Hurricane

Democrats representing Florida in Congress signed onto a letter urging the federal government to reconsider staffing cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service (NWS) ahead of hurricane season.

This comes amid reports that hundreds of jobs were slated to be slashed at the agency, totaling up to 10% of its workforce.

The Biden administration released a new report Friday showing that homelessness in America increased by 18% in 2024, partially attributing the spike to the huge influx of immigrants settling in the country.

The nation’s homelessness problem worsened again this year.

A record estimate of 771,480 people were homeless in the U.S. in 2024, an 18% increase from a year earlier, fueled by factors including an influx of migrant families, a lack of affordable housing and natural disasters, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development....

More Americans were homeless this year compared with 2023 as families continued struggling to afford rent and other basic necessities, federal officials announced Friday.

Across the U.S., more than 771,800 people lived without housing in 2024, according to a count taken annually on a single night in January. The number for January 2024 is 18.1% higher than in 2023, when officials counted about 650,000 people living in homeless shelters or in parks and on streets. In 2022, the population of people experiencing homelessness was about 580,000.

Former President Trump on Monday attacked the federal response to Hurricane Helene by repeating debunked claims about funding and bashed North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) during a stop in storm-ravaged Asheville, N.C.

Trump met with local officials and viewed damage from Hurricane Helene ahead of a pair of campaign events in the Tar Heel State. The former president praised the enthusiasm of voters despite the storm damage amid sizable early turnout, but he also swiped at his political opponents over the response to Helene.

A North Carolina man was arrested over the weekend for allegedly threatening harm against FEMA employees responding to Hurricane Helene, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.

William Jacob Parsons, 44, was arrested and charged with Going Armed to the Terror of the Public, a misdemeanor, Capt. Jamie Keever said in a news release issued Monday.

“Parsons was armed with a handgun and a rifle,” Keever said.

President Joe Biden got a firsthand look Sundy at the devastation inflicted on Florida’s Gulf Coast by Hurricane Milton as he presses Congress to approve additional emergency disaster funding. Vice President Kamala Harris was spending a second day in North Carolina, hard-hit by Hurricane Helene, to worship with Black churchgoers and hold a campaign rally.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mocked a reporter during a press conference on Thursday for suggesting that global warming was responsible for the recent series of extreme weather events that have hit the state.

DeSantis made the remarks after the state was hit with two hurricanes over the last couple of weeks and dozens of tornadoes.

A few days ago, Rick Conflitti and his girlfriend were discussing whether they needed to evacuate their home ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall.

It was an important discussion to have — their home is made of wood, and it’s close to the Peace River.

“You can’t risk it,” Conflitti told NPR.