ON THE TIMES WE ARE NOW IN

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MARKETWATCH

"Smoke from Western wildfires causing hazy skies on East Coast, even reaches Europe"


By Associated Press

Published: Sept. 16, 2020 at 6:02 p.m. ET

The smoke from dozens of wildfires in the western United States is stretching clear across the country — and even pushing into Mexico, Canada and Europe.

While the dangerous plumes are forcing people inside along the West Coast, residents thousands of miles away in the East are seeing unusually hazy skies and remarkable sunsets.


The wildfires racing across tinder-dry landscape in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington are extraordinary, but the long reach of their smoke isn’t unprecedented.

While there are only small pockets in the southeastern U.S. that are haze free, experts say the smoke poses less of a health concern for those who are farther away.

The sun was transformed into a perfect orange orb as it set over New York City on Tuesday.

Photographs of it sinking behind the skyline and glinting through tree leaves flooded social media.

On Wednesday, New Jersey residents described a yellow tinge to the overcast skies, and weather forecasters were kept busy explaining the phenomenon and making predictions as to how long the conditions would last.

On the opposite coast, air quality conditions were among some of the worst ever recorded.

Smoke cloaked the Golden Gate Bridge and left Portland and Seattle in an ashy fog, as crews have exhausted themselves trying to keep the flames from consuming more homes and even wider swaths of forest.

Satellite images showed that smoke from the wildfires has traveled almost 5,000 miles to Britain and other parts of northern Europe, scientists said Wednesday.

The current weather system, which favors a westerly wind across the higher levels of the atmosphere, is to blame for the reach of the smoke, experts explained.

“We always seem, at times, to get the right combination of enough smoke and the upper level jet stream to line up to bring that across the country, so we’re just seeing this again,” said Matt Solum with the National Weather Service’s regional operations center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“It’s definitely not the first time this has happened.”

There could be some easing of the haze this weekend as a storm system is expected to move into the Pacific Northwest and could affect the conditions that helped the smoke travel across the country.

But Solum said there’s always a chance for more smoke and haze to shift around.

“Just due to all the wildfires that are going on, this is likely going to continue for a while,” he said.

“You might have ebbs and flows of that smoke just depending on how the upper level winds set up.”

Kim Knowlton, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City, said she woke up Wednesday to a red sunrise and more haze.

She said millions of people who live beyond the flames can end up dealing with diminished air quality as it’s not uncommon for wildfire smoke to travel hundreds of miles.

Although the health impacts are reduced the farther and higher into the atmosphere the smoke travels, Knowlton and her colleagues said the resulting haze can exacerbate existing problems like asthma and add to ozone pollution.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/smoke ... latestnews
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MARKETWATCH

"‘We are not out of the woods yet’: Gulf Coast braces for 2nd round of flooding in the wake of Hurricane Sally"


By Associated Press

Published: Sept. 17, 2020 at 2:59 p.m. ET

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Homeowners and businesses along the soggy Gulf Coast began cleaning up Thursday in the wake of Hurricane Sally, even as the region braced for a delayed, second round of flooding in the coming days from rivers and creeks swollen by the storm’s heavy rains.

In hard-hit Pensacola and surrounding Escambia County, where Sally’s floodwaters surged through downtown streets and lapped at car door handles on Wednesday before receding, authorities went door-to-door to check on residents and warn them the danger wasn’t over.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” said Escambia County emergency manager Eric Gilmore.

With the Florida Panhandle and Alabama on alert, Sally’s rainy remnants pushed farther inland across the Southeast, causing flooding in Georgia and threatening more of the same on Friday in North Carolina and Virginia.

Forecasters said Georgia could get up to a foot, and South Carolina 10 inches.

Along the Gulf Coast, officials inspected shut-down highways and bridges for damage.

A section of the main bridge between Pensacola and Pensacola Beach collapsed after it was hit by a barge that broke loose during the storm.

At least 400 people in Escambia County were rescued by such means as high-water vehicles, boats and jet skis, county Public Safety Director Jason Rogers said.

