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Tag: Floods

  • At Least 44 People Dead After Torrential Rains in Mexico

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    MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -At least 44 people were killed in Mexico after days of heavy rains and flooding, the government said on Sunday.

    Torrential rains from tropical storms Priscilla and Raymond triggered landslides and flooding across five states.

    There were 18 people killed in Veracruz state, 16 in Hidalgo, nine in Puebla and one in Queretaro, a government statement said.

    The government of President Claudia Sheinbaum was managing a response plan to support 139 affected towns.

    Photos posted by the Mexican military showed people being evacuated by soldiers using life rafts, homes that were flooded with mud and rescue workers trudging through waist-height waters through town streets.

    “We continue with attention to the emergency in Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla, Queretaro, and San Luis Potosí, in coordination with the governor and the governors, as well as various federal authorities. The National Emergency Committee is in permanent session,” Sheinbaum said on X.

    (Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Mark Porter)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • New Jersey declares state of emergency as nor’easter approaches

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    A nor’easter churned its way up the East Coast on Sunday, with New Jersey declaring a state of emergency and some airports posting delays and cancellations in advance of anticipated coastal flooding, and strong winds, as another storm system struck farther south with heavy rain.

    “The greatest effects are going to be the coastal flooding potential, especially for areas from northeastern North Carolina northward to much of the New Jersey coast,” said meteorologist Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

    Heavy rain also was forecast for southeast New England, the New York City area, and some has fallen in coastal sections of South Carolina, Oravec said.

    All of New Jersey has been under a state of emergency since Saturday night. It’s expected to last into Monday, authorizing the state’s emergency services personnel to be activated as necessary.

    Parts of the state are forecast to experience moderate to major coastal flooding, inland flash flooding, winds up to 60 mph (97 kph), up to 5 inches (about 13 centimeters) of rain and high surf, potentially causing beach erosion. Some volunteers were putting sandbags at beaches.

    The National Weather Service placed New York City under a coastal flood warning and wind advisory through at least Monday afternoon. Coastal areas of suburban Long Island could see flooding, with up to 3 inches (about 8 centimeters) of rain and lashing winds expected, the weather service said.

    Wind gusts of more than 30 mph (48 kph) were already being recorded in the region on Sunday morning.

    Some flight delays and cancellations were announced in airports from Washington, D.C. to Boston.

    The storm was expected to move out by Monday night.

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  • Hundreds told to evacuate as tropical storm remnants cause Colorado mountain streams to flood

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    FORT COLLINS, Colo. — FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — The remnants of a tropical storm brought flooding across parts of the Southwest on Saturday, prompting hundreds of evacuations in southwestern Colorado as mountain streams raged above their banks and crews toiled to protect property with sandbags.

    Hardest-hit areas included Vallecito Creek, where almost 400 homes were under an evacuation order north of a reservoir 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the small tourist city of Durango.

    The Upper Pine River Fire Protection District urged people to avoid bridges, with trees being washed downstream. The high school in nearby Bayfield was opened to take in evacuees.

    Rising floodwaters topped flood control systems that were built after inundations almost 20 years ago. The water was expected to peak Saturday night, and after a lull Sunday, yet more heavy rain was forecast for Monday and Tuesday.

    After telling customers to leave, Blue Spruce RV Park & Cabins general manager Debby McCall was waiting to hear if authorities would tell her to go too.

    “I’ve never seen this much water come down. It’s just absolutely insane,” said McCall, a lifelong area resident who has lived at the RV park for 16 years.

    Crews sandbagged the park to protect its septic systems from flooding on the Vallecito Creek.

    “I’ve been seeing hot tubs floating down the river,” McCall said. “It’s definitely a state of emergency up here.”

    The good news, McCall said, was that the Vallecito Reservoir downstream has been low after months of drought and seemed to have plenty of room to handle the floodwaters.

    Two months ago, dry weather was fueling wildfires across western Colorado. They included one of the biggest in the state’s history that caused a prison to be evacuated.

    Flooding also was inundating roads and basements Saturday in southern Utah, where firefighters in Washington City rescued a person and their dog from a car caught in floodwater.

    The rain came from the remnants of Tropical Storm Priscilla, which began moving inland over California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico on Thursday.

    Aspen trees in peak fall yellow were a dramatic backdrop to the Colorado floodwaters. Meanwhile, the moisture was bringing another sign of changing seasons: High-elevation snow expected in the next few days.

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  • High Tides Raise Flood Risk in Carolinas as Tropical Storms Churn in Atlantic and Pacific

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    MIAMI (AP) — A storm without a name and unusual king tides were causing some flooding on the Carolina coast early Friday as tropical storms churned in the Atlantic and along Mexico’s Pacific coast.

    About a dozen streets were already flooded in Charleston, South Carolina, and the city offered free parking in some garages. A high tide of 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) was forecast Friday morning, which would be the 13th highest in more than a century of recorded data in Charleston Harbor.

    The unnamed coastal storm and unusually high king tides, when the moon is closer than usual to the Earth, threatened to bring days of heavy winds that could cause coastal flooding, especially along the vulnerable Outer Banks of North Carolina and around Charleston.

    Along the Outer Banks, forecasters said the worst weather should occur Friday through the weekend. They warned it was likely that highway N.C. 12 on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands would likely have to close again because of ocean overwash.

    In the Pacific, Tropical Storms Priscilla and Raymond threatened heavy rain along the Mexican coast, and Priscilla could cause flash flooding across the U.S. Southwest through the weekend. Flood watches were issued for parts of Arizona, California and Nevada.

    Priscilla was centered about 190 miles (300 kilometers) west-northwest of Cabo San Lazaro, Mexico, and moving north at 6 mph (9 kph) with maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph (85 kph).

    A tropical storm warning associated with Raymond was issued from Zihuatanejo to Cabo Corrientes, Mexico. Raymond was forecast to remain off the southwestern coast of Mexico through Friday before nearing Baja California Sur on Saturday and Sunday.

    Raymond was about 95 miles (150 kilometers) south-southeast of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. It had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph (24 kph), forecasters said.

    In the Atlantic, Jerry was passing east of the northern Leeward Islands and causing heavy rainfall. Officials in Guadeloupe warned of potential power outages.

    Jerry was centered about 65 miles (100 kilometers) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and moving northwest at 16 mph (26 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph).

    A tropical storm warning was in effect for Barbuda and Anguilla, St. Barthelemy and St. Martin, Sint Maarten and Guadeloupe and the adjacent islands. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat and Saba and St. Eustatius, the hurricane center said.

    The storm should strengthen into a hurricane Saturday. The Nor’easter expected to send rain and pounding waves into the Southeast U.S. is helping steer Jerry away from the islands and into the open Atlantic, forecasters said.

    Also Thursday, Subtropical Storm Karen formed far from land in the north Atlantic Ocean. Karen had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was expected to maintain that strength through the day.

    A subtropical storm tends to have a wide zone of strong winds farther from its center compared to a tropical storm, which generates heavier rains, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

    About seven weeks remain in the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, and meteorologists warned the Pacific Ocean cooling pattern called La Nina, which can warp weather worldwide and turbocharge hurricanes, has returned.

    It may be too late in the hurricane season to impact tropical weather in the Atlantic, but this La Nina may have other impacts from heavy rains to drought across the globe.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • Tropical Storm Priscilla to drench Southwest, raising flash flood risk

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    ...COASTAL FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING
THROUGH LATE MONDAY NIGHT...

* WHAT...One to two feet of inundation above ground level
possible in low-lying areas near shorelines and tidal
waterways (3.7 to 12.9 feet Mean Lower Low Water).

* WHERE...Portions of eastern, northeastern and southeastern
Massachusetts and northern and southern Rhode Island.

* WHEN...From Sunday morning through late Monday night.

* IMPACTS...Roads remain passable. Shallow pockets of flooding
less than one foot deep affect more vulnerable coastal roads
along the North Shore from Salem and Gloucester to
Newburyport. Rough surf will likely cause some splashover onto
coastal roads around the time of high tide. Roads remain
passable. Low lying areas and roads near Nantucket Harbor,
including Easy Street, may experience pockets of shallow
flooding less than one foot deep. Minor coastal flooding
occurs along the most vulnerable shoreline locales in Newport,
Portsmouth and Middletown. This includes flooding at parking
lots near beaches in Newport, and a portion of Hazard Road.
Minor coastal flooding also occurs on several streets in the
Common Fence Point area.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If travel is required, allow extra time as some roads may be
closed. Do not drive around barricades or through water of
unknown depth. Take the necessary actions to protect flood-prone
property.

&&

&&

Time of high total tides are approximate to the nearest hour.

