Free Republic

An “unsurvivable” storm surge is trailing in the wake of fast-moving Hurricane Helene as it barrels towards Florida. Damaging winds, rains, and flash floods hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern U.S. may also be in the mix, forecasters said Thursday. AP reports Helene is now a major hurricane — meaning an upgrade to Category 2 — as it makes towards landfall on Florida’s northwestern Big Bend coast late Thursday evening and into Friday morning. The storm is so large that areas roughly 90 miles north of the Georgia-Florida line could expect hurricane conditions. States as far inland...

Beaufort, N.C. Against predictions, hurricane Irene lost strength Friday afternoon, now registering as a weakening Category 2 hurricane with little chance of revival before it hits North Carolina on Saturday. While Irene's wind speeds dropped to about 100 miles per hour, the risks for inland flooding remained high, with the storm expected to drop as many as 8 inches of rain on water-logged parts of the mid-Atlantic and New England. “With its eyewall collapsed and just 24 more hours over water before landfall, it is unlikely Irene will have time to build a new eyewall and intensify,” writes meteorologist Jeff...