At least one death, in Alabama, was blamed on the hurricane, and more than a half-million homes and businesses were without electricity on the morning after the storm in Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

A few people cleaned up in Bristol Park, a creekside neighborhood where as much as 4 feet of water filled brick homes north of Pensacola.

Susan Cutts’ parents fled rising water inside their home into the garage, where they desperately called for help on a dying cellphone until aid arrived.

“They were on top of their car when they got to them,” Cutts said.

At least eight waterways in southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were expected to hit major flood stage by Thursday.

Forecasters warned that some of the crests could break records, submerge bridges and flood homes.

Flooding in central Georgia forced Robins Air Force Base south of Macon to close one of its entrances and delay the start of the workday for some employees.

Elsewhere in Georgia, sheriffs reported numerous trees down and some highways and streets closed because of high water.

Sally blew ashore near Gulf Shores, Alabama, with 105 mph winds, unloading more than 2 feet of rain near Naval Air Station Pensacola before weakening into a tropical storm and then a depression.

Pensacola streets looked like river rapids, and parked cars were swamped.


At a downtown marina, at least 30 sailboats, fishing boats and other vessels were found clumped together in a mass of fiberglass hulls and broken docks.

Some boats rested atop sunken ones.

The hurricane also drove two large ferry boats into a concrete seawall and left them grounded.

The boats had been purchased with BP oil spill money.

“This is kind of the initial salvo,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said of the hurricane’s onslaught, “but there is going to be more that you’re going to have to contend with.”

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NBC NEWS

"Houston faces flash flooding risk as Beta stalls inland"


By Kathryn Prociv

Sept. 22, 2020, 11:05 AM EDT / Updated Sept. 22, 2020, 6:12 PM EDT

Houston prepared for flooding Tuesday as Tropical Depression Beta moved onshore following overnight landfall in Texas.

Beta was downgraded from a tropical storm Tuesday, but it continued to present a serious threat as it moved slowly — at a rate of 5 miles per hour — toward Houston from the Gulf Coast.


Sustained winds were measured at 30 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Houston was under a flash flood warning until 7 p.m., federal forecasters said.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a morning news conference that the nation's fourth largest city was in for at least 24 hours of rain and that the region was at a high risk for flooding.

He encouraged residents to stay home.

Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed that recommendation.

"Texans who live in areas at risk for flooding should not travel if possible, avoid crossing flooded roadways, and continue to heed the guidance of local officials as this storm makes its way through the Lone Star State," he said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

The storm produced as much as 14 inches of rain as it made landfall with 45 mph winds around 10 p.m. on Monday near the southern end of the Matagorda Peninsula, 5 miles north of Port O’Connor, Texas, according to the hurricane center.

With its arrival, Beta became the first Greek-named storm to make landfall in history and the ninth storm to come ashore this season.


The last time the United States saw that number of storms making landfall was in 1916.

In a typical year, the Houston area averages just over 4 inches of rain in September.

With Beta, parts of the metro area could double or triple that average Tuesday.

Beta was expected to dump as much as 20 inches of rain Tuesday, the hurricane center said.

Additionally, federal forecasters said they couldn't rule out the possibility of tornadoes.

"Rainfall totals of 13 to 14 inches have been measured across portions of the Houston metropolitan area thus far," the hurricane center said in an afternoon bulletin.

A storm surge warning and a tropical storm warning remained in effect for portions of the Texas coast, and 11 million people were under flash flood watches from the middle Texas coast to southern Louisiana.

Through Tuesday, the storm was expected to stall inland over southeast Texas.

Rainfall rates of 2-3 inches per hour, and training storms, are expected to cause life-threatening flash flooding.


On Wednesday, the center of Beta will move inland over southeastern Texas; the storm will then travel across Louisiana and Mississippi from Wednesday night through Friday bringing with it some 3-5 inches of rain.

Kathryn Prociv is a meteorologist and producer for NBC News.

Dennis Romero contributed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/ho ... d-n1240697
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NBC NEWS

"Hurricane Delta strengthens as it takes aim at storm-weary Louisiana coast"


By Tim Fitzsimons and Phil Helsel

Oct. 8, 202001:56
Oct. 8, 2020, 10:05 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 9, 2020, 1:29 AM EDT

Hurricane Delta is gaining strength and size over the Gulf of Mexico as it takes aim for the Louisiana coast, which is still recovering from a powerful Category 4 storm six weeks ago that ripped houses from their foundations, peeled off roofs and tore trailers in half.

The storm is expected to make landfall along the southwest Louisiana coast Friday afternoon or evening.

On Thursday, Delta regained "major hurricane strength," becoming a Category 3, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

By Thursday night maximum sustained winds increased to 120 mph.

It could strengthen slightly but some weakening is expected as it approaches the U.S. coast.

It will be the 10th hurricane to make landfall on the mainland U.S. this season, setting a new record.

"We just can't seem to get a break from the weather," one Louisiana resident told NBC News.

A video from a reconnaissance flight into the storm by the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters showed dark, stormy skies stretching for miles on Thursday morning.

The storm is churning toward the area around Lake Charles, which still has about 5,600 residents in New Orleans hotels because their homes are too damaged to occupy from Hurricane Laura in late August.

Trees, roofs and other debris left in Laura’s wake still sit by roadsides waiting for pickup even as forecasters warned that Delta could be a larger-than-average storm.

The large majority of structures damaged by Laura haven’t been permanently repaired, Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Wednesday.

“All that debris could become missiles in really strong wind,” said Edwards, who also worried about the “sheer anxiety” the storm could cause residents who are already traumatized.

NBC News correspondent Sam Brock reported Thursday afternoon that Interstate 10 west of Lake Charles was backed up for miles as residents evacuated the area, which is expected to get hit with tropical-storm force winds starting at about noon Friday.

When the hurricane makes landfall later in the day, maximum sustained winds of 100 to 115 mph and life-threatening flooding are forecast.

Forecasters at midday Thursday expanded the zone where a high storm surge is expected.

Now, a large stretch of low-lying Louisiana, from Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge to Port Fourchon, including Vermilion Bay, could see coastal waters rise by 7 to 11 feet.

Four million people from coastal Louisiana up through central Mississippi are under flash flood watches.

The storm's slight western shift may have spared the Alabama coast from a direct hit, as that state continues to recover from Hurricane Sally.

Delta first struck Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday as a Category 2 storm, forcing tourists in the area's resorts to hunker down.

It then weakened slightly before moving north over the Gulf of Mexico, where it strengthened again to a Category 2, and then to a Category 3 Thursday.

Some weakening is anticipated as the hurricane approaches the U.S. Gulf Coast, forecasters said.

At 10 p.m. local time Thursday (11 p.m. ET), the center of the hurricane was about 285 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana, and was moving north-northwest at 12 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

A hurricane warning is in effect for a stretch of coast from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana.

Tropical-storm warnings are in effect to the west and east — from Sargent, Texas, to High Island, and from Morgan City, Louisiana, east to the mouth of the Pearl River, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

Tropical-storm watches are in effect from the Pearl River east to Bay St. Louis in Mississippi.

The governors of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi declared states of emergencies, and on Wednesday President Trump approved Louisiana's request for a federal emergency declaration.

In addition to the wind, storm surge and other effects, the hurricane is expected to dump 5 to 10 inches of rain, with isolated totals of up to 15 inches, from southwest to south-central Louisiana, forecasters said.

That will cause flash flooding and river flooding, the hurricane center said.

The threat is not limited to the center of the storm.

Hurricane-force winds extend around 35 miles from the center.

National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said everyone in the warning area needs to be prepared.

"A little change in that movement here could bring hurricane-force winds in either direction, because it's not just about that center point," Graham said in a video briefing Thursday afternoon.

Tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 160 miles from the hurricane's center Thursday night.

Those winds could be seen near the coast Friday morning.

Storm surge could also affect a large stretch of the coast, and those are traditionally some of the most dangerous parts of tropical systems, he said.

"Today's the day to really get ready for this hurricane," Gram said Thursday.

Tim Fitzsimons reports on LGBTQ news for NBC Out.

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.

The Associated Press contributed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hu ... t-n1242595
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CCN

"Louisiana must prepare for Zeta while still recovering from two hurricanes, governor says"


By Madeline Holcombe and Haley Brink, CNN

Updated 4:06 PM ET, Mon October 26, 2020

(CNN) - With Hurricane Zeta approaching the Gulf Coast, Louisiana is preparing for potential impact while still working to repair the damage from Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

"We must roll up our sleeves, like we always do, and prepare for a potential impact to Louisiana," said Gov. John Bel Edwards.

It has been a very active hurricane season, and it could be record setting for Louisiana.

Zeta is forecast to reach the state at or near hurricane strength Wednesday -- and if it does, it will set the record for most named storms in the state in one season.

It would be the fifth, following Cristobal, Laura, Marco, and Delta.

Zeta would also bring Louisiana to tie with Florida in 2005 as the most landfalls in any state in one season.

"This storm is expected to make landfall somewhere on the Gulf Coast by midweek, meaning we have a few days to prepare."

"As we've seen this hurricane season, a tropical threat during the ongoing COVID-19 emergency is challenging, but something we can handle," Edwards said in a tweet.

As of Monday afternoon, Zeta was still about 100 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico and moving to the northwest at 10 mph.

Maximum sustained winds are now 80 mph, making Zeta the 11th hurricane of the hyperactive season.

"While the current NHC forecast indicates that the system should weaken below hurricane strength before landfall, users are reminded that strong tropical storms can still produce significant storm surge, rainfall, and wind impacts along the northern Gulf Coast" the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.

And the area is still reeling from back to back storms.

Hurricane Laura struck as the strongest storm in Louisiana since 1856 in late August.

In Louisiana and Texas, the storm destroyed homes and structures in its path and killed at least 25 people.

More than 8,000 Hurricane Laura evacuees were in shelters six weeks later when Delta struck, Edwards said.

Hurricane Delta left a trail of "hazards like flooded roads, downed power lines and displaced wildlife" across the state, Edwards tweeted at the time.

The storm killed at least four people, spawned more than 10 tornado reports from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas, and covered part of Louisiana in more than 17 inches of rain.

"Even if it wasn't quite as powerful as Hurricane Laura, it was much bigger," Edwards said of Delta.

"Obviously, this was a very serious, very large and powerful storm that produced significant amounts of damage."

Zeta is the 27th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season, tying a record set in 2005 for named storms, according to the National Weather Service.

CNN's Melissa Alonso contributed to this report.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/26/us/tropi ... index.html
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NBC NEWS

"Tropical Storm Zeta could make direct hit on New Orleans as Category 1 hurricane - Zeta battered Mexico overnight before emerging over the Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall Wednesday."


By Tim Fitzsimons and Tim Stelloh

Oct. 27, 2020, 10:10 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 27, 2020, 6:57 PM EDT

Tropical Storm Zeta emerged over the Gulf of Mexico early Tuesday and is taking aim at the Gulf Coast with a possible direct hit on New Orleans.

NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins said that while the storm remains relatively weak compared to others this year, it could still down power lines and trees with 60-70 mph winds after making landfall on Wednesday as a Category 1 hurricane.


Rain and powerful winds are expected to begin on the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts on Wednesday morning, he said.

By Wednesday night, Zeta could swamp the Mississippi coast with a storm surge of as much as 8 feet, he said.

Zeta lashed Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula overnight with 80 mph winds and heavy rains.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the storm was 450 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving at 14 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Zeta is the 27th named storm of the 2020 Hurricane season and, when it strikes the U.S. mainland Wednesday, it is expected to break a record by becoming the 11th named storm to do so in one year, according to forecasters.

Louisiana has been hard hit by these storms in recent months: Zeta will be the fourth named storm — after Marco, Laura and Delta — to have made landfall in the state since August.

"It is important that everyone get their game plan together," tweeted Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Tuesday morning.

"Make sure that you are prepared, that you monitor your local news and that you continue to heed the warnings of local officials."

Hurricane warnings are in effect for Morgan City, Louisiana to the Mississippi-Alabama border, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and metro New Orleans.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from the Mississippi-Alabama border to the Okaloosa-Walton County line in Florida, and a tropical storm watch is in effect in Louisiana west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City.

