Bicyclists pass a fallen tree in the Greenpoint area of Brooklyn, New York on Aug. 4, 2020 after Isaias left hundreds of thousands without power and prompted flood precautions in New York City. DIANE DESOBEAU / AFP via Getty Images
At least six people are dead after Isaias sped up the East Coast Tuesday, downing trees, spawning tornadoes, and flooding homes and roadways as it went.
<p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-isaias-atlantic-2646825815.html" target="_self">earliest "I" storm</a> of an Atlantic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricane</a> season on record began its path of destruction late Monday night when it made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. It brought both flames and floods, causing at least five structures to catch fire, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/us/isaias-storm-updates.html#link-665175e7" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>"We didn't think it was going to get to this level," Morgan Strenk, who offered a family shelter from the flames in her vacation home even as its basement filled with three feet of water, told The New York Times.</p>
<div id="8db37" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9e605552627ca15c0e48ee50e3ac748e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290507775966154754" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">At approximately 11:40 p.m., there were reports of multiple structure fires in the area of Ocean Isle Beach, North… https://t.co/2gaphSIzf4</div> — Horry SC Fire Rescue (@Horry SC Fire Rescue)<a href="https://twitter.com/hcfirerescue/statuses/1290507775966154754">1596516004.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The hurricane also brought storm surge flooding to Oak Island, North Carolina and rose the Cape Fear River in Wilmington, North Carolina to a record high level, <a href="https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2020-08-04-tropical-storm-isaias-forecast-northeast-flooding-damaging-winds" target="_blank">The Weather Channel reported</a>.</p><p>Isaias weakened to a tropical storm over Eastern North Carolina early Tuesday morning, <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1290543815502307329" target="_blank">according to the National Hurricane Center</a> (NHC). But it was still a deadly force as it moved up the East Coast.</p><p>One of the major hazards was falling trees, which killed at least three people in New York, Delaware and Maryland, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/weather/hurricane-isaias-carolinas-tuesday/index.html" target="_blank">according to CNN</a>. Trees fell from Virginia to New England, and more than three million homes and businesses lost power, The Weather Channel reported.</p>
<div id="1da84" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0ef51bac557980cd33dc801ec6d17598"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290740659368996865" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Haven’t seen tree damage this extensive since Sandy in Woodbridge, NJ. You can actually smell the trees. No power.… https://t.co/U0zTqaSYtL</div> — Collin Gross (@Collin Gross)<a href="https://twitter.com/CollinGrossWx/statuses/1290740659368996865">1596571528.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Another major hazard was tornadoes. The National Weather Service received more than 20 reports of twisters between North Carolina and Pennsylvania.</p><p>In one tragic incident, 12 people were injured and at least two people were killed when a tornado hit a mobile home park in Windsor, North Carolina, CNN reported.</p><p>"We didn't have a lot of time to react once it finally hit. I mean, it hit all at once," resident Desaree Pike told <a href="https://www.wral.com/" target="_blank">CNN affiliate WRAL</a>. "For lack of a better word, it was hell. You don't really think about anything else but just holding the kids and hoping it doesn't tear the house up."</p>
<p>One of the reasons Isaias was so dangerous, and spawned so many tornadoes without warning, was the speed at which it moved. As of Tuesday evening, it was still moving 40 miles per hour and still had maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour.</p><p>In addition to wind, the storm also brought widespread flooding.</p>
<div id="c0467" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="adcda918a351bc1fbeca5f93b86eff8d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290770765009149952" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">As of 6PM Tuesday, we are forecasting flooding at 14 locations across the Mid-Atlantic region. Please follow the la… https://t.co/FcEKPBbIH2</div> — NWS MARFC (@NWS MARFC)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSMARFC/statuses/1290770765009149952">1596578706.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Pennsylvania was especially inundated. One person died in the state when floodwaters swept away their vehicle, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/isaias-hurricane-tropical-storm-tornado-flooding-fires-outages/" target="_blank">CBS News reported</a>. Little Lehigh Creek and <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSMARFC/status/1290775238792241154" target="_blank">Perkiomen Creek </a>in Pennsylvania both crested at record levels and Darby Creek flooded a neighborhood in southwest Philadelphia, according to The Weather Channel.</p>
<div id="2ca46" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2c7ff0154aa438fdd332eb7644c0e29b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290747910422966277" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">**Breaking - Darby Creek floods its banks into Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood near 84th St and Lindberg Blvd.… https://t.co/N1ZpaWnaGB</div> — Dan Patrick (@Dan Patrick)<a href="https://twitter.com/6abcDan/statuses/1290747910422966277">1596573257.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>A man and woman also had to be rescued in In Charles County, Maryland after flood waters swept their cars off the road, CBS News reported.<br></p><p>However, the storm's speed provided one advantage: It did not linger, which reduced river flooding and allowed emergency workers to respond rapidly, The New York Times reported.</p><p>"All in all, this storm got in, got out pretty quickly," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>He said this meant the damage was "not as great as it could have been."</p><p>The storm has now moved into Canada as a post-tropical cyclone, <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/050837.shtml" target="_blank">according to a 5 a.m. EDT update from the NHC</a>. It is currently about 55 miles northwest of Quebec City and is expected to dissipate over southeastern Canada Thursday.</p>
<p>But as the storm fades, it leaves a sobering reminder of what a future shaped by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> could look like, The New York Times pointed out. Isaias struck the same week that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/apple-fire-california-coronavirus-2646869340.html" target="_self">Apple Fire</a> forced thousands to evacuate in Southern California, and both disasters came as the nation still struggles to contain the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic, giving a foretaste of the overlapping crises we can expect if the climate continues to destabilize.</p><p>"State and local governments already stretched with Covid responses must now stretch even further," adaptation program director at the Georgetown Climate Center in Washington Lisa Anne Hamilton told The New York Times. She said better planning was needed to prepare for the disasters to come.</p>
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Isiais now approaches the Carolinas, and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane again before reaching them Monday night. NOAA
Florida was spared the worst of Isaias, the earliest "I" storm on record of the Atlantic hurricane season and the second hurricane of the 2020 season.