Narragansett Bay at Conimicut Point
MLLW Categories - Minor 7.0 ft, Moderate 8.5 ft, Major 10.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.4 ft, Moderate 3.9 ft, Major 5.4 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   4.6/ 5.1   0.0/ 0.5   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/12 PM   5.2/ 5.7   0.6/ 1.1   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/12 AM   4.4/ 4.9  -0.2/ 0.2   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
12/01 PM   5.7/ 6.2   1.2/ 1.7   1.0/ 1.5     3       None
13/02 AM   6.4/ 6.9   1.8/ 2.2   2.3/ 2.8     3       None

Mount Hope Bay near Bristol Point RI
MLLW Categories - Minor 7.0 ft, Moderate 9.5 ft, Major 12.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.5 ft, Moderate 5.0 ft, Major 7.5 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   4.2/ 4.7  -0.2/ 0.2   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/12 PM   5.1/ 5.6   0.6/ 1.1   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/12 AM   4.0/ 4.5  -0.6/-0.1   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
12/01 PM   5.7/ 6.2   1.2/ 1.7   1.0/ 1.5     3       None
13/02 AM   6.0/ 6.5   1.5/ 2.0   2.2/ 2.7     3       None

Narragansett Bay at Quonset Point
MLLW Categories - Minor 6.0 ft, Moderate 7.5 ft, Major 9.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 1.9 ft, Moderate 3.4 ft, Major 5.4 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   4.2/ 4.7   0.1/ 0.6   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/12 PM   4.7/ 5.2   0.6/ 1.1   0.0/ 0.5     1       None
12/12 AM   3.9/ 4.4  -0.2/ 0.2   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/01 PM   5.4/ 5.9   1.3/ 1.8   1.1/ 1.6     3       None
13/01 AM   5.9/ 6.4   1.8/ 2.2   2.2/ 2.7     3      Minor

Westerly RI at Watch Hill
MLLW Categories - Minor 5.0 ft, Moderate 8.0 ft, Major 9.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.0 ft, Moderate 5.0 ft, Major 6.5 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   3.1/ 3.6   0.1/ 0.6   0.8/ 1.3     1       None
11/12 PM   3.6/ 4.1   0.6/ 1.1   0.4/ 0.9    1-2      None
12/12 AM   3.1/ 3.6   0.1/ 0.6   0.9/ 1.4    2-3      None
12/02 PM   4.7/ 5.2   1.7/ 2.2   1.6/ 2.0     6       None
13/02 AM   5.1/ 5.6   2.1/ 2.6   2.7/ 3.2   9-10     Minor

Gloucester Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 11.5 ft, Moderate 13.0 ft, Major 15.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 1.9 ft, Moderate 3.4 ft, Major 5.4 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/03 AM   9.4/ 9.9  -0.2/ 0.2  -0.2/ 0.3     2       None
11/03 PM  10.8/11.3   1.2/ 1.7  -0.2/ 0.3     1       None
12/04 AM   9.1/ 9.6  -0.6/-0.1   0.0/ 0.5     2       None
12/04 PM  11.3/11.8   1.7/ 2.2   0.8/ 1.3    5-6     Minor
13/05 AM   9.9/10.4   0.2/ 0.8   1.2/ 1.7   9-12      None

Merrimack River near Newburyport MA
MLLW Categories - Minor 11.0 ft, Moderate 12.0 ft, Major 13.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 1.5 ft, Moderate 2.5 ft, Major 4.0 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/03 PM   9.3/ 9.8  -0.2/ 0.2  -0.5/ 0.0     1       None
11/03 AM   8.4/ 8.9  -1.1/-0.7  -0.2/ 0.3    1-2      None
11/03 PM   9.6/10.1   0.1/ 0.6  -0.2/ 0.3     1       None
12/04 AM   8.1/ 8.6  -1.5/-1.0   0.0/ 0.5    1-2      None
12/04 PM  10.2/10.7   0.7/ 1.1   0.8/ 1.3    3-5      None
13/05 AM   9.0/ 9.5  -0.6/-0.1   1.2/ 1.7    6-8      None

Newport Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 6.0 ft, Moderate 7.5 ft, Major 9.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.1 ft, Moderate 3.6 ft, Major 5.1 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   4.0/ 4.5   0.1/ 0.6   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/12 PM   4.5/ 5.0   0.6/ 1.1   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/12 AM   3.7/ 4.2  -0.2/ 0.3   0.2/ 0.7     2       None
12/01 PM   5.2/ 5.7   1.3/ 1.8   1.1/ 1.6     3       None
13/01 AM   5.7/ 6.2   1.9/ 2.3   2.2/ 2.7     3      Minor

Newport South Coast Beaches
MLLW Categories - Minor 6.0 ft, Moderate 7.5 ft, Major 9.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.5 ft, Moderate 4.0 ft, Major 5.5 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   3.7/ 4.2   0.2/ 0.8   0.2/ 0.8     1       None
11/12 PM   4.2/ 4.7   0.7/ 1.1   0.1/ 0.6    1-2      None
12/12 AM   3.6/ 4.1   0.1/ 0.6   0.2/ 0.8    2-3      None
12/01 PM   4.9/ 5.4   1.4/ 1.9   1.1/ 1.6    5-6      None
13/01 AM   5.5/ 6.0   2.0/ 2.5   2.2/ 2.7    8-9      None

Block Island at Old Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 6.0 ft, Moderate 7.5 ft, Major 9.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.8 ft, Moderate 4.3 ft, Major 5.8 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   3.5/ 4.0   0.2/ 0.8   0.4/ 0.9     2       None
11/11 AM   4.0/ 4.5   0.8/ 1.3   0.2/ 0.8     2       None
12/12 AM   3.4/ 3.9   0.2/ 0.7   0.5/ 1.0    3-5      None
12/12 PM   4.5/ 5.0   1.3/ 1.8   1.1/ 1.6   8-10      None
13/01 AM   5.1/ 5.6   1.9/ 2.3   2.3/ 2.8   14-15     None
13/01 PM   5.0/ 5.5   1.8/ 2.2   1.9/ 2.3    15       None

Boston Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 12.5 ft, Moderate 14.0 ft, Major 15.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.2 ft, Moderate 3.7 ft, Major 4.7 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/03 AM  10.1/10.6  -0.2/ 0.2   0.0/ 0.5     1       None
11/03 PM  11.5/12.0   1.2/ 1.7   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/04 AM   9.8/10.3  -0.6/-0.1   0.2/ 0.7    1-2      None
12/04 PM  11.8/12.3   1.5/ 2.0   0.9/ 1.4     2       None
13/05 AM  10.7/11.2   0.4/ 0.9   1.5/ 2.0     2       None

Revere
MLLW Categories - Minor 12.5 ft, Moderate 14.5 ft, Major 16.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.6 ft, Moderate 4.6 ft, Major 6.1 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/03 AM   9.9/10.4   0.0/ 0.5   0.0/ 0.5     1       None
11/03 PM  11.1/11.6   1.2/ 1.7  -0.2/ 0.3     1       None
12/04 AM   9.5/10.0  -0.5/ 0.0   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/04 PM  11.6/12.1   1.7/ 2.2   0.9/ 1.4     2       None
13/05 AM  10.3/10.8   0.4/ 0.9   1.4/ 1.9     2       None

Green Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 11.5 ft, Moderate 13.5 ft, Major 15.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 1.6 ft, Moderate 3.6 ft, Major 5.6 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/03 AM   9.9/10.4   0.0/ 0.5   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
11/03 PM  11.2/11.7   1.3/ 1.8   0.0/ 0.5     1       None
12/04 AM   9.5/10.0  -0.5/ 0.0   0.2/ 0.7    1-2      None
12/04 PM  11.7/12.2   1.8/ 2.2   0.9/ 1.4    3-4     Minor
13/05 AM  10.5/11.0   0.6/ 1.1   1.5/ 2.0    6-7      None

Scituate MA
MLLW Categories - Minor 11.5 ft, Moderate 13.5 ft, Major 15.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 1.8 ft, Moderate 3.8 ft, Major 5.8 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/03 AM   9.5/10.0  -0.2/ 0.2   0.0/ 0.5     1       None
11/03 PM  11.0/11.5   1.3/ 1.8   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/04 AM   9.3/ 9.8  -0.5/ 0.0   0.2/ 0.7    1-2      None
12/04 PM  11.4/11.9   1.7/ 2.2   0.9/ 1.4    3-5     Minor
13/05 AM  10.1/10.6   0.4/ 0.9   1.4/ 1.9    7-9      None

Mount Hope Bay near Fall River MA
MLLW Categories - Minor 7.0 ft, Moderate 9.5 ft, Major 12.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.3 ft, Moderate 4.8 ft, Major 7.3 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/12 AM   4.9/ 5.4   0.2/ 0.7   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/12 PM   5.5/ 6.0   0.8/ 1.3   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/01 AM   4.7/ 5.2   0.0/ 0.5   0.2/ 0.8     1       None
12/01 PM   5.9/ 6.4   1.2/ 1.7   0.9/ 1.4     3       None
13/02 AM   6.2/ 6.8   1.6/ 2.0   2.1/ 2.6     3       None

