Page 4 - Hurricanes

UN climate talks head highlights urgency of financial help for poor nations

The head of upcoming climate negotiations told world leaders Wednesday that a new financial aid package for poor and disaster-struck nations is the urgent, make-or-break goal of United Nations talks this fall. Time lost is lives, livelihoods and the planet lost, said Mukhtar Babayev, the Azerbaijan ecology minister and president-designate of November climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan. At the same time, Simon Stiell, the United Nations' top climate official, made an emotional plea for a stepped-up fight against the growing cost of unchecked climate carnage from his hurricane-demolished hometown of Carriacou, Grenada, in some of the first video from the devastated island. Beryl is yet more painful proof, Stiell, executive secretary of the UN's climate agency, said from the remnants of a neighbour's house that had lost its roof and walls. Every year fossil fuel-driven climate costs are an economic wrecking ball hitting billions of households and small businesses. If governments ...

Caribbean seeks help after Hurricane Beryl devastates small islands

Caribbean officials on Friday demanded more access to funding and help in fighting climate change, weeks after Hurricane Beryl devastated the region. The urgent request was made at an OAS meeting in Washington, DC, where officials noted that the historic storm exposed the vulnerability of small islands. Beryl killed at least seven people in the Caribbean and razed nearly all infrastructure on some of the islands that make up Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. (We) are on the front line, said Virginia Albert-Poyotte, the delegate for St. Lucia, who asked that climate financing be made more available and that financial institutions include special disaster clauses. She and others noted that small Caribbean islands often have rickety infrastructure and fragile economies dependent on tourism and fishing. A resolution approved Friday by the OAS stated that previous hurricanes have led to higher insurance premiums, unemployment and poverty. It called for the immediate operation

Houston struggles with Hurricane Beryl's chaotic aftermath, blackouts

Beryl, now downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone after striking Texas as a Category 1 hurricane, brought heavy rain Tuesday to Missouri, Illinois and Indiana

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

Beryl hurricane heads toward Jamaica after ripping through the Caribbean

Hurricane Beryl roared through open waters Tuesday as a powerful Category 4 storm heading toward Jamaica after earlier crossing islands in the southeast Caribbean, killing at least six people. A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac. Beryl was losing intensity but was forecast to still be near major-hurricane strength when it passes near or over Jamaica early Wednesday, near the Cayman Islands on Thursday and into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Centre. A hurricane watch was in effect for Haiti's southern coast and the Yucatan's east coast. Belize issued a tropical storm watch stretching south from its border with Mexico to Belize City. Late Monday, Beryl became the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic and peaked at winds of 165 mph (270 kph) Tuesday before weakening to a still-destructive Category 4. On Tuesday night, the storm was about 300 miles (480 ...

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 Ophelia nears landfall on the North Carolina coast

Tropical Storm Ophelia was nearing landfall on the North Carolina coast early Saturday with the potential for damaging winds and dangerous surges of water, the US National Hurricane Centre said. Ophelia was about 25 miles (45 kilometres) southwest of Cape Lookout and about 70 miles (110 kilometres) east-northeast of Cape Fear. The system was moving at 9 mph (15 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), the hurricane centre said in an update at 5 a.m. Saturday. Life-threatening flooding caused by the weather system was forecast for parts of eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, but the system was forecast to weaken after landfall, the hurricane centre reported. Ophelia was expected to turn north Saturday and then shift northeast on Sunday. The storm promised a weekend of windy conditions and heavy rain up to 7 inches (18 centimetres) in parts of North Carolina and Virginia and 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimetres) in the rest of the mid-Atlantic region through

Far more hurricane-related deaths in US, especially among poor: Study

Hurricanes in the US in the last few decades killed thousands more people than meteorologists traditionally calculate and a disproportionate number of those victims are poor, vulnerable and minorities, according to a new epidemiological study. A team of public health and storm experts calculated that from 1988 to 2019 more than 18,000 people likely died, mostly indirectly, because of hurricanes and lesser tropical cyclones in the continental United States. That's 13 times more than the 1,385 people directly killed by storms that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration figures, but the study authors said those numbers aren't directly comparable. Instead of just looking at people who drowned, were hit by debris or killed directly by the storm, the study in Wednesday's journal Science Advances examines changes in a storm-hit county's overall number of deaths just before, during and after a hurricane and compared those to normal years. Researchers attributed the excess death

Threat of back-to-back cyclones amid rise in sea level and climate change

One hurricane is terrible enough, but according to a recent study from Princeton University's engineering department, back-to-back hurricanes may become regular for many regions in the decades to come

Extreme weather events cause $270 bn loss worldwide in 2022: Report

The costliest natural disaster in 2022 was Hurricane Ian in the US, which caused losses of around $100 billion, Xinhua news agency cited the report as saying

Climate change targets pose stark challenge for the developing world

Floods and drought, hurricanes and heat waves will make the path out of poverty much more difficult. But trying to limit climate change poses its own set of problems for the developing world