<p>The storm's projected path had prompted fears that Floridians would have to evacuate in large numbers as the state struggles to contain the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic. But Isaias weakened to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon, <a href="https://abc11.com/isaias-track-storm-tropical-where-is-now/6350016/" target="_blank">ABC 11 reported</a>. It also remained offshore, drenching parts of the Florida coast with rain but largely sparing the state, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/02/tropical-storm-isaias-nears-east-coast-florida-aims-carolinas-next/5566396002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY</a>.</p><p>"Florida dodged a bullet for sure!" BAM Weather meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted. </p>
<div id="14b13" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3dabcc399c214226e768937f555a5ebc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1289943962405318657" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Tropical Storm #Isaias no longer expected to restrengthen into a hurricane. 🌀 The vertical wind shear shredder has… https://t.co/kqBsJOS3Tj</div> — Ryan Maue (@Ryan Maue)<a href="https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/statuses/1289943962405318657">1596381581.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>However, Isiais isn't done with the U.S. yet. It now approaches the Carolinas, and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane again before reaching them Monday night, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/weather/tropical-storm-isaias-carolinas-monday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p><p>A storm surge warning is in effect from Edisto Beach in South Carolina to Cape Fear in North Carolina, along with parts of the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and the North Carolina Outer Banks from Oregon Inlet to the North Carolina and Virginia borders. It could raise water levels by three to five feet from South Santee River, South Carolina to Cape Fear, North Carolina, according to an 11 a.m. EDT update from the <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/" target="_blank">National Hurricane Center</a> (NHC).</p><p>"A Storm Surge Warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, during the next 36 hours in the indicated locations," NHC explained.</p>
<div id="dea35" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="132c2812ba753aaaf415ad33fb7ff2c0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290213982947737600" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here are the 5 am EDT Monday, August 3 Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Isaias. For the full advisory on #Isaias, v… https://t.co/5MbSBJmEhI</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1290213982947737600">1596445959.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The North Carolina coastal communities of Ocracoke Island and Hatteras Island were evacuated Friday ahead of the storm, CNN reported.</p><p>President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration for parts of North Carolina, and Gov. Roy Cooper reminded residents Sunday to have their emergency kits ready, ABC 11 reported.</p><p>South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, meanwhile, said Friday he would not issue any evacuations.</p><p>"Right now we're hoping this storm will not hit us hard if it hits at all," McMaster said in the CNN story. "At this time we have no intention at all of declaring any sort of evacuation."</p><p>Isaias is expected to slowly weaken after making landfall and then travel north. It will bring strong winds to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York, impacting the Mid Atlantic states on Tuesday and New Hampshire and Maine on Wednesday.</p><p>Along the way, storm surges and winds aren't the only threat. </p><p>"Heavy rainfall from Isaias will result in flash and urban <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>, some of which may be significant in the eastern Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic, through Tuesday night near the path of Isaias up the East Coast of the United States," NHC wrote.<span></span></p>
<div id="80487" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dcd38a3bef604d3ff7ef47552482cbe4"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290216672976986113" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">There is a moderate risk of flash flooding across portions of the eastern Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states from… https://t.co/C5Ys46ZetX</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1290216672976986113">1596446600.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Tornadoes could touch down in coastal South Carolina Monday and eastern North Carolina into Tuesday. Twisters are also possible from eastern Virginia to southern New England on Tuesday.</p><p>Before Isaias reached the U.S., it knocked down trees and tore off roof shingles in the Bahamas, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/hurricane-isaias-batters-bahamas-florida-coast-200801143455063.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera reported</a>. Some residents of Abaco and Grand Bahama Islands, who were still living in temporary shelters following last year's devastating <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-dorian" target="_self">Hurricane Dorian</a>, had to be evacuated ahead of the storm.</p><p>"With everything not quite shored up, property not secured, homes not prepared, even a category one will be enough to set them back," Bahamas Mercy Corps Director Paula Miller told The Associated Press, Al Jazeera reported.</p>
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Satellite imagery of Isaias on July 31, 2020. CIRA / NOAA
Isaias, the earliest Atlantic "I" storm on record, strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane Thursday and now has the Bahamas and potentially Florida in its path.
<p>As a tropical storm, Isaias has already battered Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, still recovering from 2017's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-maria" target="_self">Hurricane Maria</a>, the storm knocked out the power of 300,000 to 400,000 people, dumped five to 10 inches of rain and caused mudslides and flash <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>, National Weather Service San Juan meteorologist Gabriel Lojero told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/31/weather/hurricane-isaias-forecast/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. One woman went missing when her car was swept away.</p><p>"A lot of neighborhoods were submerged under water," Lojero said.</p>
<div id="6e2f2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ad3c7b65ff4e5430baa62dd1d5b18d9a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1288973886441234432" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Southwestern PR | Suroeste de PR:
Flash Flood Warning in effect until 9:15 pm.
