In a press conference, Ron DeSantis said food, water and other supplies are being distributed to those who did not evacuate
26 states have provided support to Florida amid the damages that Hurricane Ian has left across the state.
“It’s going to be put to use,” DeSantis said on Thursday morning.
Continue reading...Biden says storm could ‘be deadliest in state’s history’ as authorities express fears of a growing death toll
The “catastrophic” scale of damage wreaked by Hurricane Ian’s 150mph deadly rampage across Florida gradually became clearer on Thursday as emergency crews rescued trapped residents from flooded homes, and authorities expressed fears of a growing death toll.
Search and rescue crews conducted hundreds of missions in areas of south-west Florida that were submerged by a storm surge of up to 18ft after one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the US swept ashore on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Charlotte and Lee counties hardest hit after storm makes landfall along the south-western coast with winds close to 150mph
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has laid out the predicted path of Hurricane Ian as it is expected to hit land this afternoon.
Hurricane preparations have been underway at the Big Cat Rescue, the animal sanctuary in Tampa featured on Netflix’s Tiger King TV series.
Continue reading...‘Major, major’ storm, estimated to be 140 miles wide, sweeps inland after causing huge flooding on coast, with millions of residents in its path
Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the US mainland, has battered south-west Florida with high winds, rain and storm surges as it weakened and moved inland.
More than 2m homes and businesses were left without power as the storm swept ashore in south-west Florida on Wednesday afternoon, bringing “catastrophic” 150mph (240km/h) winds and a deadly storm surge of up to 18ft. Hours later, the storm – estimated to be about 140 miles (225km) wide – was downgraded from a category 4 to a category 1 storm as it moved slowly north-east, causing major flooding.
Continue reading...Electricity grid collapses in Cuba after hurricane passes through, as 2.5 million people in Florida ordered to evacuate
Cuba’s electricity grid has collapsed, leaving the entire country without power in the wake of Hurricane Ian, as residents in Florida braced for the arrival of what is expected to be a catastrophic Category 4 storm.
The western end of Cuba was hit by violent winds and flooding on Tuesday, affecting infrastructure, state-run media reported, while some of the country’s most important tobacco farms were devastated.
Continue reading...Thousands evacuated in Pinar del Río, as Floridians are warned storm may strengthen to category 4
Hurricane Ian has torn into western Cuba with nothing to stop it from intensifying into a catastrophic category 4 hurricane before its expected landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
Tampa and St Petersburg in Florida could get their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
Continue reading...Troops to remove trees and restore transport links after Fiona caused severe damage including torn-off roofs and flooding
Canadian troops are being sent to assist the recovery from the devastation of storm Fiona, which swept away houses, stripped off roofs and knocked out power across the country’s Atlantic provinces.
After surging north from the Caribbean as a hurricane, Fiona came ashore before dawn on Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone, battering Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec with hurricane-strength winds, heavy rains and huge waves.
Continue reading...Post-tropical cyclone reaches Gulf of St Lawrence after racing through Nova Scotia forcing evacuations
Powerful storm Fiona ripped into eastern Canada on Saturday with hurricane-force winds, forcing evacuations, knocking down trees and powerlines, and reducing many homes on the coast to “just a pile of rubble in the ocean”.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the centre of the storm, downgraded to post-tropical cyclone Fiona, had reached the Gulf of St Lawrence after racing through Nova Scotia.
Continue reading...Cayman Islands and Jamaica brace while Florida governor declares emergency, with storm headed to state by midweek
Florida residents on Saturday were bracing for a heavy tropical storm system that weather experts warn could become a major hurricane.
Ian – upgraded to a hurricane from a tropical storm Sunday – was poised to intensify steadily after forming on Friday over the southern Caribbean. The storm could cross over into parts of Cuba before heading to Florida by the middle of next week, according to forecasts.
Continue reading...Storm surges and heavy rainfall expected before weather event gradually weakens this weekend, say meteorologists
A powerful storm has hit eastern Canada with hurricane-force winds nearly a week after devastating parts of the Caribbean.
The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said the centre of Fiona, which transformed from a hurricane into a post-tropical cyclone late on Friday was crossing eastern Nova Scotia, bringing high winds and heavy rains.
Continue reading...Nearly a million customers lack power but restoration is proceeding faster than after Hurricane Maria
An estimated 928,000 homes and businesses were still without power in Puerto Rico on Friday morning after Hurricane Fiona hit on Sunday, causing an island-wide power outage for its roughly 3.3 million people.
Hurricane Fiona was passing Bermuda heading towards Nova Scotia in Canada, classed as a major hurricane with winds of up to 125mph (200km/h). The storm has killed at least eight people.
Continue reading...At least six municipalities across island have areas cut off by storm which struck as a category 1 hurricane and has since strengthened
Bermuda and the Atlantic provinces of Canada were preparing for a blast from Hurricane Fiona as authorities struggled on Thursday to open roads for people left stranded and without power by the storm in Puerto Rico.
