing long and expensive rebuilds. Harris and President Joe Biden, who visited the Carolinas on Wednesday, were seeking to demonstrate commitment and competence in helping devastated communities after Republican former president Donald Trump's false claims about their administration's response. Harris said she wanted to "personally take a look at

Thousands in North Carolina without water days after Helene's destruction

The powerful storm inundated the western part of the state with catastrophic flooding, destroying pipes, damaging water plants and cutting off power

Helene's toll passes 100, Biden to visit North Carolina for aerial survey

A crisis unfolded in Asheville, North Carolina, as officials pledged to get more water, food and other supplies to flood-stricken areas without power and cellular service Monday, days after Hurricane Helene ripped across the US Southeast. The death toll from the storm surpassed 100. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said during a news conference Monday that the death toll in that state had risen from 17 to 25. A North Carolina county that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people killed there. President Joe Biden said Monday he will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to get a first-hand look at the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Biden said he will travel to Raleigh to get a briefing from state and local officials and take an aerial tour of Asheville. He announced plans for the trip following an operational briefing on the hurricane response and recovery efforts from federal government officials and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who took an aerial tour o

Hurricane Francine threatens Louisiana's coast with strong winds, flooding

Hurricane Francine barrelled toward Louisiana on Wednesday as residents made last-minute trips to stock up on supplies and forecasters warned of potentially deadly storm surge, widespread flooding and destructive winds on the northern US Gulf coast. In Morgan City, gas stations had already put plywood on the windows and moved trash cans inside, with a few pumps still serving the trickle of cars passing through shortly after dawn. Retired boat captain Pat Simon, 75, and his wife, Ruth, had loaded all their possessions in garbage bags and tied them down in the back of a rented U-Haul pickup truck as they evacuated their home near the banks of the Atchafalaya River near Morgan City. Hurricane season typically peaks around this time of year, but Pat Simon wasn't overly concerned about Francine. I don't think it's going to be that bad, like some of the other ones like Ida and Katrina, he said. I mean, we've had some bad ones. Morgan City, home to around 11,500 people, sits on the banks

What is Atlantic Nina? How La Nina's cousin could affect hurricane season

This cooling comes from two climate phenomena with similar names: La Nina, which forms in the tropical Pacific, and the less well-known Atlantic Nina

Hurricane Ernesto pounds Bermuda as wealthy British territory closes down

Hurricane Ernesto began to pound Bermuda late Friday with heavy winds and rain after officials in the tiny British territory in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean opened shelters and closed government offices. The Category 2 storm located 95 miles (150 kilometres) south-southwest of Bermuda was packing maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (155 kph). It was moving northeast at 13 mph (20 kph). Ernesto's large eye will likely be very near or over Bermuda early Saturday morning, with significant coastal flooding expected, according to the National Hurricane Centre. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion, the centre said. The storm was forecast to dump between 6 to 9 inches of rain. Forecasters noted that Ernesto was a large hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 75 miles (120 kilometres) from the centre and tropical-storm-force winds extending up to 275 miles (445 kilometres). In preparation for the storm, officials in the wealthy British

Category 1 Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in Texas, disrupts power supply

Beryl made landfall on the Texas coast near Matagorda early Monday with a dangerous storm surge and strong winds, knocking out power to more than half a million homes and businesses. The storm's centre hit land as a Category 1 hurricane around 4 am Central Standard Time about 85 miles southwest of Houston with top sustained winds of 80 mph (128.7 kph) while moving north at 12 mph (19.3 kph), the National Weather Service reported. High waters quickly began closing roads around Houston, which was again under flood warnings after heavy storms in recent months washed out neighbourhoods and knocked out power across the nation's fourth-largest city. More than 750,000 customers were without power, many of them around Houston, before daybreak Monday, according to CenterPoint Energy in Houston. More than 1,000 flights have been canceled at Houston's two airports, according to tracking data from FlightAware Beryl dumped soaking rains across Houston after coming ashore and was expected to bri

Beryl batters Mexico as Texas officials urge coastal residents to prepare

Beryl battered Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday after hitting near the resort town of Tulum, whipping trees and knocking out power, while officials in Texas urged coastal residents to prepare as the storm moves toward the Gulf of Mexico. Beryl hit Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane but weakened to a tropical storm as it moved across the peninsula. The US National Hurricane Center expects Beryl to regain hurricane strength once it emerges into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where it is forecast to head toward northeastern Mexico and southern Texas, an area soaked by Tropical Storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago. Beryl spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados this week after becoming the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said. Mexican authorities had moved some ..