New Bedford Hurricane Barrier
MLLW Categories - Minor 6.0 ft, Moderate 7.5 ft, Major 9.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.1 ft, Moderate 3.6 ft, Major 5.6 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   3.7/ 4.2  -0.2/ 0.3   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
11/12 PM   4.4/ 4.9   0.5/ 1.0  -0.2/ 0.3     1       None
12/12 AM   3.6/ 4.1  -0.3/ 0.2   0.1/ 0.6    1-2      None
12/01 PM   5.0/ 5.5   1.1/ 1.6   0.8/ 1.3    4-5      None
13/01 AM   5.2/ 5.7   1.3/ 1.8   1.8/ 2.2     5       None

Westport
MLLW Categories - Minor 6.0 ft, Moderate 8.0 ft, Major 10.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.5 ft, Moderate 4.5 ft, Major 6.5 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   3.7/ 4.2   0.2/ 0.8   0.2/ 0.8     1       None
11/11 AM   4.0/ 4.5   0.6/ 1.1   0.2/ 0.8     1       None
12/12 AM   3.6/ 4.1   0.1/ 0.6   0.4/ 0.9     2       None
12/01 PM   4.6/ 5.1   1.1/ 1.6   0.9/ 1.4    5-6      None
13/01 AM   5.1/ 5.6   1.6/ 2.0   2.0/ 2.5     7       None

Buzzards Bay at Mattapoisett
MLLW Categories - Minor 8.5 ft, Moderate 10.0 ft, Major 12.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 4.4 ft, Moderate 5.9 ft, Major 7.9 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/11 PM   4.0/ 4.5  -0.2/ 0.3   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
11/12 PM   4.5/ 5.0   0.4/ 0.9  -0.2/ 0.3     1       None
12/12 AM   3.6/ 4.1  -0.6/-0.1   0.0/ 0.5    1-2      None
12/01 PM   5.0/ 5.5   0.9/ 1.4   0.7/ 1.1    4-6      None
13/01 AM   5.1/ 5.6   1.0/ 1.5   1.6/ 2.0     6       None

Buzzards Bay at Woods Hole
MLLW Categories - Minor 5.5 ft, Moderate 7.0 ft, Major 8.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 3.5 ft, Moderate 5.0 ft, Major 6.5 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/12 AM   2.1/ 2.6   0.1/ 0.6   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/12 PM   2.7/ 3.2   0.8/ 1.3   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
12/01 AM   2.0/ 2.5   0.0/ 0.5   0.2/ 0.8    2-3      None
12/03 PM   3.6/ 4.1   1.6/ 2.0   1.5/ 2.0    4-5      None
13/01 AM   3.6/ 4.1   1.6/ 2.0   2.0/ 2.5     6       None

Chatham MA - East Coast
MLLW Categories - Minor 9.0 ft, Moderate 11.5 ft, Major 13.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 3.8 ft, Moderate 6.3 ft, Major 7.8 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/03 PM   6.5/ 7.0   1.3/ 1.8   0.0/ 0.5     2       None
11/04 AM   5.1/ 5.6  -0.2/ 0.3  -0.2/ 0.3     2       None
11/04 PM   6.2/ 6.8   1.1/ 1.6   0.0/ 0.5    1-2      None
12/05 AM   5.0/ 5.5  -0.2/ 0.2   0.1/ 0.6    2-3      None
12/05 PM   7.0/ 7.5   1.8/ 2.2   1.0/ 1.5    5-7      None
13/06 AM   5.7/ 6.2   0.6/ 1.1   1.1/ 1.6   10-11     None

Chatham - South side
MLLW Categories - Minor 9.0 ft, Moderate 10.5 ft, Major 11.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 4.5 ft, Moderate 6.0 ft, Major 7.0 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/03 PM   5.1/ 5.6   0.6/ 1.1  -0.2/ 0.3     2       None
11/04 AM   3.9/ 4.4  -0.7/-0.2   0.0/ 0.5    1-2      None
11/04 PM   5.1/ 5.6   0.6/ 1.1   0.0/ 0.5     1       None
12/05 AM   4.0/ 4.5  -0.5/ 0.0   0.2/ 0.7    2-3      None
12/05 PM   6.0/ 6.5   1.5/ 2.0   1.1/ 1.6    5-6      None
13/06 AM   4.6/ 5.1   0.1/ 0.6   0.8/ 1.3    8-9      None

Provincetown Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 13.0 ft, Moderate 14.0 ft, Major 15.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.9 ft, Moderate 3.9 ft, Major 4.9 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/03 AM  10.3/10.8   0.2/ 0.7   0.2/ 0.8     1       None
11/03 PM  11.3/11.8   1.2/ 1.7   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
12/04 AM   9.9/10.4  -0.2/ 0.2   0.4/ 0.9    1-3      None
12/04 PM  11.7/12.2   1.6/ 2.0   1.0/ 1.5    4-5      None
13/05 AM  10.6/11.1   0.5/ 1.0   1.5/ 2.0    8-9      None

Dennis - Sesuit Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 13.0 ft, Moderate 14.5 ft, Major 16.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.5 ft, Moderate 4.0 ft, Major 5.5 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/03 AM  11.0/11.5   0.5/ 1.0   0.4/ 0.9     1       None
11/03 PM  12.2/12.7   1.7/ 2.2   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
12/04 AM  10.6/11.1   0.1/ 0.6   0.5/ 1.0    1-3      None
12/04 PM  12.6/13.1   2.1/ 2.6   1.1/ 1.6    3-4      None
13/05 AM  11.3/11.8   0.8/ 1.3   1.6/ 2.0     6       None

Sandwich Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 12.0 ft, Moderate 14.0 ft, Major 15.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 1.7 ft, Moderate 3.7 ft, Major 4.7 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/03 AM   9.7/10.2  -0.7/-0.2   1.0/ 1.5     1       None
11/03 PM  10.8/11.3   0.5/ 1.0   0.8/ 1.3     1       None
12/04 AM   9.1/ 9.6  -1.3/-0.8   0.9/ 1.4    2-3      None
12/04 PM  10.8/11.3   0.5/ 1.0   1.3/ 1.8     3       None
13/05 AM   9.9/10.4  -0.5/ 0.0   2.0/ 2.5     5       None

Wings Neck
MLLW Categories - Minor 6.5 ft, Moderate 9.0 ft, Major 11.5 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.1 ft, Moderate 4.6 ft, Major 7.1 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
11/12 AM   4.2/ 4.7  -0.2/ 0.2   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/12 PM   4.6/ 5.1   0.2/ 0.7  -0.2/ 0.3     1       None
12/01 AM   3.7/ 4.2  -0.8/-0.2   0.0/ 0.5    1-2      None
12/01 PM   5.1/ 5.6   0.7/ 1.1   0.6/ 1.1     3       None
13/02 AM   5.0/ 5.5   0.6/ 1.1   1.4/ 1.9     4       None

Edgartown
MLLW Categories - Minor 4.0 ft, Moderate 5.0 ft, Major 7.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 1.3 ft, Moderate 2.3 ft, Major 4.3 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/03 PM   3.0/ 3.5   0.2/ 0.8   0.1/ 0.6     1       None
11/03 AM   2.1/ 2.6  -0.7/-0.2   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/04 PM   3.2/ 3.7   0.5/ 1.0   0.2/ 0.7    1-2      None
12/05 AM   2.3/ 2.8  -0.3/ 0.2   0.4/ 0.9    3-4      None
12/05 PM   4.4/ 4.9   1.7/ 2.2   1.5/ 2.0    5-7     Minor
13/06 AM   3.7/ 4.2   1.0/ 1.5   1.7/ 2.2    8-9      None

Vineyard Haven
MLLW Categories - Minor 4.5 ft, Moderate 6.0 ft, Major 7.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 2.5 ft, Moderate 4.0 ft, Major 5.0 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/03 PM   2.3/ 2.8   0.4/ 0.9   0.2/ 0.7     1       None
11/02 AM   1.9/ 2.3  -0.2/ 0.3   0.4/ 0.9     1       None
11/03 PM   2.3/ 2.8   0.4/ 0.9   0.2/ 0.8     1       None
12/04 AM   2.1/ 2.6   0.1/ 0.6   0.5/ 1.0    2-3      None
12/04 PM   3.4/ 3.9   1.4/ 1.9   1.4/ 1.9    4-5      None
13/06 AM   3.2/ 3.7   1.3/ 1.8   1.8/ 2.2    6-7      None

Nantucket Harbor
MLLW Categories - Minor 5.0 ft, Moderate 6.5 ft, Major 8.0 ft
MHHW Categories - Minor 1.4 ft, Moderate 2.9 ft, Major 4.4 ft

Total      Total    Departure
Day/Time    Tide       Tide     from Norm   Waves    Flood
ft MLLW    ft MHHW       ft       ft      Impact
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  --------
10/03 PM   4.5/ 5.0   0.9/ 1.4   0.2/ 0.7     2       None
11/04 AM   3.2/ 3.7  -0.5/ 0.0   0.0/ 0.5     2       None
11/04 PM   4.2/ 4.7   0.7/ 1.1   0.1/ 0.6     2       None
12/05 AM   3.2/ 3.7  -0.3/ 0.2   0.2/ 0.8    3-4      None
12/05 PM   5.2/ 5.7   1.7/ 2.2   1.2/ 1.7    6-8     Minor
13/06 AM   4.2/ 4.7   0.7/ 1.1   1.3/ 1.8   10-11     None

&&

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  • Death Toll From Thailand Floods at 22; Relief Efforts Underway

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    BANGKOK (Reuters) -The death toll from floods in Thailand has risen to 22, authorities said on Tuesday as they rushed to get relief to an estimated 370,000 people affected by heavy rainfall and overflowing rivers.