The storm was expected to still be at category 4 force when it passes close to Bermuda overnight and still dangerously potent when it reaches Canada, probably late on Friday, as an extratropical cyclone.
Continue reading...British island territory imposes curfew and urges people to flee flood-risk areas after Category 3 storm lashes Dominican Republic
Hurricane Fiona has blasted the Turks and Caicos Islands as a Category 3 storm after cutting a path of devastation through the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico – where most people remained without electricity or running water.
The storm’s eye passed close to Grand Turk, the small British territory’s capital island, on Tuesday morning after the government imposed a curfew and urged people to flee flood-prone areas. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 30 miles (45km) from the center.
Continue reading...Floods and rain wreak havoc as critics say total blackout shows authorities have learnt nothing since 2017 hurricanes
Most of Puerto Rico was still without power or safe drinking water on Monday, with remnants of a category 1 hurricane that struck there a day earlier forecast to bring more heavy rain and life-threatening flooding.
Hundreds of people are trapped in emergency shelters across the Caribbean island, with major roads underwater and reports of numerous collapsed bridges. Crops have been washed away while flash floods, landslides and fallen trees have blocked roads, swept away vehicles and caused widespread damage to infrastructure.
Continue reading...Category 1 storm damage ‘catastrophic’, says governor, while it continues to strengthen and barrels toward Dominican Republic
Most of Puerto Rico is without power after a category 1 hurricane bringing heavy rains and dangerous winds made landfall on Sunday evening, causing severe flooding and landslides and damaging infrastructure.
Hurricane Fiona was causing “catastrophic flooding” in Puerto Rico early on Sunday evening, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Continue reading...Residents warned of heavy rain, potential landslides, severe flooding and power outages
Tropical Storm Fiona was expected to become a hurricane as it neared Puerto Rico on Saturday, threatening to dump up to 20 inches (51cm) of rain as people braced for potential landslides, severe flooding and power outages.
The storm previously battered various eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe. Regional prefect Alexandre Rochatte told reporters on Saturday that the body was found on the side of a road after floods washed away a home in the capital of Basse-Terre.
Continue reading...New September temperature record reaches 107F or 41.7C in Salt Lake City, Utah
Through this week, the heatwave in the US has been continuing, allowing more September records to fall. Salt Lake City in Utah saw its September temperature record broken, with each day hotter than the last, until the current highest ever September temperature was recorded on Wednesday. The new September record is now 107F or 41.7C, which astonishingly is also tied as the all-time temperature record for Salt Lake City. It is extraordinary to record a tied record high temperature in meteorological autumn.
Farther south earlier this week, the tropical storm off the west coast of Mexico, previously Twelve-E, developed into a category 2 hurricane, bringing sustained winds of 100mph, and was named Hurricane Kay. The hurricane brought intense flooding all the way up the west coast of Mexico, from Oaxaca to Nayarit by Thursday 8 September. In the last 48 hours, Kay has weakened into a tropical storm, but continues to bring extreme rain in its path, across the Baja California Peninsula and up towards the US state of California.
Continue reading...A record heatwave added stress to the electrical grid and made firefighting difficult. Now a hurricane could bring flash floods
A collision of extreme weather events is bearing down on California as wildfires threaten communities, a record-setting heatwave is adding stress to the electrical grid, and moisture from a hurricane is expected to bring thunderstorms and flash floods.
Hurricane Kay, swirling off the coast of Mexico, is on its way north, bringing with it the chance of strong winds, severe rainstorms, and possibly dry lightning that could increase risks for new fire starts. It also could bring some welcome relief to the week of brutally hot weather.
Continue reading...Temperatures nearing record of 52.2C set in Mecca, California, in 1950
Western areas of North America are continuing to suffer a significant heatwave that is threatening to break the highest global September temperature record. The global record in September is 52.2C (126F), in 1950 in Mecca, California. On 1 September this year, temperatures at Furnace Creek in Death Valley reached a scorching 51.3C (124.4F), less than a degree off the all-time record.
In the following days, several Canadian provinces’ September records were broken, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. On 2 September Lytton in British Columbia reached 39.6C (103F), only 0.4C off the September record for all of Canada. Records in many other cities also fell on 2 and 3 September. The remainder of this week will stay anomalously hot, about 10C above average, with a continued threat of records falling but the heat is expected to move away eastwards later this week.
Continue reading...Lack of activity has confounded forecasts so far but a cluster of thunderstorms could change that
The Atlantic hurricane season has so far confounded forecasts of an active year, with only three named storms so far, none of which were hurricane strength. In fact, until now this August joins 1997 and 1961 in having no named storms.
However, there are three months left of the season and activity is starting to stir in the tropics. A cluster of thunderstorms in the central Atlantic has the potential to organise sufficiently to become the first named storm since Colin in early July. Should this occur, it may move westwards and approach the Leeward Islands, bringing the threat of heavy rainfall towards the end of this week, but there is little suggestion it will develop into a significant storm at this stage.
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