The emergency funding aims to expedite recovery in North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina, which are grappling with widespread destruction left by Hurricane Helene.

TAMPA, Fla. — Hurricane Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 10 after plowing across Florida, pounding cities with ferocious winds and rain, and whipping up a barrage of tornadoes. 

TAMPA, Fla. — Hurricane Milton hurled rain, tornadoes and tropical storm-force winds at the U.S. coast Oct. 9 on the storm's steady, potentially catastrophic march toward Florida.

Now that Hurricane Milton, a storm more powerful than Helene, is heading straight for the same region, what can residents expect? “Worse. Much worse,” one former FEMA director said.

TAMPA, Fla. — Hurricane Milton weakened slightly but remained a ferocious storm that could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on the populous Tampa Bay region with towering storm surges.

This makes Milton one of the most powerful storms produced in the Atlantic this year, rivaled only by Hurricane Beryl, which raked Texas, Mexico and the Caribbean in July.

Florida is bracing for another potentially dangerous and costly hurricane less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated a wide swath of the U.S. Southeast.

The owner of a North Carolina quartz mine that’s a key source for high-purity quartz used in global semiconductor manufacturing said its operations sustained only minor damage.

Trucking industry and governmental aid efforts are underway to assist communities reeling from Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that slammed the Gulf Coast on Sept. 26.

The assessment includes damage to privately insured automobiles as well as residential, commercial and industrial properties and the impact of business interruption.