Latest news with #Helene
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
2025 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be busy: How that could impact Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting an active Atlantic hurricane season in 2025, and like in 2024, we could see impacts here in Tennessee. The Atlantic hurricane season goes from June 1st to November 30th. During the typical season, there are 14 named storms, with seven of those strengthening to a hurricane, and three of them becoming major hurricanes. Want the forecast delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up for the News 2 Forecast Newsletter The forecast from NOAA is for 13-19 named storms, 6-10 of those hurricanes, and 3-5 major hurricanes. Remember, a storm gets named when it reaches a minimum tropical storm strength. That means it has sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph. Hurricanes have winds over 74 mph, and major hurricanes have winds over 111 mph. Hurricanes are rated on the Saffir-Simpson scale. This means the wind speed of the storm determines the category. The scale goes from category 1 to 5. NOAA says there are a couple of factors that caused them to forecast an active season. They said the neutral El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can lead to an increase in storms in the Atlantic. ENSO is the ocean current in the southern Pacific Ocean, and it can impact the Atlantic Hurricane season as well as our weather during the winter. RADAR | Track weather across TN live The other reason they are forecasting an active hurricane season is that the sea surface temperatures in the Gulf and the Atlantic are warmer than normal. Warm sea surface temperatures are what help fuel hurricanes. Above normal activity has been common over the last several years. Eight out of the last 10 years have seen 15 or more named storms, and in 2020, we saw the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, with 30 storms! In the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, there were 18 named storms, 11 of which were hurricanes, and 5 strengthened to major hurricanes. Last hurricane season, we saw impacts from 3 hurricanes here in Tennessee. The biggest impacts came from Hurricane Helene, with the historic/devastating flooding in East Tennessee. Hurricane Francine brought heavy rain and a low tornado threat to middle Tennessee. Hurricane Beryl caused tornadoes in Arkansas and heavy rain in West Tennessee. It's rare to see impacts from three hurricanes in Tennessee, but with the active forecast, we could see tropical impacts this year. ⏩ The main threats from hurricanes here in Tennessee are flooding and tornadoes. By the time hurricanes reach the Volunteer State, they are typically weakened to just tropical depression strength. This means damaging winds aren't a threat like they are when they first make landfall. During the months of August, September, and October, tornadoes are extremely rare in Tennessee, but if we see the remnants of a hurricane, we can get tornadoes. They are typically weak, short-lived tornadoes of EF-0 or EF-1 strength. Here is a list of the names for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. Don't forget to take the power and reliability of the WKRN Weather Authority with you at all times by downloading the News 2 Storm Tracker app. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Clean energy advocates concerned about how federal cuts and freezes could affect clean energy efficiency programs in the CSRA
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – State Senator Harold Jones and local clean energy leaders are speaking out about how those cuts could impact the funding of clean energy programs and what that means for the community. Programs like the Weatherization Assistance Program and Solar for All help lower utility costs for some Georgia families. They also promote workforce development, home energy savings, and address climate issues. Georgia State Senator Harold Jones is opposed to those cuts. He says they'll raise costs and cut jobs. 'These are not buzz words about clean energy or weatherization,' said State Senator Harold Jones. 'These things actually matter to people. Actually, puts more money in their pockets. Also improves the economy and the environment. All of that is connected to actually having a better society.' Nicole Lee is a business owner who has seen how weatherization and solar power help low- to moderate-income families save hundreds of dollars in utility costs thanks to these programs. 'Just to see the widespread of ones solar as well as weatherization work in in multiple states and seeing the impact that it helps in LMI communities is astonishing, and so I'm hoping that you know bipartisan funding is able to be passed so that these programs can continue to exist,' said Nicole Lee, Owner of Be Smart Home Solutions. Paige Brockmeyer is part of the Citizens Climate Lobby in Augusta and wants to encourage people to continue reaching out to state and federal lawmakers and encourage them to vote against cuts to these programs. She says the health of Georgians depends on it. 'The more particulate matter that's in the air from burning fossil fuels, the more respiratory problems we have. So, that's kind of at one level, and at another level, you have events like Hurricane Helene,' said Paige Brockmeyer, Volunteer Group Leader, Citizens Climate Lobby Augusta. The speakers wanted to bring attention to Georgia's congressional delegation to protect these programs so that only the heat rises this summer and not utility costs. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Summer school aims to bridge the gap of lost learning during Helene