Residents of a stretch of coast from Louisiana to Florida are under a storm surge warning.

Tim Fitzsimons reports on LGBTQ news for NBC Out.

Tim Stelloh is a reporter for NBC News based in California.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tr ... y-n1244903
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WDSU-TV.

"Hurricane Zeta wind gust over 135 mph, Lafourche Parish president says"


WDSU News and Weather

WDSU Updated: 5:13 PM CDT Oct 28, 2020

LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. — Wind gusts from Hurricane Zeta have exceeded 135 mph as the storm made landfall and raced across Louisiana Wednesday afternoon.

Archie Chaisson, the Lafourche Parish president, said his community was experiencing the "full effects" of Hurricane Zeta Wednesday afternoon.

A wind gust to 136 mph was recorded by an anemometer on a boat in the parish, Chaisson said.

Chaisson reported that four or five buildings in the area had collapsed in the southern part of the parish.

Chaisson said there was a limited number of personnel working to check on damage, but response was being hampered by the number of power lines down.

Chaisson said the damage was concentrated in the Galliano, Golden Meadow and Leeville area.

NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Zeta is making landfall near Cocodrie as a powerful category 2 storm.

The eye wall moved over islands in Terrebonne Parish into Galliano and Golden Meadow in Lafourche Parish and is now nearing New Orleans.

As of 5 p.m., the storm has 110 mph winds and is moving north at 24 mph.

The winds are just 1 mph under a Category 3 storm status.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to the Mississippi/Alabama border, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and metropolitan New Orleans.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from the Mississippi/Alabama border to the Okaloosa/Walton County line, Florida, and from west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City.

Locally heavy rains in advance of Zeta will continue to expand and move north from the central Gulf Coast today.

Hurricane conditions are expected within the Hurricane Warning area on the northern Gulf Coast this afternoon, with tropical storm conditions beginning later this morning.

Tropical storm conditions are expected within the Tropical Storm Warning area on the northern Gulf Coast by late today, and tropical storm conditions are possible within the Tropical Storm Watch area this afternoon.

Damaging wind potential, especially in gusts, will spread well inland through the afternoon and evening.

A few tornadoes are expected this afternoon through evening.

This is the 27th named storm of the season.

The only other time we reached the 27th named storm was the 2005 hurricane season, when Epsilon formed on Nov. 29, 2005.

https://www.wdsu.com/article/hurricane- ... s/34512861#
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NBC NEWS

"Two dead after Zeta hammers New Orleans, roars toward Alabama - One person was electrocuted in Louisiana and hundreds of thousands are without power as the storm made its way toward Mississippi."


By Tim Fitzsimons and Tim Stelloh

Oct. 28, 2020, 8:24 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 29, 2020, 1:09 AM EDT

Two people are dead after Hurricane Zeta made landfall in southeastern Louisiana as a powerful Category 2 storm Wednesday afternoon before passing over New Orleans.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city had made it through the fast-moving hurricane.

But, she added, "We have been damaged."

"We have been hit."

One person was electrocuted in the Gert Town section of the city after touching a power line, the mayor told reporters Wednesday night.

It wasn't clear how much damage the city suffered, Cantrell said, but she urged residents not to clean up the mess themselves.

"Please leave it up to public safety officials," she said.

Police in Mississippi are blaming the storm for the death of a man who was found Wednesday in a Bioloxi marina.

The National Weather Service said that the eye of Zeta — which measured roughly 14 miles — began moving over New Orleans at 6:51 p.m. ET.

Video from the region showed Zeta's powerful winds ferrying a boat down an empty street and blasting a portable toilet through an empty lot.

Other clips showed decimated buildings and damaged power lines, toppled trees and a flooded casino.

In Jefferson Parish, which includes New Orleans, parish president Cynthia Lee Sheng said that nearly 167,000 customers — or 75 percent of the area — were without power.

A levee on the barrier island of Grand Isle had been breached in three places, she said, and a casino boat in the community of Lafitte had broken loose from a dry dock and ended up in the Barataria Bay Waterway.

