California is so hot and dry that not even soaking rain can ease fall fire peril
Tropical Storm Florence made landfall along the New England coast Monday, moving toward the mid-Atlantic states and the mid-Atlantic and New York peninsulas, leaving a wake of devastation in its path. The storm — which is expected to grow to a Category 3 hurricane by Wednesday — is the third storm to make landfall in the United States in the past seven days.
As the storm is predicted to become the second major hurricane of the 2016 season, it poses a threat to a region that has never seen the likes of Katrina, Sandy or Rita.
As the storm is predicted to become the second major hurricane of the 2016 season, it poses a threat to a region that has never seen the likes of Katrina, Sandy or Rita.
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This is the third time in 20 years (2005, 1999) that a Category 3 hurricane is headed to the Mid-Atlantic region, according to the National Hurricane Center. The last two times, the hurricane made landfall in New York and left behind destruction in New York City, New York. (The 1999 storm was also called Hurricane Floyd, after a U.S. politician, and a Category 3 hurricane.)
“We are in unchartered waters now,” said Joe Mazzeo, a senior meteorologist for the Weather Underground, a weather site run by the public service.
As with the two previous storms in the region, flooding is expected to worsen from the landfall.
Even with the rains, flooding remains a major flash point for the region, which has suffered from a record-breaking heat wave in recent years. Flooding is expected to become a bigger issue as the heat wave continues through this week, according to data collected by the National Hurricane Center, which includes records dating to June 11, 1999. That is when Hurricane Floyd killed at least 11 people and left another 70 people dead in the area.
Hurricane Sandy, which killed more than 100 people in New York after making landfall on Oct. 28, 2012, was the most devastating storm to hit the U.S. coast in recent memory.
The most recent storm in the region is Hurricane Opal, which made landfall in the Florida Panhandle last week. Opal is also a Category 3 hurricane.
Here are some things to know as the region