Year: 2017

ABC News(MIAMI) -- Hurricane Irma is now forecast to hit the Florida Keys as a Category 5 storm."Obviously Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States," Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said at a press conference Friday morning. "We're going to have a couple rough days."Irma was downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 4 storm early […]

Marc Serota/Getty Images (MIAMI) -- At least 1.3 million Florida residents are under mandatory evacuation ahead of Hurricane Irma, which is slated to strike the state as a Category 4 storm on Sunday morning.Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who declared a statewide emergency earlier this week, said additional evacuations are expected to be issued as Hurricane Irma approaches the state. Scott urged all Floridians to heed local alerts and follow the […]

iStock/Thinkstock(MIAMI) -- When Hurricane Irma finally dissipates, the damage wrought by the storm won't only affect people.The Category 4 storm, which ravaged the Caribbean and is expected pummel Florida this weekend, displaced and devastated habitats and various species including turtles, parrots and iguanas, multiple experts and a federal government official told ABC News.And as vulnerable southern Florida residents heed Gov. Rick Scott's plea to flee Hurricane's Irma's ire, a record […]

ABC News(NEW YORK) -- The night of Oct. 8, 2015 started out like so many others at Northern Arizona University -- with a party at the off-campus apartment complex known as "The Courtyard," popular among fraternity members of Delta Chi.Except that night, for the first time in the college’s then-116-year history, there was a shooting.The incident left one student dead, three others severely injured and another student facing first-degree murder […]

NOAA(MIAMI) -- A man died Thursday after falling off a ladder while installing hurricane shutters in Broward County, Florida.The 57-year-old man, who has not been identified, had been hired to install the shutters ahead of Hurricane Irma's approach, according to a Davie police spokesman. He fell off a 15-foot ladder and hit his head on a pool deck, the spokesman said.The man was transported to a nearby hospital, where he […]

Royal Netherlands Navy (MIAMI) -- Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are bracing for the impact of Hurricane Irma -- the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade -- which is expected to hit Florida Sunday morning.Irma, now downgraded to a Category 4 storm, has devastated several islands in the Caribbean.Here is a breakdown of the storm by the numbers:At least 20 deathsAs Irma tore through the Caribbean islands, […]

Rachel Scott/ABC News(MIAMI) -- As more than 1 million Floridians are under orders to evacuate, ABC News spoke to some Miami residents who are hunkering down at home as Hurricane Irma -- the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade -- approaches.Irma, initially a Category 5 and since downgraded to Category 4, is expected to remain a Category 4 as it approaches southern Florida on Sunday morning. Irma is forecast […]

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(HOUSTON) -- The floodwaters in Houston have mostly receded, but in their place stand mountains of debris.Survivors of the catastrophic flooding from Harvey have shown their eagerness to rebuild and reclaim their damaged homes by hauling outside an estimated 8 million cubic yards of sodden drywall, flooring, furniture, appliances, clothing and toys.That's enough trash to fill the Houston Texans' football stadium two times over. If the debris were […]