"All should stay home and off the streets tonight, as there are multiple downed power lines and debris throughout the parish," she said.

Poweroutage.us, which tracks electrical outages across the United States, reported that nearly 500,000 customers in southeastern Louisiana were without power Wednesday night.

In southern Mississippi, another 116,000 homes and businesses had lost electricity, according to the site.

The National Hurricane Center said late Wednesday that Zeta had weakened to a tropical storm as it moved east over Mississippi and Alabama, though it was still producing life-threatening storm surge and maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.

As of 12 a.m. Thursday, Zeta was about 60 miles southwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the center said.

As Zeta made landfall in southeast Louisiana, NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins said the storm's maximum sustained winds were expected to reach 110 mph, or "just a hair below Major Category 3 strength."

Tree and structural damage could be extensive from southeastern Louisiana to central Alabama, while coastal Mississippi could be swamped by a storm surge of as much as 10 feet, he said.

"Many of these locations will be without power for days and well past election day in some cases," he said.

Earlier, Cantrell urged city residents to hunker down, telling them "it's coming fast, it's coming strong."

The city's transit authority suspended bus, ferry and streetcar service, and wary New Orleanians spent part of the day filling up sand bags and preparing to ride out the hurricane.

Recalling the steady march of powerful storms over Louisiana since August — Zeta will be the fourth after Marco, Laura and Delta — one longtime resident, Derick Dinatto, said they had become a way of life.

“I lived in New Orleans since ’72,” he said, “but we’ve never had anything like before.”

Another resident, Darlene Hunter, described being mentally drained by the persistent possibility of immediate evacuation.

“When is it gonna stop?” she said.

“I mean, when you wake up you don't know whether you're gonna wake up to a normal street or you're gonna wake up in a street full of water.”

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said that mandatory evacuations were ordered in some sections of three coastal parishes — Jefferson, Terrebonne and Lafourche.

While Zeta's storm surge wasn't expected to be as potentially destructive as the surge from earlier hurricanes, it could still reach eight feet in some coastal areas and five feet along Lake Pontchartrain, north of New Orleans, he said.

Philip Klotzbach, an atmospheric science researcher at Colorado State University, said that Zeta was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States this late in the year since 1899, when another storm with 110 mph winds struck South Carolina.

Tim Fitzsimons reports on LGBTQ news for NBC Out.

Tim Stelloh is a reporter for NBC News based in California.

Morgan Chesky contributed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hu ... s-n1245070
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CNN

"Hurricane Eta rapidly intensified overnight and will be a major Category 4 at landfall"


By Michael Guy, Hollie Silverman and Judson Jones, CNN

Updated 1:24 PM ET, Mon November 2, 2020

(CNN) - Slow-moving Eta, which rapidly intensified overnight, is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, strong winds and nearly 3 feet of rain.

It could lead to catastrophic flooding and landslides across Central America.

"Eta has become an impressive November hurricane as it continues to undergo rapid strengthening," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Sustained winds from Category 3 hurricane Eta strengthened to 120 mph Monday afternoon, classifying it as a major hurricane.

The storm is moving west toward Central America at 9 mph, according to an advisory from the NHC issued Monday afternoon.

"Continued strengthening is expected until Eta reaches the coast of Nicaragua," the NHC said.

It is expected to reach Category 4 status before making landfall.

A hurricane warning is in place for the entire coast of Nicaragua.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the northeastern coast of Honduras.

Eta's center is expected to approach the northeastern coast of Nicaragua Monday afternoon, and make landfall early Tuesday, before moving inland over northern Nicaragua through early Wednesday, according to the NHC.

Hurricane Eta is now the ninth storm of the year, and the fifth storm in a row, to undergo rapid intensification, or the strengthening of wind speeds of 35 mph or more in 24 hours.

Hurricane Eta will bring Catastrophic conditions to Central America

"Catastrophic wind damage is expected where Eta's eyewall moves onshore within the hurricane warning area beginning tonight," the NHC said.

The storm will also deliver heavy rainfall with estimates of 15 to 25 inches, and isolated amounts up to 35 inches in Nicaragua and Honduras.

