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.

Kentucky issued a temporary emergency order waiving federal hours-of-service rules and weigh station requirements through Aug. 18 for truckers assisting with storm relief efforts.

It’s been a quiet hurricane season so far, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a busy peak is ahead. The agency expects 14 to 20 named storms, with six to 10 developing into hurricanes and three to five of those strengthening into major storms of Category 3 and up.

The Atlantic is poised for its seventh consecutive overactive hurricane season, a worrying forecast for coastal residents as well as energy and commodity markets already roiled by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

WASHINGTON — Extreme winter weather has dealt the first major setback to the Biden administration’s planned swift rollout of coronavirus vaccines, delaying shipment of three days’ worth of shots, or about 6 million doses.

U.S. oil production has plunged by more than 2 million barrels a day as the coldest weather in 30 years brings havoc to key producing states that rarely have to deal with frigid Arctic blasts.

Back-to-back tropical storms pose a combined threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast this week, where more than half of offshore oil production is already shut and residents from Texas to Florida are warily watching the skies.