hurricane

And is there anything that the city and the electric utility could be doing to decrease that likelihood – or, at least, mitigate its impact on local residents?

Weather experts are warning that hurricane forecasts will be severely hampered by the upcoming cutoff of key data from U.S. Department of Defense satellites.

The forecast cone no longer includes Louisiana. Local impacts will be primarily coastal flooding, winds and heavy rainfall from the system’s outer bands, the National Weather Service said.

Rafael strengthened Wednesday into a powerful Category 3 hurricane ahead of its expected landfall in western Cuba, where it was forecast to bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds and flash floods.

Forecasters say a new tropical storm is expected to form in the Caribbean and will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening to a hurricane and likely hitting Cuba.

Hurricane Milton plowed into Florida as a Category 3 storm Wednesday, bringing misery to a coast still ravaged by Helene, pounding cities with winds of over 100 mph (160 kph) after producing a barrage of tornadoes, but sparing Tampa a direct hit.

The death toll from the storm surpassed 130. A North Carolina county that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 40 people killed there.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced its outlook for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season on Tuesday.

The proposal from Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration to tighten up rules for nursing home hurricane evacuations would prohibit state records about how well those plans are executed from being released publicly.