    Nineteen provinces were affected, the Disaster Prevention Department said, with Uttaradit and Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, among the worst-hit areas. 

    Authorities said emergency teams were distributing food and supplies, and were closely monitoring water levels as the monsoon season brings widespread rainfall.

    (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat, Editing by John Mair)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Heavy Rains Trigger Floods, Landslides Killing 18 in India’s Darjeeling

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    (Reuters) -Floods and landslides unleashed by unrelenting rain in India’s eastern hill region of Darjeeling killed at least 18 people, after washing away homes, roads and bridges, authorities said, while the death toll in neighbouring Nepal rose to 50.

    Several people were still missing on Monday, as relief and restoration work got underway, said local government officials in India’s state of West Bengal, warning that the death toll was likely to rise as details flowed in from remote areas.

    “Two iron bridges have collapsed, several roads have been damaged and flooded, huge tracts of land … have been inundated,” Mamata Banerjee, the state’s chief minister, said in a post on X.

    The districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, which are home to tea plantations, were among those affected, she added.

    More showers are expected after the weekend’s “extremely heavy” downpours in Darjeeling, said H R Biswas, the regional weather head in the state’s capital of Kolkata.

    Highway traffic was disrupted as part of an iron bridge over the Balason River linking the city of Siliguri in the plains with the hill town of Mirik collapsed in the heavy rain, and many roads caved in.

    Large amounts of debris littered the roads, a local disaster management official said, making it impossible for rescuers to reach many places in the remote area.

    The Himalayan hill resort of Darjeeling is famed for its tea and draws tourists with spectacular views of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak. Banerjee urged tourists to stay put until they were safely evacuated.

    Across the border in Nepal, the deaths in floods and landslides rose to 50, 37 in separate landslides in the eastern district of Ilam bordering India, a spokesperson for the Armed Police Force said.

    Rescuers dug into the mud and debris in the district, hunting for survivors, while also clearing blocked roads after landslides washed away homes in several villages, district official Bholanath Guragain said.

    (Reporting by Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar and Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu; Writing by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Typhoon Bualoi Death Toll Rises to 36 in Vietnam

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    HANOI (Reuters) -The death toll in Vietnam from Typhoon Bualoi and the floods it triggered has risen to 36, according to a Thursday report from the government’s disaster management agency.

    Bualoi made landfall on Monday in northern central Vietnam, bringing huge sea swells, strong winds and heavy rains that also left 21 people missing and injured 147 others, according to the report.

    The agency also raised its estimate of property damage caused by the typhoon and its flooding to 11.5 trillion dong ($435.80 million), up from $303 million in a previous report released on Wednesday.

    The typhoon severely damaged roads, schools and offices, and caused power grid failures that left tens of thousands of families without electricity, the report said.

    More than 210,000 houses were damaged or inundated, and more than 51,000 hectares of rice and other crops were destroyed, it said.

    (Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by David Stanway)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Ukraine Rescuers Battle Weather Havoc That Kills Nine in Odesa

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    (Reuters) -Rescuers worked through the night, battling havoc from severe weather and floods in Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa and the surrounding district that killed nine people, a child among them, the state emergency service said on Wednesday.

    The workers helped evacuate people from water traps, shift cars, pump water from buildings, and trace a missing girl who was found in the early hours, the service said on the Telegram messaging app.

    It posted pictures of passengers being taken off a flooded bus and cars pulled from the water.

    “In just seven hours, almost two months’ worth of rain fell in Odesa,” Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov said on Telegram earlier. “No stormwater drainage system can withstand such a load.”

    A total of 362 people were rescued in the continuing effort, the emergency service added.

    (Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Kim Coghill and Clarence Fernandez)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

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  • How Arctic Soldiers Train for What They Fear Most: Warm Weather

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    The high north is dreaded for its bone-chilling winters. Even worse, say soldiers there, is the warmer season, when insects infest marshes that flood overnight.

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  • North Carolina family still recovering a year after Hurricane Helene destroyed home

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    WNC family looks back on one year since Helene

    It has almost been a year since Hurricane Helene destroyed communities in western North Carolina. Some families, like the Keeles, lost their homes, cars and jobs as a result of the catastrophic damage.

    BURNSVILLE, N.C. – Nearly one year ago, Hurricane Helene downgraded to a tropical storm and surged right through Western North Carolina, destroying over 74,000 homes and causing around $60 billion in damages, according to the governor’s office.

    Some families are still trying to figure out how to move forward a year after the storm. 

    “My entire 20th year of life has been recovering from a storm,” Amiyah Keele said while reflecting on the past 12 months with her mother, Jessica.

    The Keeles currently live in a camper on a property in Burnsville, North Carolina, after Helene sent about four feet of water through their home on Sept. 27, 2024. Their camper is right next to a house with other family members.

    RESIDENTS DETAIL ‘HORRIFIC’ STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA AFTER HURRICANE HELENE

    The Keele family lived in the home pictured above when Helene hit, sending about four feet of water through the dwelling. (Chelsea Torres)

    The Keeles first spoke with FOX back in November, while they were stocking up on fuel for their generators. 

    “The water was too high and too fast, like we – just made it out,” Amiyah said. The Keele family waded through the raging river until they were safe with their neighbors, staying for nearly a week.

    In the aftermath of the storm, the majority of the region had no cell service, electricity or running water.

    “About a week of just — just nothing, like we didn’t know if anybody else we knew were(sic) okay,” Amiyah said. 

    NORTH CAROLINA MAN SHARES STORY OF SURVIVAL AFTER HELENE

    After about a week, volunteers and donations began pouring into the region from all over the country.

    One group set up a distribution and supply site just a couple miles down the road from the Keeles. The only way they could get there was by walking, but the family went nearly every day to help volunteer. 

    French Broad River overflowed during Helene

    Video taken days after Helene when the water had not receded.  (Fox News)

    “[About] five days later and luckily, we were blessed with wonderful tents,” Jessica told FOX. For nearly a month, the family stayed in tents as recovery began around them.

    HURRICANE HELENE AS IT HAPPENED: SCARS FROM HURRICANE HELENE REMAIN IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

    Volunteers and nonprofit organizations also donated a new car and generators to the Keeles. 

    Amiyah said a heater is a “godsend” when “you’re trying to sleep in a tent.” Not too long after, the family was blessed with a camper by a nonprofit.

    “It didn’t have power or water, but it was better than a tent,” Jessica said. 

    The Keeles are still living in the donated camper. Since then, they’ve received a couple of donated sheds, which hold some of their belongings. Damaged appliances and furniture still sit outside their flooded home.

    “Samaritan’s Purse is great. They came and mucked out the house and had a snowball fight with my son,” Jessica said.

    Meanwhile, a simple reminder to keep on going through the trauma and obstacles is a wooden sign hanging in the donated camper that said “so this is not Home Sweet Home…ADJUST!”

    'Not Home Sweet Home...Adjust!"

    The Keeles have had the sign pictured above for years and believe the words reign true now more than ever.  (Chelsea Torres)

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Jessica said the sign survived the flood.

    She told FOX, “We’re actually doing great compared to some people,” and Amiyah chimed in, “And we’re still struggling.”

    Chelsea Torres joined Fox News in 2023 as a Multimedia Reporter based in Charlotte.

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  • Camp Mystic makes controversial decision about future of Texas camp where 27 died in flooding

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Camp Mystic, a long-running private Christian girls’ summer camp where 27 girls and counselors died in Texas flooding on the Fourth of July, will reopen next year, according to the camp’s operators.

    The reopening will take place in conjunction with the camp’s 100th anniversary and one year after the deadly flash floods that swept through the facility along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County this summer.

    The summer camp made the announcement on Monday in an email to families enrolled in the 2025 camp. Some families have criticized the camp over its safety measures and preparedness in the wake of the tragedy. 

    ‘RIVER OF ANGELS’ MEMORIAL RISES IN KERRVILLE AS FLOOD VICTIMS REMEMBERED

    Clothes, trunks and personal belongings from Camp Mystic campers are strewn outside a flood-damaged dormitory in the wake of the July 2025 flooding. (REUTERS/Umit Bektas)

    Leaders said they will reopen Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, a sister site opened in 2020 that was not destroyed by the flood. The original campus, which is located along the Guadalupe River and suffered “devastating damage,” will remain closed and is not expected to reopen next year, officials added.

    “As we work to finalize plans, we will do so in a way that is mindful of those we have lost,” the letter said, according to The Associated Press.

    The owners said they will be designing and building a memorial “dedicated to the lives of the campers and counselors lost on July 4th,” according to ABC News.

