Weather

CNN reports: Last month, two major storms, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, caused a total of between $51.5 billion and $81.5 billion of property damage, mostly to Southeastern US states, according to estimates from CoreLogic. That’s a lot of damage – but it’s only a small fraction of what climate change has cost people around the world. A new report …

USA Today reports: Tropical Storm Rafael strengthened Tuesday on its path toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba as weather officials in the U.S. monitored the storm for potential impacts to the Gulf Coast. Rafael swiped Jamaica on Tuesday and is forecast to intensify into a hurricane near the Cayman Islands and gain more steam ahead of its expected landfall in …

The Pensacola News-Journal reports: The National Hurricane Center has increased the chances of a tropical disturbance furthering development in the southwestern Caribbean Sea over the next seven days. A tropical depression could develop over the weekend or early next week as the system drifts into the central or western Caribbean, where conditions will likely be conducive for further strengthening. Tropical …

USA Today reports: A storm system in the Caribbean rapidly escalated Saturday from a tropical storm into Hurricane Oscar, the 10th hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Forecasters said Oscar’s winds were much stronger than previously thought and declared the system a hurricane at 2 p.m. ET. Oscar’s maximum sustained winds were about 80 mph with stronger gusts, which …

Reuters reports: The brutal wind and torrential rainfall of Hurricane Milton that killed 16 people in Florida this week were worsened by human-caused climate change, a team of international scientists said on Friday. Global warming made wind speeds around 10% stronger and rainfall greater by between 20% and 30%, according to an analysis by World Weather Attribution. Previous scientific analyses …

USA Today reports: As of Friday morning, 2.2 million Floridians were still without power, according to the USA TODAY power outage tracker. The west-central coast continues to be the hardest hit, with 483,225 residents in Hillsborough County and another 460,544 in Pinellas County still in the dark. In Pasco County, 113,745 power outages were reported. Further south, 152,471 residents in …

CNN reports: The eye of Hurricane Milton, which traveled overnight from near the Tampa Bay area east toward Orlando and Cape Canaveral, is now moving past the Florida peninsula and exiting the east coast, according to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. But the storm – currently a Category 1 hurricane – is still slamming parts of the coast with onshore …

The Weather Channel reports: H​urricane Milton will make landfall in Florida tonight into early Thursday where it poses a major threat to life and property as it hammers the state with destructive storm surge, devastating wind damage, potentially catastrophic flooding rainfall and several tornadoes. Bands of heavy rain containing strong wind gusts are spreading across parts of the state well …

The Miami Herald reports: Palm Beach International Airport will suspend flight operations at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Airport leaders say PBIA is not a shelter for people or cars. The region’s other two major airports, Miami International and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, remain open, although flights could be canceled or delayed. Palm Beach International joins several other major Florida airports in ceasing …

The Weather Channel reports: H​urricane Milton will make landfall in Florida tonight into early Thursday where it poses a major threat to life and property as it hammers the state with destructive storm surge, devastating wind damage, potentially catastrophic flooding rainfall and several tornadoes. “The track of Hurricane Milton continues to be a worst-case scenario for the Tampa Bay region …

Mediaite reports: Florida officials are telling residents who don’t intend to evacuate from the areas expected to be hit hardest by Hurricane Milton to write their names and the phone number of a family member on themselves so their bodies can be identified and their families find out about their deaths, according to CNN’s Paul Murphy. In an appearance on …

The Insider reports: “There’s never been one like this,” Mayor Jane Castor, a Democrat, told CNN Monday, adding that Hurricane Helene, which caused huge damage in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, was “a wake-up call.” Asked for her message to anyone who believed they could stay put and “ride out” the storm, Castor said, “This is literally catastrophic, and I …

ABC News reports: Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 5 storm on Monday as it takes aim at Florida’s west coast. Landfall is expected as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Milton is closing in as Floridians are still recovering from the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene. A record-breaking storm surge of 8 to 12 feet …

The Weather Channel reports: Hurricane Milton has rapidly intensified into a strong Category 3 and hurricane and storm surge watches are now posted along Florida’s western Gulf Coast, where the storm poses threats of life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds and flooding rainfall by midweek. “Milton will be a historic storm for the west coast of Florida,” the National Weather Service …

The Weather Channel reports: Milton has rapidly intensified into a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, as of Sunday afternoon. The storm is expected to continue to strengthen before making landfall as a major hurricane threat on the west coast of Florida sometime on Wednesday. Much of the current computer guidance suggests that a stronger hurricane threat for Florida is …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Milton, which could bring Category 3 winds and surge, or worst, to the Florida peninsula. Areas at the greatest risk are communities still reeling from last month’s Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Ian in 2022. Milton is expected to rapidly intensify over the next 36 …

The Weather Channel reports: Tropical Depression Fourteen has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and now poses a major hurricane threat to Florida just over a week after Helene pushed through the region. I​n their first advisory on the new system, the National Hurricane Center said that “there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: The “Insurance Village” resource center is to open in Clearwater this weekend for residents to expedite the filing of insurance claims. The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Consumer Services will host around 42 insurance agencies to help residents who are in the process of filing a claim. The “Insurance Village” will be open from …

The Associated Press reports: More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene and a run-of-the-mill rainstorm that sloshed in ahead of it — an unheard of amount of water that has stunned experts. That’s enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium 51,000 times, or Lake Tahoe just once. If …

Florida Politics reports: Following the devastating Hurricane Helene that unleashed winds and water, the state issued an emergency order to protect property owners from losing their insurance. The emergency order from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation comes as Florida’s insurance industry was already in crisis before the Category 4 Hurricane Helene arrived. Under the emergency order, insurance companies are …