From 1 to 5, the numbers we use to categorize hurricanes are ingrained in the minds of millions of Americans from Texas to Maine. But the famed 47-year-old Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, which only measures wind speed, may not be the best way to gauge a storm’s ferocity. Last week, powerful Hurricane Florence was downgraded from a Category […]

The drenching rains and massive flooding caused by Florence are expected to inflict a high financial toll on homeowners in North Carolina and other states, as only a small percentage are covered by flood insurance that could help offset the costs of rebuilding their damaged homes. An estimated quarter of a million homes in North Carolina are projected […]

Although the torrential rain from Florence may be coming to an end in the Carolinas, the slow-motion disaster of river flooding will continue to wreak havoc across the region for days – or potentially weeks. It may take up to two weeks for all of the runoff from the storm, which has killed at least 32 people, […]

North Carolina confronted a spiraling statewide crisis on Sunday as Tropical Depression Florence slowly ravaged the region, flooding cities, endangering communities from the coastline to the rugged mountains, and requiring well more than 1,000 rescues. Sunday, it seemed, was when the storm system that had stalked the South for days — first as a hurricane, […]

All Red Cross-supported County emergency evacuation shelters have been closed. In the coming days, Red Cross volunteers will be assessing damages in the hardest hit areas on Maui and Oʻahu and providing emergency assistance. Below is a list of tips from the Red Cross for Evacuees Returning to their homes after a storm: After a […]

Hurricane Florence isn’t the only storm threatening lives and property around the world. Also spinning in the Atlantic are Tropical Storms Helene and Isaac and Subtropical Storm Joyce, while Tropical Depression Olivia and Super Typhoon Mangkhut are making waves in the Pacific. In the Atlantic, while Joyce is far out to sea and poses no […]

There is no such thing as a category 6 hurricane or tropical storm – yet. But a combination of warmer oceans and more water in the atmosphere could make the devastation of 2017 pale in comparison Meteorologists and scientists never imagined that there would be a need for a category 6 storm, with winds that […]

When Hurricane Florence struck the U.S. East Coast at 7:15AM ET this morning, it popped a squat near Wilmington, North Carolina. The hurricane — now downgraded to a tropical storm — is hovering over the area, unleashing torrential rainfall, and creeping towards the west at a glacial three miles per hour, according to the National […]

US officials are warning Hurricane Florence could kill “a lot of people” with risks of “catastrophic” flooding as the storm begins to lash the country’s East Coast. Florence, although now downgraded to a category one storm, is slow-moving and could linger for days, bringing “copious amounts of rain”. Florence made landfall on Friday, with the […]

The storm’s centre was about 180km east of Wilmington, North Carolina, at 2pm local time (18:00 GMT) but tropical storm-strength winds and heavy rains already were hitting North Carolina’s Outer Banks barrier islands. The main highway in the Outer Banks was closed in parts as seawater pushed in. Flooding from rain and rising rivers also […]