    “We hope this space will serve as a place of reflection and remembrance of these beautiful girls,” the camp’s statement read. “We continue to pray for the grieving families and all those who lost loved ones.”

    The letter also said leaders are working with engineers and other experts to determine how the camp will implement safety changes required under newly passed state bills.

    Fox News Digital has reached out to Camp Mystic for comment. 

    Camp Mystic flooding in Texas

    Debris litters the entrance of Camp Mystic’s riverfront lodge after devastating flash floods swept through the Texas girls’ summer camp on July 4, 2025. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images)

    FAITH BRINGS LIGHT TO DEVASTATED TEXAS TOWN AFTER DEADLY FLOODING DISASTER

    The news has drawn a mixed reaction: some family members of the deceased strongly oppose the planned reopening, while alumni and the Eastland family, who own the property, have expressed support.

    Cici Steward, whose 8-year-old daughter, Cile, remains missing, said, “The truth is, Camp Mystic failed our daughters.”

    “For my family, these months have felt like an eternity. For the camp, it seems like nothing more than a brief pause before business as usual,” she said in a statement Tuesday to The New York Times. “Camp Mystic is pressing ahead with reopening, even if it means inviting girls to swim in the same river that may potentially still hold my daughter’s body.”

    Other parents said they had received almost no other communication from the camp in the months after the flood, then were suddenly notified by email that Mystic planned to reopen.

    Blake Bonner, whose 9-year-old daughter, Lila, died in the flooding, told the Times that the families were not consulted about, and did not approve, the memorial the camp announced.

    Search and rescue crew operating near Camp Mystic

    Rescue crews patrol the Guadalupe River near the heavily damaged Camp Mystic campus in Kerr County, Texas. The river rose more than 15 feet in an hour. (REUTERS/Sergio Flores)

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    The campers and counselors were killed when the fast-rising floodwaters roared through a low-lying area of the summer camp before dawn on July 4, 2025. 

    The destructive flooding killed at least 136 people in the region, prompting widespread criticism of local preparedness. 

    County leaders were asleep or out of town, the AP reported. The head of Camp Mystic had been tracking the weather beforehand, but it’s unclear whether he saw an urgent warning from the National Weather Service that had triggered an emergency alert to phones in the area, a spokesperson for the camp’s operators said in the immediate aftermath.

    The camp, established in 1926, did not evacuate and was hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet to 29.5 feet within 60 minutes.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

    Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

    You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

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  • Trump makes false claims about federal response as he campaigns in area ravaged by Hurricane Helene

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    VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) — Donald Trump repeatedly spread falsehoods Monday about the federal response to Hurricane Helene despite claiming not to be politicizing the disaster as he toured hard-hit areas in south Georgia.

    The former president and Republican nominee claimed upon landing in Valdosta that President Joe Biden was “sleeping” and not responding to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who he said was “calling the president and hasn’t been able to get him.” He repeated the claim at an event with reporters after being told Kemp said he had spoken to Biden.

    “He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying,” Biden said Monday.

    The White House previously announced that Biden spoke by phone Sunday night with Kemp and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, as well as Scott Matheson, mayor of Valdosta, Georgia, and Florida Emergency Management Director John Louk. Kemp confirmed Monday morning that he spoke to Biden the night before.

    “The president just called me yesterday afternoon and I missed him and called him right back and he just said ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him, you know, we’ve got what we need, we’ll work through the federal process,” Kemp said. “He offered if there are other things we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that.”

    In addition to being humanitarian crises, natural disasters can create political tests for elected officials, particularly in the closing weeks of a presidential campaign in which among the hardest-hit states were North Carolina and Georgia, two battlegrounds. Trump over the last several days has used the damage wrought by Helene to attack Harris, the Democratic nominee, and suggest she and Biden are playing politics with the storm — something he was accused of doing when president.

    Biden is defiant about spending time at his beach house

    While the White House highlighted Biden’s call to Kemp and others, the president faced questions about his decision to spend the weekend at his beach house in Delaware, rather than the White House, to monitor the storm.

    “I was commanding it,” Biden told reporters after delivering remarks at the White House on the federal government’s response. “I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well. I commanded it. It’s called a telephone.”

    AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports Donald Trump is touring Hurricane Helene’s damage in Georgia, while blasting the Biden administration’s response to the deadly storm.

    Biden received frequent updates on the storm, the White House said, as did Harris aboard Air Force Two as she made a West Coast campaign swing. The vice president cut short her campaign trip Monday to return to Washington for a briefing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

    Trump, writing on his social media platform Monday, also claimed without evidence that the federal government and North Carolina’s Democratic governor were “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.” Asheville, which was devastated by the storm, is solidly Democratic, as is much of Buncombe County, which surrounds it.

    The death toll from Helene has surpassed 100 people, with some of the worst damage caused by inland flooding in North Carolina.

    Biden said he will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to get a first-hand look at the devastation, but will limit his footprint so as not to distract from the ongoing recovery efforts.

    During remarks Monday at FEMA headquarters, Harris said she has received regular briefings on the disaster response, including from FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, and has spoken with Kemp and Cooper in the last 24 hours.

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    “I have shared with them that we will do everything in our power to help communities respond and recover,” she said. “And I’ve shared with them that I plan to be on the ground as soon as possible without disrupting any emergency response operations.”

    When asked if her visit was politicizing the storm, she frowned and shook her head but did not reply.

    Trump partnered with a Christian charity to bring supplies

    The Trump campaign partnered with the Christian humanitarian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse to bring trucks of fuel, food, water and other critical supplies to Georgia, said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary.

    Leavitt did not immediately respond to questions about how much had been donated and from which entity. Samaritan’s Purse also declined to address the matter in a statement.

    Trump also launched a GoFundMe campaign for supporters to send financial aid to people impacted by the storm. It quickly passed its $1 million goal Monday night.

    “Our hearts are with you and we are going to be with you as long as you need it,” Trump said, flanked by a group of elected officials and Republican supporters.

    “We’re not talking about politics now,” Trump added.

    Trump said he wanted to stop in North Carolina but was holding off because access and communication is limited in hard-hit communities.

    When asked by The Associated Press on Monday if he was concerned that his visit to Georgia was taking away law enforcement resources that could be used for disaster response, Trump said, “No.” He said his campaign instead “brought many wagons of resources.”

    Katie Watson, who owns with her husband the home design store Trump visited, said she was told the former president picked that location because he saw shots of the business destroyed with the rubble and said, “Find that place and find those people.”

    “He didn’t come here for me. He came here to recognize that this town has been destroyed. It’s a big setback,” she said.

    “He recognizes that we are hurting and he wants us to know that,” she added. “It was a lifetime opportunity to meet the president. This is not exactly the way I wanted to do it.”

    Trump campaign officials have long pointed to his visit to East Palestine, Ohio, the site of a toxic trail derailment, as a turning point in the early days of the presidential race when he was struggling to establish his footing as a candidate. They believed his warm welcome by residents frustrated by the federal government’s response helped remind voters why they had been drawn to him years earlier.

    Trump fought with Puerto Rico and meteorologists while president

    During Trump’s term as president, he visited numerous disaster zones, including the aftermaths of hurricanes, tornadoes and shootings. But the trips sometimes elicited controversy such as when he tossed paper towels to cheering residents in Puerto Rico in 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

    It also took until weeks before the presidential election in 2020 for Trump’s administration to release $13 billion in assistance for the territory. A federal government watchdog found that officials hampered an investigation into delays in aid delivery.

    In another 2019 incident, Trump administration officials admonished some meteorologists for tweeting that Alabama was not threatened by Hurricane Dorian, contradicting the then-president. Trump would famously display a map altered with a black Sharpie pen to indicate Alabama could be in the path of the storm.

    ___

    Fernando reported from Chicago, and Amy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Chris Megerian and Aamer Madhani in Washington, and Will Weissert in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

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  • Senegalese women take aim at polluting countries in march for climate justice

    Senegalese women take aim at polluting countries in march for climate justice

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    DAKAR, Senegal — About 50 Senegalese women climate activists hit the streets of Dakar Saturday to demand climate justice ahead of COP29 in a march held annually since 2021, but that organizers say is particularly pertinent this year.

    Participants yelled “Down with capitalism! Down with polluting countries!” as they marched through Dakar’s Medina neighborhood, carrying banners and signs demanding protection of Senegal’s resources and calling for a decarbonized future.

    “It’s been four years that we’ve been marching, and nothing’s changed. They’re spending billions to do their conferences, but they owe us billions in compensation,” said Cheikh Niange Faye, a former tour guide from Senegal’s Thiès region, referring to the countries responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions.

    “Us in the rural world, women from the rural world, this year we have seen a lot of floods.”

    This year saw record breaking floods across the Sahel, and Senegal was no exception. Flooding in recent months has left tens of thousands of people affected and more than 1,000 hectares of crops damaged in the north and east of the country according to government figures.

