The severity of Hurricane Florence is intensifying, triggering hurricane warnings along most of North Carolina's coast and a portion of South Carolina's.
Florence reached Category 4 status — with winds near 130 mph — a day earlier than predicted. It is expected to intensify as it crosses over water with surface temperatures up to 85 degrees.
Florence is expected to pick up speed and become a hurricane Saturday night. North and South Carolina have declared states of emergency and are urging residents to prepare for the storm.
One day after becoming the first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic season, Florence lost some steam — but it's expected to regain dangerously strong winds by Monday.
Gordon brought heavy bands of rain to areas from Panama City, Fla., to New Orleans. When it makes landfall, a storm surge of 3-5 feet is possible for all of coastal Mississippi, forecasters say.
Some top researchers now say that climate change has led to stronger hurricanes. Now, there's a push to expand the wind scale to include a Category 6 for winds as powerful as those seen last year.
The first named storm this season is expected to bring heavy rains and flash flooding. Florida Gov. Rick Scott — and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey later on Saturday — sounded alarm bells.
The World Meteorological Organization is retiring the names because the storms were so "deadly or costly" that using the names in the future would be inappropriate.
It caused $125 billion in damage, according to a new report from the National Hurricane Center, and broke U.S. rainfall records. At least 68 people died as a result of the storm.
Hurricane Maria, the strongest hurricane to have hit the island in decades, is believed to have taken down critical high-voltage power lines. Gov. Ricardo Rosselló says repairs could take months.