May 28—Students in Haywood County have a key opportunity this summer to recover valuable instructional time lost to Hurricane Helene and winter weather, with programs available to support learning and allow for retakes of end-of-grade and end-of-course tests. "I encourage parents to participate in this program. Take advantage of this," said Haywood County Schools Board Chairman Chuck Francis. The program can be particularly beneficial for students who struggled this year, given that they missed 22 days thanks to Helene and winter weather. While Haywood County Schools is sixth in the state in academic performance, up from seventh last year, Superintendent Dr. Trevor Putnam isn't sure if Haywood can hold onto its high rank due to the disruption in learning from Helene. "We are down 200 plus instructional hours. I still think we will be in the running, but it will be hard to give up 200 hours of instructional time and compete with schools that had a full year," Putnam said. "You can't create 200 hours out of thin air." However, "we are going to get as many instructional hours back in the summer as possible," Putnam said. But it's more than just those hours missed. "It's not just the 22 days, but you think about the crisis and turmoil the kids were in after that," said Assist. Superintendent Jill Barker. "It's not just the 22 days. It's been more than that. We're trying to mitigate that." School leaders were also faced with the challenge of piecing together multiple different funding sources to provide the programs, as some money came from the state and some came from the federal level. They also had to face the challenge of making sure they achieved all of the requirements attached to the money for each program. "There's different rules for transportation. There's different rules for food," Barker said. Some students will have the opportunity to re-test before the school year is out, while others will have the opportunity to re-test during the summer program. "Kids that need intensive intervention, we're encouraging them to come to the summer program and re-test at the end of June," Barker said. "It is to mitigate lost instruction for kids. ... We are just trying to have that opportunity for kids that want to come." Following are some of the programs offered. Read to Achieve Students in kindergarten through third grade can take part in the Read to Achieve program. Read to Achieve Program will include phonics instruction, writing and specific reading intervention strategies. Transportation and meals (breakfast and lunch) will be provided. The Read to Achieve program is funded with state dollars, while Haywood County Schools is chipping in from Title I funds to add kindergarteners to the program. Building Master Builders Students in fourth or fifth grade have the opportunity to take part in the Building Master Builders program, which focuses on math and reading with some sciences added in. "They'll be doing YouCubed summer math, which includes math and reading. They'll also have some enrichment activities that will vary by school," Haywood County Schools Title I Director Charly Inman said. Those enrichment activities include the Science Olympiad, drones and Legos. Summer YouCubed Middle schoolers can take part in the Summer YouCubed Math Program. The programs aimed at fourth through eighth graders are being funded by state dollars, coming from the School Extension Learning Recovery Program, a direct response to Helene's impact. "That money will definitely cover all of the teachers and bus drivers. We're also able to get a director for each school," Inman said. Students in eighth grade or below will receive a meal. There will also be buses for students. Credit recovery for high school High school students can participate in a credit-recovery program in order to avoid falling behind. The high school program will not offer food, as each session will be about two hours shorter than those for the younger grades. High schoolers will also not attend on Fridays. Participation is voluntary in each of the summer programs, so parents or guardians make the decision. Parent notifications regarding students who could benefit from the service have already gone out. The help sessions will last three to four weeks, starting June 10. Classes are taught by local teachers.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FEMA has muddied the water on Haywood tourism recovery
May 28—How is Haywood's vital tourism economy faring in the wake of Helene? It's a tricky question to answer, with only one full season — and winter at that — behind us. It's made all the more difficult by the fact that a key metric to measure tourism was skewed in a significant way by outside forces. Overnight stays in Haywood County were down more than 40% in October on the heels of Helene, compared to October the previous year. Come November, overnight stays had nearly fully rebounded to last year's levels. And by December and January? Overnight stays were up compared to the previous year. But does that mean tourism was up? While overnight stays are typically the barometer for tourism performance, an unusual dynamic was at play. Thousands of hotel room nights were being filled by flood victims. Displaced Helene victims finding refuge in Haywood hotels offset what would have otherwise been a significant drop in overnight stays over last year — and in turn spared the county from a more sizable drop in tourism revenue from room tax collections. Following Helene, overnight stays in vacation rentals — like Airbnb's and rental cabins — saw a sharp decline. But overnight stays in hotels and motels saw a big increase. Only hotels and motels were eligible for the FEMA program to house displaced flood victims. So the increase in that sector, while other lodging sectors declined, coincides with the FEMA hotel housing program. However, it didn't last. By March, the FEMA hotel housing program benefits began wind down — and the true picture of a tourism decline became apparent. Diving into the numbers The 4% room tax collected on overnight stays is down $200,000 — or 10% — between July 2024 and March 2025 compared to the same period a year prior. Room tax collections are how the county's Tourism Development Authority, the TDA, keeps tabs on how many travelers are visiting Haywood and when. "We were predicting that we would be down at least through February or March, so the fact that December flipped to being modestly up is fantastic," said Corrina Ruffieux, executive director of the Haywood County TDA, said earlier in the year. However, it didn't quire come to pass that way, and