    Activists in Senegal say the countries responsible for greenhouse gas emissions owe Africa for the suffering caused by the effects of climate change, citing data from the Carbon Disclosure Project that puts the continent’s share of global emissions at just 3.8%.

    Khady Camara is an activist based in Dakar and the main organizer of the Senegal women’s climate march. She said ahead of the COP29 she is calling on countries to respect the Paris Agreement.

    Khady Faye is an environmental activist who traveled to Dakar from her home near Senegal’s Saloum Delta, a region which has suffered devastating coastal erosion.

    Production at Senegal’s first offshore drilling site at the Sangomar oil fields, off Senegal’s coast near the delta, started this year. Australian group Woodside Energy has an 82% stake in the project.

    “Think about the suffering of these communities, think about the suffering of these women. Try to leave our delta alone, try to leave the gas at Sangomar underground, to let the community live normally,” Faye said.

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  • What to know: Unprecedented floods kill more than 200 in Spain

    What to know: Unprecedented floods kill more than 200 in Spain

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    In a matter of minutes, flash floods caused by heavy downpours in eastern Spain swept away everything in their path. With no time to react, people were trapped in vehicles, homes and businesses. Many died, and thousands saw their livelihoods shattered.See some of the devastation in the video aboveFour days later, authorities have recovered 205 bodies — 202 of them in the eastern Valencia region, two in Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia. They continued to search for an unknown number of missing people on Friday.Thousands of volunteers were helping to clear away the thick layers of mud and debris that still covered houses, streets and roads, all while facing power and water cuts and shortages of some basic goods. Inside some of the vehicles that the water washed into piles or crashed into buildings, there were still bodies waiting to be identified.Here are a few things to know about Spain’s deadliest storm in living memory:What happened?The storms concentrated over the Magro and Turia river basins and, in the Poyo riverbed, produced walls of water that overflowed riverbanks, catching people unaware as they went on with their daily lives, with many coming home from work on Tuesday evening.In the blink of an eye, the muddy water covered roads, railways and entered houses and businesses in villages on the southern outskirts of Valencia city. Drivers had to take shelter on car roofs, while residents tried to take refuge on higher ground.Spain’s national weather service said that in the hard-hit locality of Chiva, it rained more in eight hours than it had in the preceding 20 months, calling the deluge “extraordinary.”When the authorities sent the alert to mobile phones warning of the seriousness of the phenomenon and asked them to stay at home, many were already on the road, working or covered in water in low-lying areas or garages, which became death traps.Why did these massive flash floods happen?Scientists trying to explain what happened see two likely connections to human-caused climate change. One is that warmer air holds and then dumps more rain. The other is possible changes in the jet stream — the river of air above land that moves weather systems across the globe — that spawn extreme weather.Climate scientists and meteorologists said the immediate cause of the flooding is called a cut-off lower-pressure storm system that migrated from an unusually wavy and stalled jet stream. That system simply parked over the region and poured rain. This happens often enough that in Spain they call them DANAs, the Spanish acronym for the system, meteorologists said.And then there is the unusually high temperature of the Mediterranean Sea. It had its warmest surface temperature on record in mid-August, at 28.47 degrees Celsius (83.25 degrees Fahrenheit), said Carola Koenig, of the Centre for Flood Risk and Resilience at Brunel University of London.The extreme weather event came after Spain battled with prolonged droughts in 2022 and 2023. Experts say that drought and flood cycles are increasing with climate change.Has this happened before?Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this episode was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory.Older people in Paiporta, ground zero of the tragedy, claim that Tuesday’s floods were three times as bad as those of 1957, which caused at least 81 deaths and were the worst in the history of the tourist eastern region. That episode led to the diversion of the Turia watercourse, which meant that a large part of the city was spared of these floods.Valencia suffered two other major DANAs in the 1980s, one in 1982, with around 30 deaths, and another one five years later, which broke rainfall records.This week’s flash floods are also Spain’s deadliest natural tragedy in living memory, surpassing the flood that swept away a campsite along the Gallego River in Biescas, in the northeast, killing 87 people in August 1996.What has the state response been?The management of the crisis — classified as level two on a scale of three by the Valencian government — is in the hands of the regional authorities, who can ask the central government for help in mobilizing resources.At the request of Valencia’s president, Carlos Mazón, of the conservative Popular Party, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Saturday the deployment of 5,000 more soldiers who will join rescue efforts, clear debris and provide water and food over the weekend.The government will also send 5,000 more national police officers to the region, Sánchez said.At present, there are some 2,000 soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit, the army’s first intervention force for natural disasters and humanitarian crises, involved in the emergency work, as well as almost 2,500 Civil Guard gendarmes — who have carried out 4,500 rescues during the floods — and 1,800 national police officers.When many of those affected said they felt abandoned by the authorities, a wave of volunteers took to the streets to help. Carrying brooms, shovels, water and basic foods, hundreds of people have walked several kilometers each day to deliver supplies and help clean up the worst-affected areas.Sánchez’s government is expected to approve a disaster declaration on Tuesday that will allow quick access to financial aid. Mazón has announced additional economic assistance.The Valencia regional government had been criticized for not sending out flood warnings to mobile phones until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when the flooding had already started in some places and well after the national weather agency issued a red alert indicating heavy rains.___Associated Press writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

    MADRID (AP) —

    In a matter of minutes, flash floods caused by heavy downpours in eastern Spain swept away everything in their path. With no time to react, people were trapped in vehicles, homes and businesses. Many died, and thousands saw their livelihoods shattered.

    See some of the devastation in the video above

    Four days later, authorities have recovered 205 bodies — 202 of them in the eastern Valencia region, two in Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia. They continued to search for an unknown number of missing people on Friday.

    Thousands of volunteers were helping to clear away the thick layers of mud and debris that still covered houses, streets and roads, all while facing power and water cuts and shortages of some basic goods. Inside some of the vehicles that the water washed into piles or crashed into buildings, there were still bodies waiting to be identified.

    Here are a few things to know about Spain’s deadliest storm in living memory:

    What happened?

    The storms concentrated over the Magro and Turia river basins and, in the Poyo riverbed, produced walls of water that overflowed riverbanks, catching people unaware as they went on with their daily lives, with many coming home from work on Tuesday evening.

    In the blink of an eye, the muddy water covered roads, railways and entered houses and businesses in villages on the southern outskirts of Valencia city. Drivers had to take shelter on car roofs, while residents tried to take refuge on higher ground.

    Spain’s national weather service said that in the hard-hit locality of Chiva, it rained more in eight hours than it had in the preceding 20 months, calling the deluge “extraordinary.”

    When the authorities sent the alert to mobile phones warning of the seriousness of the phenomenon and asked them to stay at home, many were already on the road, working or covered in water in low-lying areas or garages, which became death traps.

    MANU FERNANDEZ

    People clean mud from a shop affected by floods in Chiva, Spain, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.

    Why did these massive flash floods happen?

    Scientists trying to explain what happened see two likely connections to human-caused climate change. One is that warmer air holds and then dumps more rain. The other is possible changes in the jet stream — the river of air above land that moves weather systems across the globe — that spawn extreme weather.

    Climate scientists and meteorologists said the immediate cause of the flooding is called a cut-off lower-pressure storm system that migrated from an unusually wavy and stalled jet stream. That system simply parked over the region and poured rain. This happens often enough that in Spain they call them DANAs, the Spanish acronym for the system, meteorologists said.

    And then there is the unusually high temperature of the Mediterranean Sea. It had its warmest surface temperature on record in mid-August, at 28.47 degrees Celsius (83.25 degrees Fahrenheit), said Carola Koenig, of the Centre for Flood Risk and Resilience at Brunel University of London.

    The extreme weather event came after Spain battled with prolonged droughts in 2022 and 2023. Experts say that drought and flood cycles are increasing with climate change.

    A woman rests as residents and volunteers clean up an area affected by floods in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

    Alberto Saiz

    A woman rests as residents and volunteers clean up an area affected by floods in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.

    Has this happened before?

    Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this episode was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory.

    Older people in Paiporta, ground zero of the tragedy, claim that Tuesday’s floods were three times as bad as those of 1957, which caused at least 81 deaths and were the worst in the history of the tourist eastern region. That episode led to the diversion of the Turia watercourse, which meant that a large part of the city was spared of these floods.

    Valencia suffered two other major DANAs in the 1980s, one in 1982, with around 30 deaths, and another one five years later, which broke rainfall records.

    This week’s flash floods are also Spain’s deadliest natural tragedy in living memory, surpassing the flood that swept away a campsite along the Gallego River in Biescas, in the northeast, killing 87 people in August 1996.

    What has the state response been?

    The management of the crisis — classified as level two on a scale of three by the Valencian government — is in the hands of the regional authorities, who can ask the central government for help in mobilizing resources.

    At the request of Valencia’s president, Carlos Mazón, of the conservative Popular Party, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Saturday the deployment of 5,000 more soldiers who will join rescue efforts, clear debris and provide water and food over the weekend.

    The government will also send 5,000 more national police officers to the region, Sánchez said.