Mexico on 'red alert' as Category 3 Hurricane Beryl nears landfall

US National Hurricane Centre said Beryl, which was the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, now had winds of 115 mph (185 kph ) after weakening earlier

Team India's return journey: Barbados PM expects airport to open in few hrs

The T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team might be able to fly home on Tuesday evening after Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said she expects the airport here to become operational in the "next six to 12 hours", ending the shutdown forced by a category 4 hurricane. The Rohit Sharma-led squad, its support staff, some BCCI officials, and the players' families have been stranded here for the past two days due to hurricane Beryl. The team won the title on Saturday after defeating South Africa by seven runs in the final. "We hope, and we're working towards later today. I don't want to speak in advance of it, but I've literally been in touch with the airport personnel and they're doing their last checks now and we want to resume to normal operations as a matter of urgency," Mottley, who has been overseeing relief operations on the ground, told PTI. "There are a number of people who were due to leave yet last night late or today or tomorrow morning. And we want to make sure that we

Beryl strengthens to hurricane in Atlantic, to hit Caribbean as major storm

Beryl strengthened into a hurricane Saturday as it churned toward the southeastern Caribbean, with forecasters warning it was expected to become a dangerous major storm before reaching Barbados late Sunday or early Monday. A major hurricane is considered Category 3 or higher, with winds of at least 111 mph (178 kph). On Saturday night, Beryl was a Category 1 hurricane, marking the farthest east that a hurricane formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher. A hurricane warning was issued for Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. A tropical storm warning was posted for Martinique and Tobago and a tropical storm watch for Dominica. It's astonishing to see a forecast for a major (Category 3+) hurricane in June anywhere in the Atlantic, let alone this far east in the deep tropics. #Beryl organizing in a hurry over the warmest waters ever recorded for late Jun

Tropical storm Beryl swirls toward Caribbean, may strengthen into hurricane

Tropical Storm Beryl chugged toward the southeast Caribbean on Saturday and could strengthen into the year's first hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday. A hurricane watch was issued for Barbados as the island's meteorological service warned of flash flooding and power outages. Beryl is expected to strengthen into a Category 2 storm before reaching Barbados, with its center forecast to pass some 26 miles (45 kilometers) south of the island, said Sabu Best, the meteorological service's director. On Saturday, Beryl was located about 975 miles (1,570 kilometers) east-southeast of Barbados, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph). It was moving west at 21 mph (33 kph). We need to be ready, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address late Friday. You and I know when these things happen, it is better to plan for the worst and pray for the best. She noted that thousands of people are in Barbados for the Twenty20 World Cup cricket final, with India and So

Cooler hurricane-helping La Nina to replace El Nino that adds heat to Earth

The strong El Nino weather condition that added a bit of extra heat to already record warm global temperatures is gone. It's cool flip side, La Nina, is likely to breeze in just in time for peak Atlantic hurricane season, federal meteorologists said. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Thursday pronounced dead the El Nino that warms parts of the central Pacific. The El Nino, while not quite a record breaker in strength, formed a year ago has been blamed, along with human-caused climate change and overall ocean warmth, for a wild 12 months of heat waves and extreme weather. The world is now in a neutral condition when it comes to the important natural El Nino Southern Oscillation, which warps weather systems worldwide. Neutral is when weather gets closer to long-term averages or normal, something that hasn't happened as much recently as it used to, said NOAA physical scientist Michelle L'Heureux, who is the lead forecaster of the agency's ENSO team. But it likely won't ...

