Yahoo! News: Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

• Earl weakens but still powerful as it passes NC (AP)

  AP - The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 105 mph winds early Friday on North Carolina's dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and perhaps most destructive stop on the storm's projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard.

  
  

• Hurricane Earl rakes U.S. East Coast with wind, rain (Reuters)

  Reuters - Hurricane Earl raked North Carolina's barrier islands with gusting winds, pounding surf and rain on Thursday as it took a swipe at the U.S. East Coast on an offshore path toward New England and Canada.

  
  

• East Coast Residents Should Prepare for Hurricane Earl: FEMA (HealthDay)

  HealthDay - THURSDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) -- As Hurricane Earl, packing 145 mph winds, crept closer to the U.S. east coast Thursday, federal officials urged residents to take steps to protect themselves and their property.

• Hurricane Earl menaces US East Coast (AFP)

  AFP - Hurricane Earl bore down on a vast stretch of the US East Coast, as tens of thousands of people fled North Carolina's barrier islands to avoid dangerous winds and surf.

  
  

• Hurricane Alley Heats Up with Stormy Threesome (LiveScience.com)

  LiveScience.com - Three swirling storms are roaring across the Atlantic with nervous East Coast residents keeping a close eye on the conveyor belt of tropical activity as hurricane season enters its busiest time.

• Hurricane Earl path stretches from North Carolina to Boston Harbor (The Christian Science Monitor)

  The Christian Science Monitor - Hurricane Earl, some 300 miles south of North Carolina's Cape Hatteras, has now prompted tropical-storm or hurricane warnings from the Tar Heel State's coast to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border.

• NHC Report: Gaston still a depression, headed to Caribbean (Reuters)

  Reuters - Recently-downgraded Gaston remained a tropical depression on Thursday as it churned west-northwest in the central Atlantic on a path that will likely take it into the Caribbean Sea, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday.

• Hurricane Earl path: Power outages could vex Long Island, Cape Cod (The Christian Science Monitor)

  The Christian Science Monitor - The danger from most hurricanes is from water – either the massive amount of rain that falls or the surge that the high winds push onshore.

• Could New York City Handle a Hurricane? (LiveScience.com)

  LiveScience.com - The National Hurricane Center warns that Hurricane Earl may swing by dangerously close to the U.S. East Coast before curving back out to sea. While the odds are it won't strike New York City directly, such an event is not unprecedented, and the city has plans in place to evacuate - and to hunker down - if need be.

  
  

• In a first, NASA drone to overfly hurricane threatening US (AFP)

  AFP - A pilotless NASA aircraft is set to overfly Hurricane Earl on Thursday, in a scientific first to gather data about the potentially-deadly storm front bearing down on the US east coast.

  
  

• Typhoon suspends SKorean flights, trains, kills 4 (AP)

  AP - Typhoon Kompasu struck South Korea on Thursday, killing at least four people and toppling trees, streetlights and scaffolding in what was called the strongest storm to hit the Seoul area in 15 years.

  
  

• Island evacuations start as Earl nears East Coast (AP)

  AP - Hurricane Earl steamed toward the Eastern Seaboard early Thursday as communities from North Carolina to New England kept a close eye on the forecast, worried that even a slight shift in the storm's predicted offshore track could put millions of people in the most densely populated part of the country in harm's way.

  
  

• Thanks to high-tech, storm track easier to predict (AP)

  AP - Sophisticated computer models that replaced instinct with cold, hard math have helped forecasters predict where a storm like Hurricane Earl is going about twice as accurately as 20 years ago.

  
  

• NC National Guard activates 81 for Hurricane Earl (AP)

  AP - The North Carolina National Guard will deploy 81 troops to trouble spots from Hurricane Earl.

• Hurricane Earl cooking secrets: what to eat if you're without power (The Christian Science Monitor)

  The Christian Science Monitor - Here's a scenario some people are dealing with this week: Hurricane Earl is bearing down. You've been told you don't need to evacuate, but you could be without power for a couple of days, maybe longer. Your windows are boarded. Your flashlights and portable radios sport fresh batteries. Your yard is cleared of potential wind-launched projectiles.

• Earl regains category four status as winds pick up (AFP)

  AFP - Hurricane Earl intensified in the Atlantic to become a category four hurricane again Wednesday as sustained winds rose to 135 miles (215 kilometers) per hour, the National Hurricane Center said.

  
  

• Social Security sends early payments ahead of Earl (AP)

  AP - The Social Security Administration is delivering checks a day early to hundreds of thousands of East Coast residents to make sure the money beats Hurricane Earl's arrival.

• Hurricane Earl center seen keeping off U.S. coast: NHC (Reuters)

  Reuters - The head of the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday he was highly confident Hurricane Earl would veer to the northeast starting late on Thursday, which should keep the worst of the storm from the U.S. East Coast.

• Why Do Hurricanes Often Curve Out to Sea? (LiveScience.com)

  LiveScience.com - The forecast path of Hurricane Earl, expected to run parallel to the U.S. East Coast before heading offshore, is a typical one for Atlantic storms to follow.

• How Are Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Named? (Time.com)

  Time.com - Hurricanes and other tropical storms are given names to make it easy for the public to know which particular storm warnings or news reports to follow. It's especially important in busy hurricane seasons that see multiple storms at the same time