Aviso de Inundaciones repentinas en… https://t.co/k7IMKHlQJJ</div> — NWS San Juan (@NWS San Juan)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSSanJuan/statuses/1288973886441234432">1596150297.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Dominican Republic also experienced flooding, water and power outages and storm damage, <a href="https://apnews.com/db2517c2ff9ef9597a49cb57524cdbc9" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. One man died when he was electrocuted by a toppled electrical cable.</p><p>Isaias is now 340 miles from Nassau in the Bahamas with winds of 80 miles per hour, according to an <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/311157.shtml" target="_blank">8 a.m. EDT update</a> from the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Hurricane conditions are expected in parts of the Bahamas today.</p><p>The storm is expected to reach the central Bahamas tonight and move near or over the Northwestern Bahamas and near or east of the Florida peninsula Saturday and Sunday.</p>
<p>One of the major potential hazards from the storm is rain. It is expected to dump four to eight inches of rain on the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, northern Haiti and the Turks and Caicos islands through Saturday and one to two inches over Cuba.</p><p>"These rainfall amounts will lead to life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides, as well as river flooding," the NHC warned.</p><p>Between Friday and Monday, the storm could dump two to four inches over South and east-Central Florida, potentially causing flooding. Heavy rains could reach the Carolinas early next week.</p>
<div id="36dae" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0015f4d2cae5180475f5b241bfa3288c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1289128870101184514" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here are the Key Messages for July 31 at 5 am EDT for #Hurricane #Isaias. The full advisory is at… https://t.co/8AG5wNA6jn</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1289128870101184514">1596187248.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Isaias has slowed somewhat as it approaches the Bahamas, from 22 miles per hour Wednesday to 17 on Friday. This means it will have more time to strengthen as it passes over warmer water, the <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/hurricane/2020/07/31/hurricane-isaias-forms-in-caribbean-sea-and-is-still-headed-to-south-florida" target="_blank">Tampa Bay Times pointed out</a>. This could spell trouble for the Bahamas, parts of which were devastated by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-dorian-bahamas-2640172331.html" target="_self">Hurricane Dorian</a>, which rapidly intensified last year.</p><p>"We know from past and recent experience that storms could change course very quickly," Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said during a press conference Thursday, as the Tampa Bay Times reported. "They can intensify rapidly as we saw with hurricane Dorian. So I ask all Bahamians and residents to take this storm seriously and to make preparations."</p><p>Grand Bahama and Abaco, two of the islands in the Bahamas battered by Dorian, are also covered by the hurricane warning for Isaias, The Associated Press reported. People on both islands are still living in tents almost 11 months later.</p>
<div id="345a1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="479aeeb7859d59b4fbf7146de68a450d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1289051000897015809" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">(1/2) 🌀 11PM CDT: Latest on now Hurricane #Isaias. Here is a late-night infrared satellite view of the storm which… https://t.co/rOqbY1j0Vc</div> — NWS New Orleans (@NWS New Orleans)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSNewOrleans/statuses/1289051000897015809">1596168682.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>It is still unclear if Isaias will make landfall in Florida, lash the Florida coast without making a direct hit as it moves towards the Carolinas, or veer off into the Atlantic.</p><p>However, the state is preparing, in part by closing some of its <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> testing sites, CNN reported.</p><p>The approaching hurricane comes as Florida reported almost 10,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, and the combination of the two hazards complicates the response to each.</p><p>"Look, if we have a major hurricane here, then we're going to have to evacuate a number of people and then we're going to have to ... try to keep them separated as much as possible," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez told CNN. "That's a concern."</p><p>Isaias is the second hurricane in an early and active Atlantic hurricane season. Hanna, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-hanna-texas-2646805833.html" target="_self">which battered Texas last weekend</a>, was both the season's first hurricane and the earliest "H" storm on record.</p><p>A study <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-intensity-climate-crisis-2646033123.html" target="_self">published in May</a> found that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making tropical storms stronger and wetter.</p>
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Coastal Flooding Could Threaten Millions and Cost Trillions by 2100, New Study Finds
31 July
Climate
The last house to endure rising sea levels on Holland Island in the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Maryland on May 23, 2010. The house collapsed in October 2010. baldeaglebluff / Flickr
The climate crisis may usher in a new level of global economic catastrophe and human suffering as extreme weather worsens and coastal flooding intensifies. A new study found that extreme weather will make coastal areas dangerous places to live as more intense storms crash into coast lines and increasingly high tides encroach inland, as The New York Times reported.
<p>"We are attempting to understand the magnitude of the global scale impacts of future coastal flooding," Ian Young, a professor at the University of Melbourne and an author of the study, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/climate-change-coastal-flooding-could-hit-20percent-of-gdp-by-2100.html" target="_blank">told CNBC</a>.</p><p>"Globally we need to understand that changes of this nature will occur by 2100 and we need to plan how we are going to respond," he said.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67736-6" target="_blank">study</a>, published in <em>Scientific Reports,</em> found that the economic damage from those storms and from periodic flooding may cost over $14 trillion and threaten 20 percent of global gross domestic product, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/weather/coastal-flooding-sea-level-rise-study-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p>
<p>"This is on a 'business as usual' CO2 emissions scenario," said Ebru Kirezci from the University of Melbourne, who led the study, as CNN reported. "Business as usual" assumes a rise in average global temperatures at the upper end of predictions, if global emissions are allowed to continue on their current course.</p><p>The study pinpointed exact hotspots around the world most vulnerable to coastal flooding, as well as the potential economic impact on infrastructure and activity in those areas. As Fortune noted, the study also maps out in great detail the impact of episodic flooding caused by strengthening storm events and tides. Those events are predicted to be more damaging than the threat of slowly <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">rising seas</a> and will cause roughly 69 percent of coastal flooding by 2100.</p>
<p>Some of the regions that are particularly at risk, according to the study, are the following:</p><ul><li>The coasts of Northwest Europe, including Southeast England</li><li>The East Coast of the U.S., particularly the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland</li><li>India, particularly around the Bay of Bengal</li></ul><p>The study was a collaboration between researchers from the University of Melbourne, IHE Delt in the Netherlands, the University of Amsterdam, the University of East Anglia in the UK, and Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, as <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/07/30/coastal-flooding-gdp-impact/" target="_blank">Fortune</a> reported.</p>
<p>The authors also predict that the global population exposed to coastal flooding could be up to 287 million by 2100, which is 4.1 percent of the world's population, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/30/climate-change-coastal-flooding-cost-14-trillion-worldwide/5545712002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY</a> reported.</p><p>"What the data and our model is saying is that compared with now, what we see as a 1-in-100-year extreme flood event will be 10 times more frequent because of climate change," Kirezci said.</p><p>If the world's nations keep emitting greenhouse gases, and sea levels rise just 1 to 2 more feet, the amount of coastal land at risk of flooding would increase by roughly one-third, the research said.</p><p>"Even though average sea levels rise relatively slowly, we found that these other flooding risks like high tides, storm surge and breaking waves will become much more frequent and more intense," said Kirezci, as The New York Times reported. "Those are important to consider."</p>
<p>The study seems to add to the mounting evidence that the world's nations can greatly reduce future flooding risks by cutting emissions rapidly, especially since that could lower the odds of rapid ice-sheet collapse in Antarctica that would push up ocean levels even higher than forecast later in the century, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>However, Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist at Princeton University who was not involved in the study, told The New York Times that the world has now warmed so much that significant sea-level rise by 2050 is assured no matter what happens with emissions. "That means we also need to start preparing to adapt now," he said.</p>
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Tropical Storm Warnings Issued for Puerto Rico, Eastern Caribbean as Earliest ‘I’ Storm Threatens to Form
29 July
Climate
The system that could develop into Tropical Storm Isaias, as seen on July 28. NOAA
Tropical storm warnings were issued for Puerto Rico and much of the Eastern Caribbean Tuesday as a disturbance is expected to become the ninth named tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season Wednesday.