People trapped, 2 mn without power after hurricane Ian swamps SW Florida

Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2 million people before aiming for the Atlantic Coast. One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States barrelled across the Florida peninsula overnight on Wednesday, threatening catastrophic flooding inland, the National Hurricane Centre warned. The centre's 2 am advisory said Ian was expected to emerge over Atlantic waters later on Thursday, with flooding rains continuing across central and northern Florida. In Port Charlotte, along Florida's Gulf Coast, the storm surge flooded a lower-level emergency room in a hospital even as fierce winds ripped away part of the roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there. Water gushed down onto the ICU, forcing staff to evacuate the hospital's sickest patients -- some of whom were on ventilators to other floors, said Dr. Birgit .

Cuba without electricity as power grid collapses after Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian knocked out power across all of Cuba and devastated some of the country's most important tobacco farms when it slammed into the island's western tip as a major hurricane Tuesday. Cuba's Electric Union said in a statement that work was underway to gradually restore service to the country's 11 million people during the night. Power was initially knocked out to about 1 million people in Cuba's western provinces, but later the entire grid collapsed. Ian hit a Cuba that has been struggling with an economic crisis and has faced frequent power outages in recent months. It made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the island's western end, devastating Pinar del Ro province, where much of the tobacco used for Cuba's iconic cigars is grown. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and others fled the area ahead of the arrival of Ian, which caused flooding, damaged houses and blew toppled trees. Authorities were still assessing the damage, although no victims had been reported by

Hurricane Ian lashes Cuba, likely to hit Florida coast as Category 4 storm

A strengthening Hurricane Ian's rain and winds lashed Cuba's western tip, where authorities have evacuated 50,000 people, as it roared on a path that could see it hit Florida's west coast as a Category 4 hurricane. Officials in Cuba's Pinar del Rio province set up 55 shelters, rushed in emergency personnel and took steps to protect crops in Cuba's main tobacco-growing region ahead of Ian's expected landfall early on Tuesday as a major hurricane. The US National Hurricane Centre said the island's west coast could see as much as 14 feet (4.3 metres) of storm surge. Cuba is expecting extreme hurricane-force winds, also life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall, hurricane centre senior specialist Daniel Brown told The Associated Press. After passing over Cuba, Ian was forecast to strengthen further over warm Gulf of Mexico waters before reaching Florida as early as Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with top winds of 140 mph (225 km/h). As of Monday, Tampa and St. Petersburg appear

Cuba prepares evacuations as tropical storm Ian strengthens into hurricane

Authorities in Cuba suspended classes in Pinar del Rio province and said they will begin evacuations on Monday as Tropical Storm Ian was forecast to strengthen into a hurricane before reaching the western part of the island on its way to Florida. A hurricane warning was in effect for Grand Cayman and the Cuban provinces of Isla de Juventud, Pinar del Rio and Artemisa. The US National Hurricane Centre said Ian should reach the far-western part of Cuba late Monday or early Tuesday, hitting near the country's most famed tobacco fields. It could become a major hurricane on Tuesday. Cuba state media outlet Granma said authorities would begin evacuating people from vulnerable areas early on Monday in the far-western province of Pinar del Rio. Classes there have been suspended. At 11 pm on Sunday, Ian was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph), about 140 miles (225 kilometres) south of Grand Cayman, according to the centre. It had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph). Meanwhile, ...

US declares public health emergency for Puerto Rico after hurricane Fiona

US Department of Health and Human Service has declared a public health emergency for Puerto Rico due to the severe flooding caused by hurricane Fiona which made a landfall earlier this week

Fiona becomes a hurricane, aims at Puerto Rico, people brace for rains

Fiona strengthened into a hurricane on Sunday as it bore down on Puerto Rico, where people braced for severe wind and torrential rains. Forecasters said historic levels of rain were expected to produce landslides and heavy flooding, with up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) forecast in isolated areas. It's time to take action and be concerned, said Nino Correa, Puerto Rico's emergency management commissioner. Fiona was centered 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Ponce, Puerto Rico, on Sunday morning. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph). Anxiety ran high across the island with Fiona due just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that hit on Sept. 20, 2017, destroying the island's power grid and causing nearly 3,000 deaths. More than 3,000 homes still have only a blue tarp as a roof, and infrastructure remains weak. I think all of us Puerto Ricans who lived through Maria have that

Artificially cooling water to decrease hurricanes ineffective, finds study

The scientists combined air-sea interaction theories with a highly advanced computer model of the atmosphere

Heavy rain hits South Florida, flooding strands vehicles in Miami

Officials in Miami warned drivers about road conditions as many cars were stuck on flooded streets

11 killed, 33 missing after Hurricane Agatha makes landfall in Mexico

At least 11 people were killed and 33 were missing after Hurricane Agatha made landfall in the Mexican state of Oaxaca on Monday