Typically after tragedy strikes a community you hear about how it brought people together.

This is not that story.

Two weeks ago, McClatchy received a report that U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk, North Carolina, was preventing seven people from driving off their property at the base of Grandfather Mountain after the ...Read more

HAZLEHURST, Ga. – I’m a Southern-to-the-bone, fried chicken and grits-eating, always barefooted small town girl. Simplicity, in an otherwise crazy, untethered world, is my wealth, my richness, my life.

But my hometown became anything but simple after Hurricane Helene came roaring through in late September with vicious Category 2 winds and ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is proposing $3.9 billion in state Hurricane Helene relief for the western part of the state devastated by flooding.

Total damage in Western North Carolina is estimated at roughly $53 billion, Cooper said. His proposed $3.9 billion would be for costs that won’t be covered by the federal ...Read more

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Florida’s largest open water estuary and the millions of people who have built their lives around it barely had enough time to detox from the last hurricane-fueled wave of pollution before the next one hit.

Just as the Tampa Bay area was cleaning the mess from Hurricane Helene, along came Milton. The hurricane double-...Read more

The winter could be warm. Rains that might otherwise fall across South Mississippi may instead veer away. And dry breezes that would normally relieve the region of its thick summer heat could bring a new risk: wildfires.

A winter forecast released this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says warm temperatures and ...Read more

A five-year-old girl and her mother, along with a 92-year-old man, are among the six people dead after Hurricane Oscar hit the coastal city of Baracoa and nearby areas in the eastern province of Guantánamo in Cuba as a Category 1 storm on Sunday, bringing heavy rains and flash flooding in a region that has been without electricity since Friday....Read more

ORLANDO, Fla, — The surprise hurricane that popped up and lashed Cuba over the weekend lost some steam Monday, and is forecast to turn and head toward the Bahamas and away from Florida by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As of the NHC’s 2 p.m. EDT advisory, the center of what is now Tropical Storm Oscar was located about...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla, — The surprise hurricane that popped up and lashed Cuba over the weekend lost some steam Monday, and is forecast to turn and head toward the Bahamas and away from Florida by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As of the NHC’s 5 a.m. advisory, the center of what is now Tropical Storm Oscar was located about 5 ...Read more

MIAMI — Oscar retained its hurricane status late Saturday afternoon while still remaining small, forecasters said. The storm has 85 mph maximum sustained winds, triggering hurricane warnings and watches for the northeastern Caribbean.

Oscar formed as a tropical storm just east of Turks and Caicos on Saturday morning, the 15th named storm of ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In the pitch black, through roaring wind, twisted metal fell like a guillotine.

It plunged toward the heart of the city — apartments, bars, restaurants, an art gallery, museum and offices. Tens of thousands of pounds of steel slicing through the blinding rain.

Down, down, down.

About 550 feet. Cleared in seconds.

...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tropical Storm Oscar quickly strengthened into a hurricane Saturday afternoon after becoming a tropical storm near the Turks and Caicos earlier that morning.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Nadine made landfall near Belize City around noon.

At 5 p.m., Oscar was a small Category 1 hurricane located about 5 miles south of ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Biltmore Estate is set to reopen after damage from Tropical Storm Helene closed America’s largest home, estate officials said Saturday.

Crews are still clearing debris from woods on the property, and some roads remain under repair, officials said. Trails and the Outdoor Adventure Center are closed until further notice. ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center continued Friday to keep track of two systems with a chance to form into the season’s next tropical depression or storm, with the most likely in the western Caribbean.

As of the NHC’s 2 p.m. Eastern time tropical outlook, that broad area of low pressure with widespread showers and ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center continued Friday to keep track of two systems with a chance to form into the season’s next tropical depression or storm, with the most likely in the western Caribbean.

As of the NHC’s 8 a.m. tropical outlook, that broad area of low pressure has become better defined with widespread showers ...Read more