<p>The system looks set to continue 2020's run as a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-hanna-texas-2646805833.html" target="_self">record-breaking hurricane season</a>. If it develops into Tropical Storm Isaias, it will be the earliest "I" storm on record, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/28/weather/tropical-storm-isaias-potential-cyclone-nine-forecast-puerto-rico/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. The previous record was set Aug. 7 in 2005, currently the most active Atlantic season on record. 2020 has already reached eight named storms earlier than any other season, Colorado State University Meteorologist Philip Klotzbach said on Twitter.</p>
<div id="b34c5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="05548230a600d60c6aaa469ba42f1c14"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287877196757889024" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">While 2020 Atlantic #hurricane has reached 8 named storms faster than any season on record, 6 years in satellite er… https://t.co/b1Ftu9YSAf</div> — Philip Klotzbach (@Philip Klotzbach)<a href="https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/statuses/1287877196757889024">1595888825.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"[A] a tropical storm is forecast to form later today," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) wrote in an <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/290845.shtml" target="_blank">update at 5 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time</a>.</p><p>The system, currently dubbed "Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine," is already generating tropical-storm-force winds of 45 miles per hour. However, it is not a tropical storm yet because it does not circulate around a round center, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers explained.</p><p>"When a circular center finally forms, that is when it will be called a tropical storm," he said.</p>
<div id="ddf2b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="392873b31631495c70a195d386517400"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1288134295379468289" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">PTC9 is a large system with convection spanning roughly 1000 miles from SW to NE –– The elongated and open center o… https://t.co/FQPJViSS5J</div> — WeatherOptics (@WeatherOptics)<a href="https://twitter.com/weatheroptics/statuses/1288134295379468289">1595950123.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The system is currently located 385 miles from San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to the NHC. It is moving west-northwest at about 23 miles per hour and is expected to move over the southern Leeward Islands early Wednesday and reach the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Wednesday night. It is then expected to pass near or over Hispaniola Thursday and near or over the southeastern Bahamas Friday.</p><p>In addition to wind, the storm threatens to dump three to six inches of rain over Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, northern Haiti, the Turks and Caicos, the northern Leeward Islands and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. It could also dump four to eight inches of rain over the Inagua Islands.</p><p>"These rainfall amounts could lead to life threatening flash <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> and mudslides, as well as potential riverine flooding," the NHC warned.</p><p>Another danger are life-threatening swells and rip tides, which will reach the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands over the next two days and the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas Thursday.</p>
<div id="3e676" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="efdba9c450e8c6f26dfb2b7663735682"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1288399591440711680" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here are the Key Messages for Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine early on Wednesday morning. The full forecast is at… https://t.co/ueCYPLRW1Y</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1288399591440711680">1596013374.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The warning comes as Puerto Rico continues to recover from 2017's devastating <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-maria" target="_self">Hurricane Maria</a>, the <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article244538322.html" target="_blank">Miami Herald pointed out</a>. That storm wiped out the island's power grid—it took <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/puerto-rico-electricity-hurricane-maria-2596147659.html" target="_self">nearly 11 months</a> after the storm to restore power to all homes. Officials are worried about the impact any future storms will have. More than 450,000 Puerto Ricans briefly lost power Tuesday because a plant went offline, <a href="https://apnews.com/0f98f7d25a36529e4e59ec6a196b9af8" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. The cause is not yet known.</p><p>The storm also comes as Puerto Rico battles a spike in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> cases.</p><p>Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez said during a press conference that there were more than 300 shelters and more than 130,000 face masks ready for storm evacuees.</p><p>"We've lived through several emergencies at one time," she said. "I want you to remain calm."</p>
<div id="1c324" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7da35160075c8cb111656790404e0d29"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1288158663077748737" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here's a possible view of TS #Isaias about 36 hours from now, via the latest HWRF model. A strong tropical storm pa… https://t.co/Vx0gNp0fHW</div> — Eric Holthaus (@Eric Holthaus)<a href="https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/statuses/1288158663077748737">1595955932.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>There is a chance the storm could impact Cuba, the Bahamas and Florida by the end of the week, according to the NHC. If so, it could be another blow to the Bahamas after last year's damaging Category 5 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-dorian-bahamas-2640172331.html" target="_self">Hurricane Dorian</a>, the Miami Herald pointed out. However, the path of the storm is still unpredictable.</p><p>"The details of the long-range track and intensity forecasts are more uncertain than usual since the system does not have a well-defined center and it could move over portions of the Greater Antilles later this week," the NHC <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT4+shtml/102054.shtml" target="_blank">wrote early Wednesday</a>.</p>
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Hanna Pummels Texas as First Atlantic Hurricane of 2020 and Earliest ‘H’ Storm on Record
27 July
Climate
A Coast Guard aircrew conducts an overflight of areas impacted by Hurricane Hanna near Aransas Pass, Texas on July 26, 2020. U.S. Coast Guard photo
Hurricane Hanna, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, battered the Texas coast on Saturday and Sunday as the state continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
<p>Hanna made landfall as a Category 1 storm at 6 p.m. EDT Saturday along the Padre Island National Seashore, around 50 miles south of Corpus Christi, <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/hurricane-hanna-first-atlantic-hurricane-of-2020-plows-toward-texas/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections reported</a>. South Texas, including Corpus Christi, has the highest coronavirus hospitalization rate in the country.</p><p>"Any hurricane is an enormous challenge. This challenge is complicated and made even more severe, seeing that it is sweeping through an area that is the most challenged area in the state for Covid-19," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Saturday, as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hurricane-hanna-texas-tropical-storm-hurricane-douglas-hawaii-coronavirus-a9639141.html" target="_blank">The Independent reported</a>.</p><p>Abbott said that, to encourage social distancing, some people would be sheltered in hotel rooms. He also said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved an emergency declaration for the state.</p>
<div id="e6447" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="68b88ec3be5096a8bf5aa564d4a39827"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287494695011196929" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">FEMA & President Trump have already approved the Texas request relief from #HurricaneHanna.
