The northern lights returned to skies across the U.S. and the world over Thursday night after a powerful solar storm triggered stunning celestial displays also known as aurora borealis.
The big picture: Extreme G4 geomagnetic conditions were observed Thursday and remained overnight, per NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, which warned the storm had the potential to disrupt communications and the electric power grid.
A group of House Democrats in districts hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton is urging tech companies to crack down on misinformation and scams about the storms and recovery efforts, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Lawmakers in both parties have been straining to stem the swarm of hurricane-related misinformation, with one Republican even issuing a fact sheet debunking common conspiracy theories.
As Florida and other parts of the southeast recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, meteorologists have been contending with an onslaught of conspiracy theories and threats they say are distinct from previous storms.
Why it matters: Officials have repeatedly warned that misinformation around the storms imperil lives and hamperresponse efforts.
It is a delicate time for the economy, with mixed signals as to whether the job market is chugging along fine — or faltering. Assessing what's going on is about to get harder.
The big picture: The triple whammy of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, and the Boeing strike are likely to distort economic data in the coming weeks, making the usual indicators of the economy's health more difficult to dissect.
The National Hurricane Center's track forecasts for the eventual path of Hurricane Milton were unusually accurate, starting from the first storm advisory.
Why it matters: The early confidence in the eventual path of Hurricane Milton allowed officials time to warn the public and prepare communities for the powerful storm.
Hurricane Milton has resulted in at least eight deaths, as officials continued to survey damage from the storm on Thursday.
The big picture: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the death toll from Wednesday night's hurricane was expected to rise in coming days, and the state was working to restore power and replenish fuel supply. Over 2.6 million people remained without electricity as of 8:45pm ET Thursday.
Tesla is poised to debut its long-awaited robotaxi Thursday night — and possibly an update on its humanoid robot — in a reveal that will require observers to separate sizzle from substance.
Why it matters: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has described self-driving car technology and AI robots as essential to the company's current stock valuation and its future.
President Biden criticized former President Trump and others on Thursday for spreading misinformation about the federal hurricane response, calling it "bizarre" and "damn un-American."
The big picture: Conspiracy theories rapidly spread online about the aid to hard-hit communities, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned this week that the falsehoods significantly impede response efforts to Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene.
Hurricane Milton's destruction came into focus Thursday, as the death toll grew to five in St. Lucie County, Florida alone and more than 3 million were left without power throughout the state.
The big picture: The death toll could continue to rise, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a mid-day news conference Thursday.
Even while they are scattered across the country campaigning for reelection in the final weeks before Nov. 5, House Republicans are still, somehow, at each others' throats.
Why it matters: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) repeated social media claims that humans can control the weather — in the midst of a series of deadly hurricanes — is too much for some of her colleagues to handle.
Homes in Florida and across the southeast have been battered by unprecedented disasters brought ashore by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The big picture: For those weathering the impacts of Hurricane Helene, full recovery could take years — and for many Floridians, Hurricane Milton's Wednesday landfall exacerbated an already dire crisis.
General Motors is launching a battery-powered home-energy storage system, placing the company in direct competition with Tesla.
Why it matters: Stationary power storage can serve as an alternative to home generators and can provide a charge to electric vehicles when the electricity is out.
Exxon said it obtainedover 271,000 acres in Texas state waters for subsurface CO2 storage from planned Gulf Coast projects.
Why it matters: The lease is the country's largest offshore storage site — and an important part of Exxon's emerging Gulf infrastructure for the tech, the company said.
Hospitals across the U.S.are postponing elective surgeries, giving some patients Gatorade and using other workarounds to conserve IV fluids in the face of a nationwide shortage that officials fear will intensify with the arrival of Hurricane Milton.
The big picture: Hurricane Helene swamped a Baxter International plant in North Carolina that supplies more than 60% of the nation's IV solution, and a second key facility operated by B. Braun in Daytona Beach, Florida, is in the path of the latest storm.
Officials in North Carolina and Florida are racing against the clock to put in new voting procedures aimed at making it easier to cast ballots after the devastating storms that tore through the states.
Why it matters: The changes — which include modifying early voting days and increased flexibility with some voting locations — reflect the growing concerns about the storms' impacts on the Nov. 5 election.
Forecasters, state and county officials and emergency workers have warned about Hurricane Milton's landfall for days — but we weren't totally ready for it.
The big picture: It’s nearly impossible to fully prepare for the projected scale of devastation of a storm like Milton.
Hurricane Milton's destruction was still emerging across Florida after it made landfall Wednesday night as a Category 3storm with powerful winds and flooding rains.
The big picture: There were widespread outages into Thursday morning from the hurricane, which damaged buildings and spawned a tornado outbreak ahead of landfall, with multiple deaths reported in suspected tornadoes in St. Lucie County.
South Florida officials have confirmed fatalities from a tornado outbreak as Hurricane Milton approached the state on Wednesday.
The big picture: Nearly 100 tornado warnings were issued in South Florida — where officials in St. Lucie County told WPBF-TV there had been multiple deaths after six-12 suspected tornadoes related to the storm touched down at the same time.
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