When Floridians suffer through severe hurricanes that bring devastation to local communities, James Sadler sets out to ensure supplies and food are available after storms make landfall.

After predicting a “near-normal” hurricane season in May, experts now expect an above-average number of storms, as record-high ocean temperatures create favorable hurricane conditions.

Major ports and rail facilities across the U.S. Southeast have halted operations as one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the country advances as a tropical storm, causing disruptions along the way and resulting in another blow for already strained supply chains.

Global supply chains already tangled by the pandemic, labor shortages and sustained consumer demand in the U.S. are getting walloped by another disruptive force: Mother Nature.

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana residents still reeling from flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Ida scrambled Sept. 1 for food, gas, water and relief from the sweltering heat as thousands of line workers toiled to restore electricity and officials vowed to set up more sites where people could get free meals and cool off.

Tropical Storm Henri is set to grow into a hurricane before slamming the Northeast anywhere from Long Island to Massachusetts, bringing heavy rain, a flooding storm surge and thrashing winds to the region starting Aug. 22.

For the second week in a row, the price of diesel remained essentially flat compared with the prior week, dipping just one-tenth of a cent to $2.426 a gallon, the Energy Information Administration reported Aug. 24.