FEMA is providing reim… https://t.co/lTZ5UV1AcN</div> — Greg Abbott (@Greg Abbott)<a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/statuses/1287494695011196929">1595797630.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Meanwhile, Red Cross Texas Gulf Coast chapter CEO Henry Van De Putte said the organization was working to keep its shelters safe by opening them at reduced capacity, conducting temperature checks on volunteers and evacuees and having a medical worker on hand at each location.</p><p>"Yes, coronavirus provides risk, but so does floodwater, so does not having electricity, so does not having required medications," Van De Putte told The Associated Press, as The Independent reported. "We're doing everything we can do possible to make it a safe environment."</p><p>Hanna made landfall a second time in Kenedy County, Texas, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-storm-hanna/tropical-storm-hanna-threatens-flash-floods-on-covid-hit-texas-coast-idUKKCN24R0D7" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. By Sunday, it had weakened to a tropical depression. There were no immediate reports of injuries.</p>
<div id="81229" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="65260d432f7dafbd575edbf3019ddbdc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287148796162584577" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Latest 0.5-km resolution visible loop from @NOAA's #GOES16🛰️ of #HurricaneHanna making landfall in Texas. Get the l… https://t.co/t0lZZwh86D</div> — NOAA Satellites - Public Affairs (@NOAA Satellites - Public Affairs)<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAASatellitePA/statuses/1287148796162584577">1595715161.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In Port Mansfield, winds knocked down sugarcane fields and trees and even tore the roofs off of houses.</p><p>That included the home of 75-year-old Sharon Pecce, who was visiting a friend with her husband when the damage occurred.</p><p>"You could hear the wind blowing and the rain blowing and you looked outside you could see sheets of water blowing down the street," Pecce told Reuters. "It's scary to go through this at my age, a lot could have happened ... we could have been killed."</p><p>Wind also knocked over at least three 18-wheeler trucks and a recreational vehicle. Attempts to right the trucks shut down two miles of U.S. Route 77 in Sarita, Texas Sunday.</p><p>The storm also brought power outages and heavy rain. At one point, there were more than 283,000 homes and businesses without power, but that number had decreased to 98,000 by Sunday night.</p><p>The storm also dumped more than a foot of rain on some parts of South Texas, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/26/weather/tropical-storm-hanna-texas-hurricane-douglas/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>, leading to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>.</p><p>In Mission, Texas, the National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency as rising waters prompted several water rescues.</p>
<div id="02d54" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d1e256b3f9e04f1f239239e6fcb145c9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287356366311632896" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">❗️Help is here. A National Guard team equipped with high profile vehicles and boats are in #Mission to assist with… https://t.co/9mR6KGlb9m</div> — City of Mission, TX (@City of Mission, TX)<a href="https://twitter.com/CityOfMissionTX/statuses/1287356366311632896">1595764650.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Storm waters also flooded parts of downtown Corpus Christi, including the Art Museum of South Texas, according to Yale Climate Connections.</p><p>The storm passed over to northeast Mexico Sunday morning and is expected to break up over the mountains there.</p><p>"Heavy rain and dangerous flash flooding continue over northeast Mexico," the <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1287671082711945217" target="_blank">National Hurricane Center said early Monday</a>.</p><p>Hanna extends 2020's emerging reputation as an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/atlantic-hurricane-2646594495.html" target="_self">early and active Atlantic hurricane season</a>. It broke records as the first H storm of any Atlantic hurricane season and came well before the average date for the first Atlantic hurricane of a season — Aug. 10, according to Yale Climate Connections.</p>
<div id="46af1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="57c47b28e9dba4bce5bac58907c8a642"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287036367088877570" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#HurricaneHanna approaching Texas. I wouldn't be surprised at a little more strengthening before landfall this afte… https://t.co/a0EemgUyX0</div> — Marshall Shepherd (@Marshall Shepherd)<a href="https://twitter.com/DrShepherd2013/statuses/1287036367088877570">1595688356.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>It is also the fourth named storm to make landfall in the U.S. this year. The only other year to have four named storms make landfall so early in the summer was 1886.</p>
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Tropical Storm Gonzalo strengthened into a named storm on Wednesday, breaking the record for the earliest "G" storm of the season. NOAA
Tropical Storm Gonzalo strengthened into a named storm on Wednesday, breaking the record for the earliest "G" storm of the season, CNN reported. NHC said it could strengthen into a hurricane later Thursday.