Life-threatening storm surge along the Nicaraguan coastline is expected to be up to 18 feet above normal tide.

Extremely strong winds will impact areas from the coast towards the mountains.

The wind and storm surge threat will diminish throughout Tuesday, but the rain will last well into the week.

Heavy rain will spread throughout Central America, where areas from southeast Mexico down through Panama could see rain accumulations up to 25 inches.

"This rainfall would lead to catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding, along with landslides in areas of higher terrain of Central America," the NHC said.

"Flash flooding and river flooding would be possible across Jamaica, southeast Mexico, El Salvador, southern Haiti, and the Cayman Islands."

The current forecast has the storm meandering the mountains of Nicaragua and Honduras before heading north towards Belize as a depression by Friday.

The track and intensity of the storm remains uncertain after Friday and will be closely monitored.

Eta is the 28th named storm of the active 2020 hurricane season and ties the record for the number of named storms in a single season set back in 2005.

The storm has the potential to be one of the worst flooding events Nicaragua has seen since Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed more than 10,000 people.

CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller contributed to this report

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/02/weather/ ... index.html
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NBC NEWS

"Hurricane Eta blasts Nicaraguan coast as Category 4 storm - A Nicaraguan official said there were reports of swollen rivers, corrugated metal roofs flying off homes and fallen trees, poles and power lines."


By Kathryn Prociv, Tim Stelloh and The Associated Press

Nov. 3, 2020, 12:07 PM EST / Updated Nov. 3, 2020, 7:34 PM EST

Hurricane Eta blasted Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm Tuesday, bringing catastrophic winds and the possibility of flash flooding, landslides and a deadly storm surge to the Central American country, officials said.

Eta — the fifth major hurricane of the 2020 season — made landfall south of Puerto Cabezas on Tuesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said, and when the storm was coming ashore it had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.

By 7 p.m., the center of the storm was inland over northeastern Nicaragua and maximum sustained winds were 110 mph.

But it was bringing "life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, and flash flooding" to parts of Central America, the hurricane center said in an advisory.

The storm was moving west at 5 mph.

Eta was forecast to produce a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet above normal tide levels along parts of the Nicaragua coast, and rainfall for much of that country and Honduras of between 10 to 15 inches with isolated amounts of up to 35 inches.

Guillermo González, director of Nicaragua’s emergency management agency, said in a news conference that there were reports of swollen rivers, corrugated metal roofs flying off homes and fallen trees, poles and power lines.

So far, there were no reported injuries or deaths, he said.

But in neighboring Honduras, authorities there announced the first death attributed to the storm early Tuesday, which involved a child who died in a mudslide.

In Bilwi, Nicaragua, the main coastal city in the region, hospital officials moved patients to a school campus and thousands of people remained in shelters.

Military search and rescue teams were scouring the area.

The storm has been drenching neighboring Honduras with rains since at least Sunday and the country reported its first death attributed to Eta early Tuesday.

A 12-year-old girl died in a mudslide in San Pedro Sula, the main population center in northern Honduras, said Marvin Aparicio, director of the national system of incident commands for Honduras’ emergency management agency.

In Honduras, there were at least 559 people affected by flooding who had to move to shelters or go to relatives’ homes, he said.

At least 25 people had been rescued, he said.

His agency reported at least six rivers causing significant flooding.

The hurricane underwent a dramatic intensification Monday, strengthening by 80 mph in 24 hours and becoming a ferocious Category 4 storm tied with Hurricane Laura as the strongest yet of 2020 season.

Eta is expected to linger and is forecast to move across Nicaragua and Honduras through Thursday.

This weekend, Eta may redevelop over the northwest Caribbean, and by early next week some forecast models track it northeast somewhere between the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba.

There is high uncertainty in this forecast and it is too early for more details, but people in the U.S. should keep an eye on this forecast going into next week.

Eta's intensity is rare for a November storm.

At 150 mph, it became the 3rd strongest November hurricane on record.

Kathryn Prociv is a meteorologist and producer for NBC News.

Tim Stelloh is a reporter for NBC News based in California.

The Associated Press Phil Helsel contributed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/hu ... 0-n1245958
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