    Vehicles are seen piled up after being swept away by floods in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

    Alberto Saiz

    Vehicles are seen piled up after being swept away by floods in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024.

    At present, there are some 2,000 soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit, the army’s first intervention force for natural disasters and humanitarian crises, involved in the emergency work, as well as almost 2,500 Civil Guard gendarmes — who have carried out 4,500 rescues during the floods — and 1,800 national police officers.

    When many of those affected said they felt abandoned by the authorities, a wave of volunteers took to the streets to help. Carrying brooms, shovels, water and basic foods, hundreds of people have walked several kilometers each day to deliver supplies and help clean up the worst-affected areas.

    Sánchez’s government is expected to approve a disaster declaration on Tuesday that will allow quick access to financial aid. Mazón has announced additional economic assistance.

    The Valencia regional government had been criticized for not sending out flood warnings to mobile phones until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when the flooding had already started in some places and well after the national weather agency issued a red alert indicating heavy rains.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • EU leader praises Serbia for its advances in EU membership bid despite growing Russian influence

    EU leader praises Serbia for its advances in EU membership bid despite growing Russian influence

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    BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday praised the Serbian president for meeting her and other European Union leaders instead of attending a Russia-organized summit of developing economies held earlier this week.

    Serbia has close ties to Russia and has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. In a telephone conversation Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said EU candidate Serbia would maintain its stance on sanctions, notwithstanding EU and other Western pressure.

    However, despite Putin’s invitation, Vucic did not attend a three-day summit of the BRICS group of nations, led by Russia and China, which took place in the Russian city of Kazan earlier this week. Leaders or representatives of 36 countries took part in the summit, highlighting the failure of U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

    Vucic sent a high-level delegation to the meeting, but said he could not attend himself because he had scheduled meetings with von der Leyen and Polish and Greek leaders. There are fears in the West that Putin is plotting trouble in the volatile Balkans in part to shift some of the attention from its invasion of Ukraine.

    “What I see is that the president of the Republic of Serbia is hosting me here today and just has hosted the prime minister of Greece and the prime minister of Poland. That speaks for itself, I think,” von der Leyen said at a joint press conference with Vucic.

    “And for my part, I want to say that my presence here today, in the context of my now fourth trip to the Balkan region since I took office, is a very clear sign that I believe that Serbia’s future is in the European Union,” she said.

    Vucic said he knows what the EU is demanding for eventual membership — including compliance with foreign policy goals — but did not pledge further coordination.

    “Of course, Ursula asked for much greater compliance with EU’s foreign policy declaration,” he said. “We clearly know what the demands are, what the expectations are.”

    Von der Leyen was in Serbia as part of a trip this week to aspiring EU member states in the Western Balkans to assure them that EU enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc. From Serbia, von der Leyen will travel to neighboring Kosovo and Montenegro.

    Serbian media reported that von der Leyen refused to meet with Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic because of his talks Friday with a high-level Russian economic delegation, which was in Belgrade to discuss deepening ties with Serbia. Vucic will meet the Russian officials on Saturday.

    In Bosnia on Friday, von der Leyen promised support for the deeply split Balkan country which is struggling with the reforms needed to advance toward EU membership.

    The Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership. The countries have been frustrated by the slow pace of the process, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has propelled European leaders to push the six to join the bloc.

    Bosnia gained candidate status in 2022. EU leaders in March agreed in principle to open membership negotiations, though Bosnia must still do a lot of work.

    “We share the same vision for the future, a future where Bosnia-Herzegovina is a full-fledged member of the European Union,” said von der Leyen at a joint press conference with Bosnian Prime Minister Bojana Kristo. “So, I would say, let’s continue working on that. We’ve gone a long way already, we still have a way ahead of us, but I am confident that you’ll make it.”

    Last year EU officials offered a 6-billion-euro (about $6.5 billion) growth plan to the Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to join the bloc. That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line with EU rules.

    The Commission on Wednesday approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a green light from EU member states. That was a key step to allow payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.

    However, Bosnia’s reform agenda has still not been signed off by the Commission.

    “The accession process is, as you know, merit-based … we do not look at a rigid data but we look at the merits, the progress that a country is making,” said von der Leyen. “The important thing is that we have an ambitious reform agenda, like the other five Western Balkan countries also have. We stand ready to help you to move forward.”

    Long after a 1992-95 ethnic war that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless, Bosnia remains ethnically divided and politically deadlocked. An ethnic Serb entity — one of Bosnia’s two equal parts joined by a common government — has sought to gain as much independence as possible.

    Upon arrival in Bosnia, von der Leyen on Thursday first went to Donja Jablanica, a village in central Bosnia that was devastated in recent floods and landslides. The disaster in early October claimed 27 lives and the small village was virtually buried in rocks from a quarry located on a hill above.

    Von der Leyen said the EU is sending an immediate aid package of 20 million euros ($21 million) and will also provide support for reconstruction later on.

    —-

    AP writer Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade.

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  • Japan’s beloved former Empress Michiko marks her 90th birthday as she recovers from a broken leg

    Japan’s beloved former Empress Michiko marks her 90th birthday as she recovers from a broken leg

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    TOKYO — Japan’s beloved former Empress Michiko received greetings from her relatives and palace officials to celebrate her 90th birthday Sunday as she steadily recovers from a broken leg, officials said.

    Michiko is the first commoner to become empress in modern Japanese history. Catholic-educated Michiko Shoda and then-Crown Prince Akihito married on April 10, 1959, after what is known as their tennis court romance.

    The couple retired after Akihito abdicated in 2019 as their son, Emperor Naruhito, ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne and his wife, Masako, became empress.

    Since then, Akihito and Michiko have largely withdrawn from public appearance to enjoy their quiet life together, taking daily walks inside the palace gardens or occasionally taking private trips, hosting small gatherings for book reading and music, according to the Imperial Household Agency.

    Former Emperor Akihito has been concerned about Michiko’s physical strength and asking how she is feeling, officials said.

    Michiko, who fell earlier in October at her residence and had a surgery for her femoral fracture, was steadily recovering with a daily rehabilitation session for about an hour at a time, palace officials said. She was expected to be in a wheelchair when joining her well-wishers for Sunday’s celebration.

    The former empress was deeply concerned about the people affected by the deadly Jan. 1 earthquake in Japan’s north-central region of Noto, especially those who suffered additional damage from September’s heavy rains and floods, the palace said.

    Since retirement, Michiko has shared her love of literature, including children’s books, English poetry and music, with her friends as well as with Akihito.

    The palace said she reads parts of a book aloud with her husband as a daily routine after breakfast. They are currently reading a book chosen by Akihito about war and Okinawa, a southern Japanese island where one of the harshest ground battles took place at the end of World War II fought in the name of his father.

    The couple broke with traditions and brought many changes to the monarchy: They chose to raise their three children themselves, spoke more often to the public, and made amends for war victims in and outside Japan. Their close interactions have won them deep affection among Japanese.

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  • Flooding from seasonal rains threatens residents in northern Thailand, including elephants

    Flooding from seasonal rains threatens residents in northern Thailand, including elephants

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    BANGKOK (AP) — Flooding in northern Thailand forced many residents of the city of Chiang Mai and its outskirts to seek safety on higher ground on Friday, with members of the animal world under similar threat.

    Evacuations were underway at the Elephant Nature Park, which houses around 3,000 rescued animals, including 125 elephants, 800 dogs, 2,500 cats, 200 rabbits and 200 cows.

    Flood waters caused by heavy rainfall swept through the park on Thursday.

    Heavy seasonal monsoon rains and the effects of Typhoon Yagi combined to cause serious flooding in many parts of Thailand, with the northern region particularly badly hit.

    Video posted online by the park vividly illustrated that care and compassion are not solely human traits.

    The video shows several of the park’s resident elephants fleeing through rising, muddy water to ground less inundated.

    Three of them dash through the deluge with some ease but, according to the park, a fourth one is blind and was falling behind. It showed greater difficulty passing through wrecked fencing.

    Its fellows appear to call out to it, to guide it to their sides.

    Efforts to evacuate more animals were hampered by the high water, while more rain is forecast.

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  • A Tennessee nurse and his dog died trying to save a man from floods driven by Hurricane Helene

    A Tennessee nurse and his dog died trying to save a man from floods driven by Hurricane Helene

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    As the Hurricane Helene-driven waters rose around the Nolichucky River in Tennessee, Boone McCrary, his girlfriend and his chocolate lab headed out on his fishing boat to search for a man who was stranded by floodwaters that had leveled his home. But the thick debris in the water jammed the boat’s motor, and without power, it slammed into a bridge support and capsized.

    McCrary and his dog Moss never made it out of the water alive.

    Search teams found McCrary’s boat and his dog’s body two days later, but it took four days to find McCrary, an emergency room nurse whose passion was being on his boat in that river. His girlfriend, Santana Ray, held onto a branch for hours before rescuers reached her.

    David Boutin, the man McCrary had set out to rescue, was distraught when he later learned McCrary had died trying to save him.