<p>"Given the increased organization of the system and its small size, Gonzalo's likelihood of becoming a hurricane is rising. Small storms are prone to more significant fluctuations in intensity, both up and down," CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said.</p>
<div id="2a2dc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a721031ee7043e4fb94a5a69583f55b5"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1286228940491808768" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here are the 5 AM AST 7/23 Key Messages for Tropical Storm Gonzalo, currently over the central Atlantic heading tow… https://t.co/HJ6qG78813</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1286228940491808768">1595495851.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The storm is currently about 910 miles east of the Southern Windward Islands with sustained winds of 65 miles per hour, according to an 8 a.m. <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/231156.shtml" target="_blank">Atlantic Standard Time update from NHC</a>. It is currently tracking west at around 12 miles per hour, but is expected to pick up speed and then turn west-northwest on Saturday.</p><p>Its center could approach the Windward Islands late Friday or Saturday, and a hurricane watch has been issued for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.</p><p>In addition to wind, Gonzalo is expected to dump two to five inches of rain in Barbados and the Windward Islands.</p><p>"Rainfall in Barbados and the Windward Islands could lead to life-threatening flash <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">floods</a>," NHC warned.</p><p>Gonzalo seems to confirm predictions that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/accuweather-2020-hurricane-season-will-be-above-normal-2645581672.html">2020 will be an active hurricane season</a>.</p><p>"The tropical Atlantic looks extremely conducive for an active season," Colorado State University meteorologist Philip Klotzbach told CNN.</p><p>The average seventh storm of the season occurs Sept. 16. The second earliest seventh storm was Gert on July 24, 2005, which holds the title for the busiest hurricane season on record.</p>
<div id="c2ed8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b006414312b61329a19f1201b675a8c7"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1285678664399704064" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Tropical Depression 7 has formed in the central tropical Atlantic and is forecast to become a named storm in next 1… https://t.co/ZlmrnSSdXZ</div> — Philip Klotzbach (@Philip Klotzbach)<a href="https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/statuses/1285678664399704064">1595364655.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Gonzalo isn't the only early storm for its place in the alphabet this season: Cristobal, Danielle, Edouard and Fay were all the earliest of their letters on record, the <a href="https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/07/22/tropical-storm-gonzalo-forms-in-the-atlantic/" target="_blank">Associated Press pointed out</a>.</p><p>Gonzalo is slightly different from this season's other early storms since it is the first to emerge from the "main development region" between Africa and the Lesser Antilles, <a href="https://spacecoastdaily.com/2020/07/national-hurricane-center-monitors-tropical-storm-gonzalo-projected-to-become-category-1-hurricane-on-thursday/" target="_blank">Space Coast Daily reported</a>. It is a region known for developing dangerous storms.</p><p>However, the storm activity in the Atlantic this season is partly driven by warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tropical-storm-gonzalo-potential-hurricane-atlantic-ocean/" target="_blank">CBS News explained</a>. This is also the case for the main development region, which typically does not start spawning storms until early- to mid-August.</p><p>"Not to beat a dead horse but, the Atlantic Main Development Region is exceptionally warm atm," tweeted Eric Webb, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.</p>
<div id="7f579" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="616b2c91d621ab5e2acb1a3524440a05"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1285942451690184705" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Not to beat a dead horse but, the Atlantic Main Development Region is exceptionally warm atm. Here's a plot of the… https://t.co/4pt3kcDbOO</div> — Eric Webb (@Eric Webb)<a href="https://twitter.com/webberweather/statuses/1285942451690184705">1595427546.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/accuweather-2020-hurricane-season-will-be-above-normal-2645581672.html">has not been shown to make hurricanes more common</a>, but it does lead to warmer water temperatures that fuel wetter, more intense storms.</p>
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A man observes a flooded stretch of Dock Street in Annapolis, Maryland on Jan. 25, 2010. Matt Rath / Chesapeake Bay Program
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Tuesday that a trend of increased coastal flooding will continue to worsen as the climate crisis escalates.
<p>Increased flooding is happening even without storms. "Nuisance" or "sunny day" high-tide flooding is becoming more commonplace across the U.S., according to the NOAA report that warns such flooding will worsen in the decades to come as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">seas continue to rise</a>, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/14/coastal-flooding-continue-increase-noaa-report-says/5437524002/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>.</p><p>The agency noted record levels of high-tide flooding in 2019. Some of the hardest hit areas were on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, where the increase in high-tide flooding has been "extraordinary," according to the report, <a href="https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications/Techrpt_092_2019_State_of_US_High_Tide_Flooding_with_a_2020_Outlook_30June2020.pdf" target="_blank"><em>2019 State of High-Tide Flooding and 2020 Outlook</em></a>.</p>
<p>The number of days with high-tide flooding set or tied records in 19 places around the country last year, including Corpus Christi, Texas, which recorded 18 days of flooding; Galveston, Texas (18 days); Annapolis, Maryland (18 days); and Charleston, South Carolina (13 days), as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/climate/coastal-flooding-noaa.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. The place with the greatest number of recorded flood days was Eagle Point, Texas, in Galveston Bay; it dealt with high-tide flooding on 64 days, or about one out of every five days.</p><p>Those numbers represent huge jumps in a short period of time, the report found. In 2000, Corpus Christi had just three days of tidal flooding; Charleston had two. The report notes that Charleston recorded just 13 days of high-tide flooding in the more than 50 years that measurements were first kept — the exact amount that occurred in 2019 alone, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>The Southeast, on average, has seen a three-fold increase in flooding since 2000, according to NOAA.</p><p>The Northeast will not be spared. NOAA predicts that from May 2020 to April 2021, the national high tide flood frequency is expected to accelerate, with U.S. coastal communities seeing an average of 2 to 6 days of flooding in the coming year. Communities along the northeast and western Gulf coasts are projected to see even more days of flooding, according to the report.</p><p>"America's coastal communities and their economies are suffering from the effects of high tide flooding, and it's only going to increase in the future," said Nicole LeBoeuf, acting director of NOAA's National Ocean Service, in a <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/us-high-tide-flooding-continues-to-increase" target="_blank">statement</a>. "NOAA is committed to working with coastal communities to provide the information and data they need to tackle the problem of high tide flooding, both now and in the coming years as sea levels continue to rise."</p>
<p><a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nuisance-flooding.html" target="_blank">High-tide flooding</a> occurs when tides reach anywhere from 1.75 to 2 feet above the daily average high tide and start spilling onto streets or coming up from storm drains, according to NOAA. As sea level rise accelerates, damaging floods that used to happen only during severe storms now happen much more regularly, such as during a full-moon tide or with a change in prevailing winds or currents.</p><p>By 2030, NOAA projected, the frequency of high-tide flooding could double or triple, according to The New York Times. By 2050, that number could be five to 15 times as great, with the typical coastal community flooding between 25 and 75 days a year, NOAA said, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>"You see where this is going," LeBoeuf said. "We all need to pay attention."</p>
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Japan Self-Defense Forces and police officers join rescue operations at a nursing home following heavy rain in Kuma village, Kumamoto prefecture on July 5, 2020. STR / JIJI PRESS / AFP / Getty Images
Scores of people remained stranded in southern Japan on Sunday after heavy rain the day before caused deep flooding and mudslides that left at least 34 people confirmed or presumed dead.
