The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that immigration enforcement activities will not be conducted at sites that provide emergency response and relief in light of Hurricane Ian's landfall as a high-end Category 4 storm.
The big picture: A total of nearly 1.5 million undocumented immigrants live in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina — with Florida home to the largest population, at roughly 772,000, according to the Migrant Policy Institute.
Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa, Florida on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, per the NHC, bringing with it "catastrophic" winds and storm surge.
The big picture: Ian is the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Hurricane Michael devastated the Florida panhandle in 2018.
Breaching Paris Agreement temperature goals will greatly boost the odds of long-term, destructive droughts on multiple continents and varying types of ecosystems, a peer-reviewed study finds.
Driving the news:New analysis in Climatic Change projects links between drought and warming in China, India, Egypt, Ethiopia, Brazil and Ghana.
Oil and gas companies should not use the impending landfall of Hurricane Ian to raise gas prices, President Biden warned in a speech Wednesday.
Driving the news: Biden said Ian provided "no excuse" for price increases at the pump and that he would ask officials to look into potential "price gouging" if gas companies are found using the storm as a reason to raise rates.
More than 2,000 flights into, within or out of the U.S. were canceled as of mid-morning Wednesday as Hurricane Ian prepares to make landfall in Florida, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
By the numbers: Florida's Orlando International Airport had canceled at least 316 scheduled departure flights as well as 385 arrival flights, per the tracker.
A mix of politics, policy divides and a ticking clock thwarted legislation to speed permitting for energy projects ranging from fossil fuel pipelines to power transmission to renewables.
Catch up fast: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday threw in the towel for the moment.
Plastic-munching robots, floating drones and other "smart" contraptions are starting to ply beaches and waterways, systematically removing dangerous debris left by summertime revelers.
Why it matters: Not only are these futuristic technologies highly effective in scouring the areas they patrol, they're also eye-catching novelties that focus public attention on the growing problem of plastic waste, particularly in oceans.
Several tornadoes were reported to have struck Florida after Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified on Tuesday night.
The big picture: Ian's outer bands spawned tornadoes along the east coast of Florida as it reached Category 3 intensity Tuesday ahead of an expected ramp-up to a Category 4 on Wednesday. The tornado threat to southeast Florida counties continued overnight as the major hurricane moved closer.
All of Cuba was without power late Tuesday after Hurricane Ian swept through in the morning and severely flooded the Caribbean island.
The latest: Work was under way to restore power to the nation of 11 million after the electrical grid collapsed due to the major hurricane, per a statement from Cuba's Electric Union.
