Cleanup begins after tornadoes hit in Texas and Florida, killing 4 and destroying homes
Cleanup efforts were beginning Friday morning after severe storms spawned tornadoes that left at least four dead, three in the Texas Panhandle and one in the Florida Panhandle as another series of fierce storms carved its way through Southern states.
Surging coronavirus colors White House race in closing days
Trumpโs remarks came hours before the White House announced that a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence had tested positive for the virus. Pence has been in close contact with the adviser, the White House said, but still planned to keep traveling and holding rallies around the country. More than two dozen people linked to the White House have contracted COVID-19 since that gathering, as have campaign aides. โIt's always cases, cases, cases. โYou know why we have cases?โ Trump asked.
Wildfires and hurricanes disrupt final weeks of 2020 census
The Census Bureau is contending with several natural disasters as wildfires and hurricanes disrupt the final weeks of the nations once-a-decade headcount. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)ORLANDO, Fla. โ Already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic and a tightened deadline, the Census Bureau must now contend with several natural disasters as wildfires and hurricanes disrupt the final weeks of the nation's once-a-decade headcount. A coalition of cities and civil rights groups are suing in federal court in San Jose, seeking an extra month. โThis is not usually the time of the year that the Census Bureau is doing the counting." In some places where census takers cannot go out, they are trying to reach households by phone, according to Census Bureau officials.
Hundreds of thousands still without power in Sally cleanup
While the cleanup pressed on, the record-shattering hurricane season notched another milestone: Forecasters ran out of traditional names for storms after three new systems formed in about six hours. In Loxley, Alabama, Catherine Williams lost power and some of her roof to Sally. The same practice will govern storm names for the rest of hurricane season, which lasts until the end of November. The only other time the hurricane center dipped into the Greek alphabet was the deadly 2005 hurricane season, which included Hurricane Katrina's strike on New Orleans. She was concerned because more than two months are left in hurricane season.
Rescuers reach people cut off by Gulf Coast hurricane
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)PENSACOLA, Fla. โ Rescuers on the Gulf Coast used boats and high-water vehicles Thursday to reach people cut off by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally, even as a second round of flooding took shape along rivers and creeks swollen by the stormโs heavy rains. Crews carried out at least 400 rescues in Escambia County, Florida, by such means as high-water vehicles, boats and water scooters, authorities said. Also on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said a new tropical depression formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters said the depression could become a tropical storm as it moves slowly over the western Gulf during the next few days. Meanwhile, Hurricane Teddy strengthened to a powerful Category 4 storm in the Atlantic.