<p>Floodwaters from the Kuma River inundated many houses, buildings and vehicles, causing people to climb onto roofs and wait for rescue.</p><p>More than 40,000 soldiers, coast guard personnel and fire brigades are taking part in search and rescue operations.</p>
Care Home Inundated
<p>Altogether 16 residents at an elderly care home in Kuma Village are presumed dead after the facility was flooded by water and mud.</p><p>Fifty-one other residents have been rescued by boats and taken to hospitals for treatment, officials said.</p><p>Eighteen other people elsewhere have been confirmed dead, while more than a dozen others were still missing as of Sunday afternoon.</p><p>The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said many others were still waiting to be rescued from other inundated areas.</p><p>Hitoyoshi City was also badly affected by flooding, as rains in the prefecture exceeded 100 millimeters (4 inches) per hour at their height.</p>More Rain Forecast
<p>The disaster in the Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island is the worst natural catastrophe since Typhoon Hagibis in October last year, which cost the lives of 90 people.</p><p>Although residents in Kumamoto prefecture were advised to evacuate their homes following the downpours on Friday evening into Saturday, many people chose not to leave for fear of contracting the coronavirus.</p><p>Officials say, however, that measures are in place at shelters to prevent the transmission of the disease.</p><p>More rain is predicted in the region, and the Japan Meteorological Agency has warned of the danger of further mudslides.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Flooding Risk for U.S. Homes: Millions More Are Vulnerable Than Previously Estimated
29 June
Climate
A road is covered by floodwater left in the wake of Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey on Aug. 31, 2017 near Houston, Texas. Scott Olson / Getty Images
The climate crisis will certainly change the mortgage market and the insurance market in the near future as millions of homes are now at risk of flooding and fire danger due to changes brought by extreme weather from the climate crisis. Now, the latest analysis shows that millions of homes that were not included in government estimates are at risk of flooding, exposing millions of people to a lurking threat that will only grow as the climate crisis worsens, as The New York Times reported.
<p>That threat is the takeaway in a <a href="https://assets.firststreet.org/uploads/2020/06/first_street_foundation__first_national_flood_risk_assessment.pdf" target="_blank">comprehensive new analysis by the First Street Foundation</a>, a nonprofit research and technology group that experts say has put together the most complete assessment of the nation's mounting vulnerability to flooding, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/29/us/us-flood-risk-increasing-climate-change-first-street-foundation/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The in-depth and extensive report released Monday shows that across the U.S., there are at least 6 million homes that have a one percent chance of flooding each year, which puts them within a "100-year" flood zone. Yet, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-harvey">Hurricane Harvey</a> revealed in 2017 when it flooded Houston, downpours are flooding homes outside areas the government considers 100-year flood zones, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/29/flood-risk-climate-change/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p>
<p>The new analysis shows that nearly 70 percent more homes are at substantial risk of flooding than are currently within FEMA's Special Flood Hazard Areas, which determines eligibility for the National Flood Insurance Program, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/29/flood-risk-climate-change/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>Across the country, about 8.7 million properties are located in Special Flood Hazard Areas as determined by FEMA's flood maps, the legal standard used in the U.S. to manage floodplains and determine insurance requirements and price policy premiums. First Street's data says the true number is closer to 14.6 million properties. The group says the gap between FEMA's maps and this new data means that some 6 million property owners could be unaware of their current flood risk, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/29/us/us-flood-risk-increasing-climate-change-first-street-foundation/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p>
<p>First Street's work shows just how dramatically Americans' exposure to flood hazards will increase during the next 30 years, which is the term of a typical mortgage.</p><p>The model finds that about 14.6 million properties now have a substantial level of risk now, but that grows to 16.2 million by 2050, with the caveat that there are considerable uncertainties involving changing precipitation patterns that could inflate that number further, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/29/flood-risk-climate-change/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p>
<p><br>"If you're a homeowner, renter or buyer in this country and you want to understand flood risk, the only data that's available to you are the FEMA flood maps," said Matthew Eby, <a href="https://firststreet.org/" target="_blank">First Street's</a> founder and executive director, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/29/us/us-flood-risk-increasing-climate-change-first-street-foundation/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. "And the FEMA flood maps are made to determine flood insurance rates — not necessarily to determine what your personal flood risk is."</p><p>First Street created a website that allows users to plug in their own <a href="http://floodfactor.com/" target="_blank">address</a> to see their flood risk.</p><p>Many cities nationwide from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Buffalo, New York, to Chattanooga, Tennessee show enormous gaps between FEMA assessed flood risks and actual flood risk. In Chicago alone, 75,000 properties have a previously undisclosed flood risk. And racial minority communities often face a bigger share of hidden risk, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/29/climate/hidden-flood-risk-maps.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p>
<p><br>In more than two-thirds of states, First Street found that areas with more racial minority residents also had a greater share of unmapped flood risk than the statewide average. Jeremy Porter, First Street's director of research and development, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/29/climate/hidden-flood-risk-maps.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> that cities seem to invest more in flood protection in areas with higher incomes and property values.</p><p>In Florida, 23 percent of all homes face flood risk, while in New Orleans, the number is at 98 percent. In Virginia Beach the flood risk increased over 80 percent in the last 30 years, according to First Street's <a href="https://floodfactor.com/" target="_blank">FloodFactor</a> website.</p>
<p>The information will give local governments and property owners a leap forward in understanding their evolving risks from climate change and other hazards, said Kerry Emanuel, a meteorology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to <a href="https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2020/06/29/gda-flood-risk-florida-risk-brevard-county-fema/3277148001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>.</p><p>Emmanuel said the new data takes pieces of information from many experts and puts it together in a way that hasn't been done before to give property owners "the risk of their home being blown down or flooded by salt or freshwater," Emanuel said to <a href="https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2020/06/29/gda-flood-risk-florida-risk-brevard-county-fema/3277148001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>.</p><p>"They're going to watch the value of their property plummet over time," he said. "That might make them think twice," he said, adding that it might also convince them to ask their elected representatives "to do something about it."</p>
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People clean up debris from their damaged apartments during the aftermath of Tropical Storm Cristobal in Orlando, Florida on June 7, 2020. Paul Hennessy / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall in Louisiana Sunday as the earliest third named storm on record in the Atlantic Basin.
