Weather

Broward County Mayor Mayor Barbara Sharief last night ordered the mandatory evacuation of areas east of US 1, which runs parallel to the coast about two miles inland. The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports: The evacuation order for areas east of Federal Highway, barrier islands, low-lying areas and mobile homes goes into effect at noon Thursday. She said the implementation is …

ABC News reports: Hurricane Katia has formed in the Gulf off the coast of Mexico with sustained winds of 75 mph. The government of Mexico has issued a hurricane watch for the coast of the state of Veracruz from Tuxpan to Laguna Verde. Katia is anticipated to drift toward the coast on Thursday. The announcement of Hurricane Katia came minutes …

The Miami Herald reports: One of the most powerful hurricanes on record continued steaming toward South Florida early Wednesday, with its course after three days still shifting. In their early morning discussion, National Hurricane Center forecasters said the latest model runs have moved Irma’s path slightly to the east, taking the fierce Cat 5 storm over Florida’s east coast or …

The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports: As Hurricane Irma threatens South Florida, Broward and Palm Beach County officials are mulling when to open shelters and order evacuations; Miami-Dade County will begin evacuations Wednesday. Miami-Dade County officials announced that evacuations will begin Wednesday. County offices will be closed Thursday and Friday. “Because of the strength and intensity of this storm, we need …

Miami’s CBS affiliate reports: Evacuation orders are being given in the Florida Keys as Monroe County emergency managers prepare for Hurricane Irma. “For the Florida Keys, if you were to create the worst case scenario that is what we are looking at,” said Monroe Co. Emergency Operations Center Director Martin Senterfitt. The grim outlook prompted Senterfitt to order mandatory evacuations. …

The Associated Press reports: Beyonce, Blake Shelton, Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey will headline a one-hour benefit telethon to benefit Hurricane Harvey victims that will be simulcast next week on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CMT. The event will be telecast live at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 12, and on tape delay at 8 p.m. on the West Coast. …

The Weather Channel reports: Hurricane Irma has strengthened into a dangerous Category 5 hurricane as it bears down on the Leeward Islands, and will rake through the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispañola, the Bahamas and Cuba before posing a dangerous threat to Florida and parts of the Southeast beginning this weekend. The center of Irma is located just under 300 …

The Weather Channel reports: Hurricane Irma is a growing threat to the continental United States, with impacts possibly beginning in Florida later this week. Before that, Irma will bring dangerous conditions to the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Bahamas and Cuba. It is too soon to speculate on the specifics surrounding the U.S. threat from Irma, but the hurricane …

CBS News reports: Tropical Storm Irma is now a hurricane in the open Atlantic and is expected to strengthen into a category 4 storm as it treks west. As of late Thursday morning, Irma was a category 2 storm packing sustained winds of 100 mph and was located more than 3,000 miles away from Florida. The storm is headed west …

Mediaite reports: After Donald Trump claimed he witnessed the “horror and devastation” of Harvey “first hand” in Texas, a photo was posted to his Instagram account that shows the president staring at a screen with a map — an exact opposite of what one would describe as “first hand.” As the internet is known to do, Twitter roasted the president …

NBC News reports: A flooded chemical plant near Houston exploded twice early Thursday, sending a plume of smoke into the air and triggering a fire that the firm plans to let “burn itself out.” Arkema Group, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, had warned Wednesday that the plant would catch fire and explode at some point — adding that …

ABC News reports: Pastor Joel Osteen said today that his Lakewood Church has been taking people in “from the very beginning” of Harvey as he pushed back against criticism that the church did not initially welcome evacuees. “We were here for people. We were a shelter,” Osteen said today on “Good Morning America.” “We were taking people as soon as …

NBC News reports: Harvey made landfall again early Wednesday, roaring ashore in western Louisiana near the border with Texas as residents in the region brace for as much as 6 to 10 inches of additional rain. “Ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding will continue in southeastern Texas,” the National Hurricane Center warned. Officials also said that while the threat of heavy …

CNBC reports: Officials in Brazoria County, outside Houston, warned on Twitter on Tuesday that a levee at Columbia Lakes had been breached by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey and urged any residents who had not already evacuated the area to leave immediately. Houston reservoirs that have contained heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey are starting to overflow, forcing authorities to …

The Weather Channel reports: Harvey’s circulation center will crawl northward just offshore from the upper Texas coast before making a final landfall on either side of the Texas and Louisiana border on Wednesday. Later this week, Harvey’s center will then track through central Louisiana as it turns northeast. That places Louisiana, including Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and New Orleans, in …

The Weather Channel reports: Tropical Storm Harvey is drifting back into the Gulf of Mexico and will meander near the upper Texas coast the next few days, bringing more torrential rainfall to the flooded Houston metro area, piling onto record-breaking, catastrophic flooding. Localized storm total rain amounts of up to 50 inches are not out of the question once Harvey’s …

USA Today reports: Hurricane Harvey, slowing to a Category 1 storm, moved farther inland Saturday, but forecasters warned that it continues to deliver life-threatening storm surges up to 12 feet in some areas and the danger of “catastrophic” flooding from torrential rains across the middle and upper Texas coast for several days. “Historically, water is much more a threat to …

The Houston Chronicle reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave evacuation advice Friday afternoon that conflicts with the advice of Houston area elected officials and emergency management experts ahead of Hurricane Harvey. “Even if an evacuation order has not been issued by your local official, if you are in areas by Corpus Christi and Houston … you need to strongly consider …

The New York Times reports: Facing what could be the most powerful storm to slam into the United States in more than a decade, President Trump and the team he has put in place at the Federal Emergency Management Agency were bracing on Friday for one of the most important tests of his presidency. The stakes could be exceedingly high.  …

ABC News reports: The National Hurricane Center warns that conditions are deteriorating as Hurricane Harvey strengthens and slowly moves toward the Texas coast. The center says preparations for the storm “should be rushed to completion” Friday morning along Texas’ central Gulf Coast. The center says the storm has maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (177 kph), just shy of the …