Hurricane Otis death toll rises to 48, 36 missing as search ops underway

At least 48 people died when Category 5 Hurricane Otis slammed into Mexico's southern Pacific coast, most of them in Acapulco, Mexican authorities said on Sunday as the death toll continued to climb and families buried loved ones. Mexico's civil defense agency said in a statement that 43 of the dead were in the resort city of Acapulco and five in nearby Coyuca de Benitez. Guerrero state's governor had earlier raised the number of missing to 36 from 10 a day earlier. The death toll increased after authorities had raised it to 39 on Saturday. In Acapulco, families held funerals for the dead on Sunday and continued the search for essentials while government workers and volunteers cleared streets clogged with muck and debris from the powerful Category 5 hurricane. Kathy Barrera, 30, said Sunday that her aunt's family was buried under a landslide when tons of mud and rock tumbled down onto their home. Her aunt's body was found with the remains of their three children ranging in age from

Hilary makes landfall along Mexico's Baja, carrying deluge to California

Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall along Mexico's Baja California coast Sunday as concerns mounted over the storm causing what could be deadly flash flooding in the border city of Tijuana, Southern California and places as far north as Idaho that rarely get such heavy rain. Hilary hit the coast in a sparsely populated area about 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of Ensenada. The storm has already caused flooding in places across Mexico's arid peninsula and threatens to unleash torrential rains on mudslide-prone Tijuana, where many improvised houses cling to steep hillsides just south of the U.S. border. Forecasters warned the storm could cause extreme flooding, mudslides and even tornadoes. Parts of the U.S. Southwest could be hit with once-in-a-century rains and there is a good chance Hilary could break all-time records as the wettest known tropical cyclone to douse Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. As of 11 a.m. Pacific time, Hilary was located about 215 miles (340 kilometers) ...

Hilary downgraded again to category 1 hurricane as Mexico braces for impact

Hurricane Hilary roared toward Mexico's Baja California peninsula late Saturday as a downgraded but still dangerous Category 1 hurricane likely to bring catastrophic flooding to the region and cross into the southwestern US as a tropical storm. The National Weather Center in Miami said in the most recent advisory at 9 p.m. that the maximum sustained wind speed is 90 mph and the storm was about 175 miles (281 kilometres) south of Punta Eugenia, Mexico, and 535 miles (855 kilometres) from San Diego, California. Meteorologists warned that despite weakening, the storm remained treacherous. One person drowned Saturday in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia, on the peninsula's eastern coast, when a vehicle was swept away in an overflowing stream. Rescue workers managed to save four other people, said Edith Aguilar Villavicencio, the mayor of Mulege township. It was not immediately clear whether officials considered the fatality related to the hurricane, but video posted by local officials

Tornadoes, hail and hurricane-force winds tear through west Texas, kills 4

A line of severe storms produced what a meteorologist calls a rare combination of multiple tornadoes, hurricane-force winds and softball-sized hail in west Texas, killing at least four people, injuring nine and causing significant damage around the town of Matador, a meteorologist said Thursday. The storms produced strong winds that swept across Texas, from the Panhandle to Houston, causing damage north of the city, weather officials said. Gov. Greg Abbott added six counties in the region to a disaster declaration on Thursday. The declaration was first issued June 16 and amended three times in response to severe weather. His statement said the declaration will help state authorities respond swiftly to devastated communities. Storms were forming again Thursday afternoon, and National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Ferguson in Amarillo said they were possible into the night, with a chance of more large hail up to 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in diameter and winds up to 70 mph (113

Hurricane Nicole forms after pounding Bahamas; Florida awaits Nov storm

A Florida-bound storm strengthened into Hurricane Nicole on Wednesday after pounding the Bahamas as U.S. officials ordered evacuations that included former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club. It's a rare November hurricane for storm-weary Florida, where only two such hurricanes have made landfall since recordkeeping began in 1853 the 1935 Yankee Hurricane and Hurricane Kate in 1985. Nicole was expected to reach Florida on Wednesday night and unleash a storm surge that could further erode many beaches hit by Hurricane Ian in September before heading into Georgia and the Carolinas later Thursday and Friday. It was expected to dump heavy rain across the region. Nicole's center was located 105 miles (170 kilometers) east of West Palm Beach, Florida on Wednesday night, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was moving west at 12 mph (19 kph). The sprawling storm became a hurricane as it slammed into Grand Bahama, hav