<p>The storm brought <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> to parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and caused <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tornadoes" target="_self">tornadoes</a> in the Sunshine State, <a href="https://apnews-dev.appspot.com/2489de1fae4319de66c2d835b5b6fd6a" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported. While it made landfall well below <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricane</a> strength with winds of 50 miles per hour, it was predicted to pour as many as 12 inches of rain in some areas and generate storm surges of up to five feet.</p><p>"The flash flooding mixed with the storm surge could be a disaster in some areas," National Weather Service Baton Rouge meteorologist Danielle Manning told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/us/cristobal-storm.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "Areas that can't handle that amount of rainfall."</p>
<div id="6113c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c8c399119065e27340eaadf81a64725"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1269653998195204103" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">One significant hazard with #Cristobal is flash flooding. The @NWSWPC is highlighting a large area of concern from… https://t.co/ya9wMwCl5l</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1269653998195204103">1591544076.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared an emergency ahead of the storm Thursday and on Friday asked President Donald Trump to do so as well. Trump said he would declare an emergency on Twitter Sunday.</p><p>The storm brought three to five feet of flooding along the Louisiana coast and into Mississippi, Manning said.</p><p>New Orleans suburb Jefferson Parish called for voluntary evacuations of low-lying areas, according to The Associated Press. It was unclear how much New Orleans would be impacted as it depended on whether the city's aging drainage system would keep streets dry.</p><p>City resident Daniel Priestman told The Associated Press that he did not observe people rushing to buy supplies. Instead, he said they were "overwhelmed" by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic and recent high-profile police murders of African Americans that led to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/protestors-publich-health-coronavirus-covid-19-testing-2646141562.html" target="_self">nationwide protests</a>. They were "resigned to whatever happens — happens," he said.</p>
<p>The storm made landfall between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the barrier island of Grand Isle, which was evacuated. Flood waters washed over the only road to the island.</p><p>In Mississippi, water flooded coastal roadways in Biloxi.</p>
<div id="d00a4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="000f5bcb6b8f08b7b007b9f6546ccc7d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1269778555401056256" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Looks like the Biloxi Lighthouse Pier did not make it. 🙁 Video sent in to the @WLOX Weather App by Jeff Howard… https://t.co/smLNGUlW1K</div> — Eric Jeansonne (@Eric Jeansonne)<a href="https://twitter.com/Weatheric/statuses/1269778555401056256">1591573773.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In Hancock County, Mississippi, 100 employees of the Silver Slipper Casino had to be rescued Sunday afternoon when five-foot flood waters trapped them in the building, <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/cristobal-ready-to-make-a-run-at-the-us-coast/752897" target="_blank">AccuWeather reported</a>. A family also had to be rescued from the casino hotel Sunday night.</p>
<div id="becc8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="eedcab2ebf9f77f2f838c12ebac14a2d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1269763574446071808" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Cristobal storm surge continues to cause flooding in Hancock County, MS. on Pontiac in Jourdan River Shores. Video… https://t.co/w7UivbovQf</div> — Eric Jeansonne (@Eric Jeansonne)<a href="https://twitter.com/Weatheric/statuses/1269763574446071808">1591570201.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In Florida, the outerbands of the storm spawned several tornados, one of which came close to downtown Orlando Saturday. Another twister uprooted trees and downed power lines near Lake City, Florida Sunday, The Associated Press reported. The wind storm did not injure anyone, but Cristobal claimed two lives when two brothers, aged eight and ten, were carried away by a rip current when swimming at a Grand Isle beach Friday, according to AccuWeather.</p><p>The storm had weakened to a tropical depression by early Monday morning, but the risk of flooding, tornados and strong wind continued for the lower Mississippi Valley and Central Gulf Coast. It should reach Arkansas by Monday evening, according to the National Weather Service.</p>
<div id="cbbf7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7ae04b1dc7334e7c1d2dc4c7985db8c1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1269929398313992192" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Recently downgraded Tropical Depression Cristobal will move steadily up the MS River Valley over the next few days.… https://t.co/F1yVcv4h76</div> — NWS New Orleans (@NWS New Orleans)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSNewOrleans/statuses/1269929398313992192">1591609737.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In addition to its arrival early in hurricane season, Cristobal was also notable because it developed from the remnants of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-amanda-el-salvador-2646140687.html" target="_self">Tropical Storm Amanda</a>, the first named storm of the Pacific hurricane season, which battered El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.</p><p>"This does not happen very often," AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/why-cristobal-is-a-rare-crossover-storm/753527" target="_blank">explained</a>.</p><p>The remnants of the storm were pushed by wind circulation over the warm waters of the Bay of Campeche.</p><p>"It did not take time – given the 29- to 30-degree-Celsius [mid-80s F] water – to help create thunderstorms, lowering pressure and a coherent low-level circulation which has become Cristobal," Kottlowski said.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-intensity-climate-crisis-2646033123.html" target="_self">tropical storms more intense</a>, partly because warmer water provides more storm fuel. The waters of the Bay of Campeche were three to four degrees Fahrenheit above average for this time of year when the storm formed, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/weather/cristobal-tropical-storm-forecast-atlantic-hurricane-season/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p>
<p class=""><em>Correction: An earlier version of this piece said Cristobal was the third earliest named storm on record in the Atlantic Basin. It is in fact the earliest third named storm on record.</em> </p>From Your Site Articles
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