Aug 24, 2017

Hurricane Harvey could bring "catastrophe" to Texas coast

NOAA

Harvey officially reached hurricane status in the Gulf of Mexico this afternoon after a period of rapid intensification, setting the stage for the first landfall of a major hurricane in the United States since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, per The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang.

Where it's headed: Harvey's expected to show up somewhere along the Texas coast on Friday night. The biggest city in the hurricane warning zone is Corpus Christi (population: ~325,000), but it looks highly possible that Houston will receive historic rainfall.
The biggest impacts: The rain from Harvey is the biggest threat as the storm is expected to stall out on the Texas coast for days, causing some weather models to predict over four feet of rain in certain areas. With predicted winds of 115 mph and a storm surge of 6 to 12 feet, there's the possibility for 900,000 people across Texas to lose power.

One scary outlook: From Marshall Shepherd, a former president of the American Meteorological Society:

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Rebecca Falconer

Trump rules out quarantine in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut after pushback

President Trump on the White House grounds on Saturdya. Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

President Trump tweeted Saturday night that he's decided not to introduce quarantine enforcement measures fo New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut, but a "strong" travel advisory will be issued for those states.

Why it matters: The president said hours earlier he was considering the move to combat the rise in novel coronavirus cases. But he received pushback, most notably from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who told CNN it would cause "chaos." "This would be a federal declaration of war on states," Cuomo added.

Go deeper: Updates on coronavirus in the U.S.

Keep Reading22 mins ago - Health

Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez

Trump flags travel adversaries for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

President Trump said Saturday night the CDC would issue a "strong" travel advisory" for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and that a "quarantine will not be necessary."

The big picture: With more than 121,000 people infected, the U.S. has the most COVID-19 cases in the world, exceeding China and Italy, per data from Johns Hopkins. A second wave of American cities, including Boston, Detroit, New Orleans and Philadelphia, are reporting influxes of cases.

Go deeperUpdated 1 min ago - Health

Axios

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 7:30 p.m. ET: 660,706 — Total deaths: 30,652 — Total recoveries: 139,304.
U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 7:30 p.m. ET: 121,478 — Total deaths: 2,026 — Total recoveries: 1,072.
Federal government latest: President Trump is considering a quarantine on New York, parts of New Jersey and Connecticut.
State updates: Alaska is latest state to issue a stay-at-home order — New York is trying to nearly triple its hospital capacity in less than a month and has moved its presidential primary to June 23. Some Midwestern swing voters that supported Trump's handling of the virus less than two weeks ago are now balking at his call for the U.S. to be "opened up" by Easter.
World updates: In Spain, over 1,400 people were confirmed dead between Thursday to Saturday.
🚀 Space updates: OneWeb filed for bankruptcy amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Hollywood: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have returned to U.S. after being treated for coronavirus.
What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk
Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

Keep ReadingUpdated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy