Hurricanes

Nearing the 20th anniversary of Katrina, disaster officials worry that cuts to FEMA may put Floridians in danger during hurricane season.

Abandoned vessels can linger in waterways for years, polluting ecosystems and complicating navigation. A new initiative is trying to shift the tides.

The storm’s likely path is coming into focus, but a lot can still change. Here’s what the forecasters look at.

Hurricane forecasting has improved dramatically over recent decades, but there’s one major phenomenon that can still throw a wrench into even the most accurate forecasts — rapid intensification.

Whether you get your forecast from an app on your phone, a website or a meteorologist on TV, most of the underlying information comes from the federal government.

Thursday's mass firings at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — including nearly two dozen on Virginia Key and more than 600 nationwide — could stall improvements to hurricane forecasting and delay seasonal outlooks. “ It's going to take years, years for NOAA to recover the trust of the next generation of brilliant environmental scientists," said a former administrator.

COMMENTARY It's a good bet Pre-Columbian peoples would have been smarter about modern hurricanes than Florida's climate change denier-in-chief is showing himself to be.

Forecasters say Helene has strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane — with sustained winds oer 130 mph — as it races toward northwest Florida. The enormous storm is expected to make landfall Thursday night.

The warm Gulf of Mexico will be prime fuel during the next 24 hours and not much wind shear to keep this system from intensifying.

Despite being a chain of coastal communities vulnerable to hurricanes, Monroe County was one of the last areas in Florida without an Emergency Operations Center. With just two full months left this hurricane season, local officials in the Florida Keys have finally cut the ribbon on a new EOC.

For children, hearing words like "disaster" or "explosive" when referring to storms can lead to hurricane anxiety — which can be portrayed in the form of physical and/or emotional symptoms. A Delray Beach clinical psychologist explains how you can help children cope with large storms.

The migrant farmworker community is one of the most vulnerable groups when it comes to natural disasters. Language barriers and immigration status are major hurdles to seeking emergency relief.