    “I’ve never had anyone risk their life for me,” Boutin told The Associated Press. “From what I hear that was the way he always been. He’s my guardian angel, that’s for sure.”

    The 46-year-old recalled how the force of the water swept him out his front door and ripped his dog Buddy — “My best friend, all I have” — from his arms. Boutin was rescued by another team after clinging to tree branches in the raging river for six hours. Buddy is still missing, and Boutin knows he couldn’t have survived.

    McCrary was one of 215 people killed by Hurricane Helene’s raging waters and falling trees across six states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia — and was among a group of first responders who perished while trying to save others. The hurricane caused significant damage in nearby Unicoi County, where flooding swept away 11 workers at an plastics factory and forced a rescue mission at an Erwin, Tennessee, hospital.

    McCrary, an avid hunter and fisherman, spent his time cruising the waterways that snake around Greeneville, Tennessee. When the hurricane hit, the 32-year-old asked friends on Facebook if anyone needed help, said his sister, Laura Harville. That was how he learned about Boutin.

    McCrary, his girlfriend and Moss the dog launched into a flooded neighborhood at about 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 and approached Boutin’s location, but the debris-littered floodwaters clogged the boat’s jet motor. Despite pushing and pulling the throttle, McCrary couldn’t clear the junk and slammed into the bridge about two hours into the rescue attempt.

    “I got the first phone call at 8:56 p.m. and I was a nervous wreck,” Harville said. She headed to the bridge and started walking the banks.

    Harville organized hundreds of volunteers who used drones, thermal cameras, binoculars and hunting dogs to scour the muddy banks, fending off copperhead snakes, trudging through knee-high muck and fighting through tangled branches. Harville collected items that carried McCrary’s scent — a pillowcase, sock and insoles from his nursing shoes — and stuffed them into mason jars for the canines to sniff.

    On Sunday, a drone operator spotted the boat. They found Moss dead nearby, but there was no sign of McCrary.

    Searchers had no luck on Monday, “but on Tuesday they noticed vultures flying,” Harville said. That was how they found McCrary’s body, about 21 river miles (33 kilometers) from the bridge where the boat capsized, she said.

    The force of the floodwaters carried McCrary under two other bridges, under the highway and over the Nolichucky Dam, she said. The Tennessee Valley Authority said about 1.3 million gallons (4.9 million liters) of water per second was flowing over the dam on the night McCrary was swept away, more than double the flow rate of the dam’s last regulated release nearly a half-century ago.

    Boutin, 46, isn’t sure where he will go next. He is staying with his son for a few days and then hopes to get a hotel voucher.

    He didn’t learn about McCrary’s fate until the day after he was rescued.

    “When the news hit, I didn’t know how to take it,” Boutin told the AP. “I wish I could thank him for giving his life for me.”

    Dozens of McCrary’s coworkers at Greenville Community Hospital have posted tributes to him, recalling his kindness and compassion and desire to help others. He “was adamant about living life to the fullest and making sure along the way that you didn’t forget your fellow man or woman and that you helped each other,” Harville said.

    McCrary’s last TikTok video posted before the hurricane shows him speeding along the surface of rushing muddy water to the tune, “Wanted Dead or Alive.” He wrote a message along the bottom that read:

    “Some people have asked if I had a ‘death wish.’ The truth is that I have a ‘life wish.’ I have a need for feeling the life running through my veins. One thing about me, I may be ‘crazy,’ Perhaps a little reckless at times, but when the time comes to put me in the ground, you can say I lived it all the way.”

    ___

    Bellisle reported from Seattle.

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  • Homeowners hit by Hurricane Helene face the grim task of rebuilding without flood insurance

    Homeowners hit by Hurricane Helene face the grim task of rebuilding without flood insurance

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    A week after Hurricane Helene overwhelmed the Southeastern U.S., homeowners hit the hardest are grappling with how they could possibly pay for the flood damage from one of the deadliest storms to hit the mainland in recent history.

    The Category 4 storm that first struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26 has dumped trillions of gallons of water across several states, leaving a catastrophic trail of destruction that spans hundreds of miles inland. More than 200 people have died in what is now the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina, according to statistics from the National Hurricane Center.

    Western North Carolina and the Asheville area were hit especially hard, with flooding that wiped out buildings, roads, utilities and land in a way that nobody expected, let alone prepared for. Inland areas in parts of Georgia and Tennessee were also washed out.

    The Oak Forest neighborhood in south Asheville lives up to its name, with trees towering over 1960s era ranch-style houses on large lots. But on Sept. 27, as Helene’s remnants swept through western north Carolina, many of those trees came crashing down, sometimes landing on houses.

    Julianne Johnson said she was coming upstairs from the basement to help her 5-year-old son pick out clothes that day when her husband began to yell that a giant oak was falling diagonally across the yard. The tree mostly missed the house, but still crumpled part of a metal porch and damaged the roof. Then, Johnson said, her basement flooded.

    On Friday, there was a blue tarp being held on the roof with a brick. Sodden carpet that the family torn out lay on the side of the house, waiting to go to the landfill. With no cell phone service or internet access, Johnson said she couldn’t file a home insurance claim until four days after the storm.

    “It took me a while to make that call,” she said. “I don’t have an adjuster yet.”

    Roof and tree damage are likely to be covered by the average home insurance policy. But Johnson, like many homeowners, doesn’t have flood insurance and she’s not certain how she’ll pay for that part of the damage.

    Those recovering from the storm may be surprised to learn flood damage is a completely separate thing. Insurance professionals and experts have long warned that home insurance typically does not cover flood damage to the home, even as they espouse that flooding can happen anywhere that rains. That’s because flooding isn’t just sea water seeping into the land – it’s also water from banks, as well as mudflow and torrential rains.

    But most private insurance companies don’t carry flood insurance, leaving the National Flood Insurance Program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the primary provider for that coverage for residential homes. Congress created the federal flood insurance program more than 50 years ago when many private insurers stopped offering policies in high-risk areas.

    North Carolina has 129,933 such policies in force, according to FEMA’s latest data, though most of that protection will likely be concentrated on the coast rather than in the Blue Ridge Mountains area where Helene caused the most damage. Florida, in comparison, has about 1.7 million flood policies in place statewide.

    Charlotte Hicks, a flood insurance expert in North Carolina who has led flood risk training and educational outreach for the state’s Department of Insurance, said the reality is that many Helene survivors will never be made whole. Without flood insurance, some people may be able to rebuild with the help of charities but most others will be left to fend for themselves.

    “There will absolutely be people who will be financially devasted by this event,” Hicks said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

    Some may go into foreclosure or bankruptcy. Entire neighborhoods will likely never be rebuilt. There’s been water damage across the board, Hicks said, and for some, mudslides have even taken the land upon which their house once stood.

    Meanwhile, Helene is turning out to be a fairly manageable disaster for the private home insurance market because those plans generally only serve to cover wind damage from hurricanes.

    That’s a relief for the industry, which has been under increasing strain from other intensifying climate disasters such as wildfires and tornadoes. Nowhere is the shrinking private market due to climate instability more evident than in Florida, where many companies have already stopped selling policies — leaving the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation now the largest home insurer in the state.

    Mark Friedlander, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, said Helene is a “very manageable loss event,” and estimates insurer losses will range from about $5 billion to $8 billion. That’s compared to the insured losses from the Category 4 Hurricane Ian in September 2022 that was estimated in excess of $50 billion.

    Friedlander and other experts point out that less than 1% of the inland areas that sustained the most catastrophic flood damage were protected with flood insurance.

    “This is very common in inland communities across the country,” Friedlander said. “ Lack of flood insurance is a major insurance gap in the U.S., as only about 6% of homeowners carry the coverage, mostly in coastal counties.”

    Amy Bach, executive director of the consumer advocacy group United Policyholders, said the images of the flood destruction in North Carolina shook her despite decades of seeing challenging recovery faced by victims of natural disasters.

    “This is a pretty serious situation here in terms of people disappointed. They are going to be disappointed in their insurers and they are going to be disappointed in FEMA,” Bach said. “FEMA cannot match the kind of dollars private insurers are supposed to be contributing to the recovery.”

    This week, FEMA announced it could meet the immediate needs of Helene but warned it doesn’t have enough funding to make it through the hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30 though most hurricanes typically occur in September and October.

    Even if a homeowner does have it, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program only covers up to $250,000 for single-family homes and $100,000 for contents.

    Bach said that along with homeowners educating themselves about what their policies do and don’t cover, the solution is a national disaster insurance program that does for property insurance what the Affordable Care Act did for health insurance.

    After Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the state of North Carolina started requiring insurance agents to take a flood insurance class so they could properly advise their clients of the risk and policies available, Hicks said. The state also requires home insurance policies to clearly disclose that it does not cover flood.

    “You can’t stop nature from doing what nature is going to do,” Hicks said. “For us to think it’s never going to be this bad again would be a dangerous assumption. A lot of people underestimate their risk of flooding.”

    ___

    Associated Press Staff Writers Jeff Amy in Asheville, North Carolina, Lisa Leff in London and Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.

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