at first Ruffieux was puzzled why tourism had not only rebounded but increased in the wake of Helene. —October room tax collections were down by 43% from the previous year following the Sept. 27 flooding and landslides that accompanied Helene. —November room tax collections were only down by about 4% from the previous year, a remarkable figure, given the circumstances. —December numbers actually rose, up nearly 3% over the previous year. —January's room tax collections were even more impressive, up around 8% from last year. However, it appears that Ruffieux's prediction inevitably came true. Room tax collection for February dropped by 6% over last year. March continued that slide, dropping 12% from last year. FEMA confuses matters After Hurricane Helene, participants in FEMA's Transitional Shelter Assistance program utilized hotel and motel rooms in Haywood for short-term housing. Displaced flood victims found available rooms and FEMA paid the hotels and motels directly for the cost of the stay. And by extension, it paid into Haywood's room tax, undoubtedly skewing the numbers. As of the end of April, Haywood had no TSA participants booking rooms. While it was obvious Haywood room tax collections had a bump that paralleled the FEMA hotel program, just how much it artificially inflated tourism numbers is difficult to parse out. The data doesn't have as much fidelity as anyone would like. Neither FEMA nor the TDA has access to information about exactly what percentage of room stays booked in Haywood County over the last six months were from TSA participants and which were from regular visitors. However, the TDA does keep room tax stats for four lodging sectors: bed and breakfasts and specialty inns, golf resorts, hotels and motels, and vacation rentals. Normally, vacation rentals make up the largest share of room tax collections, followed by hotels and motels. Hotel and motel stays jumped by 81% in November and 73% in December. And in January — the height of FEMA hotel stays and the month posting the biggest room tax increase — hotel and motel stays were up 113%. Meanwhile, vacation rentals over the same period were down: by 32% in November, 18% in December and January, 25% in February, and 24% in February. Since vacation rentals are usually the lion's share of room tax collections, the loss in that sector were enough to account for the overall room tax dip in February of 6% and in March of 12% — albeit not as bad as it would have been without the FEMA hotel stays. But Ruffieux isn't sounding the alarm bells just yet. She pointed to successful winter events like Ice Fest — which sold 1,000 more tickets than it did last year — and a banner year at Cataloochee Ski Area, which had its second best season of all time, according to Sarah Worrell, director of marketing and public relations for the ski mountain. And, Ruffieux pointed out, while the income-generating short term vacation rentals were indeed down, occupancies in golf resorts and bed-and-breakfasts were up over last year in November, December January, February, and March — sometimes significantly. And one of Haywood's biggest warm-weather activities — Cataloochee Valley — is back open just in time for summer. Whether or not that will affect the ongoing trend remains to be seen.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How many Helene refugees temporarily called Haywood home?
May 28—The Federal Emergency Management Agency program that housed displaced Helene victims in hotel rooms has drawn to a close. As of May, there were no FEMA hotel vouchers being used in Haywood County — following a January peak of 7,669 hotel room nights in Haywood County being filled by homeless flood victims. A family staying in a hotel all month would count as 30 room nights. Another family may stay in a hotel for only a week, say if their temporary living arrangements with a relative wore thin. That would count as seven room nights. So the 7,669 room nights during the month of January could account for as few as 300 to 400 individual families staying in hotel rooms for various durations. One thing is clear, however: the flood victims filling hotel rooms here weren't all from Haywood. Many came from other ravaged counties, seeking shelter in Haywood. Nor were displaced flood victims the only ones filling Haywood hotel rooms after Helene. Some hotels were so full of the recovery workers who poured in, they had no space or limited space for flood victims initially, let alone room for tourists. "As much as we are a tourism-based economy, we were doing the right thing in housing construction workers, linemen and folks who were here to help rebuild Haywood County — plus sheltering families in need," said Patrik Shaw, a long-time hotelier in Haywood County and owner of Days Inn. "That is the benefit of having multiple hotels be able to open their doors in time of need." The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority was a key player in getting hotels enlisted to house flood victims. The TDA put out the call to its database of lodging owners that FEMA needed hotels willing to participate and created a spread sheet of interested hotels for FEMA. "They answered a lot of questions about how FEMA transitional housing worked. It helped us figure out if it was something we wanted to participate in and what this process would look like," Shaw said. Interestingly, the presence of the Helene refugees in Haywood's hotels and motels artificially inflated the key tourism metric of overnight stays, suggesting tourism was up after Helene when in fact the bump was attributed to flood victims staying in hotels — not tourists. The numbers Hotel stays in October got off to a slow start, then rose dramatically in November, stayed roughly level in December, and rose sharply again in January. February saw a huge fall-off, followed by a more gradual decline in March. This curve reflects a combination of factors: weather, the availability of other housing solutions and news that the program would be ending chief among them. —In October, 1,679 total room-nights were rented for flood victims. —In November, that number jumped to 5,000. —December saw another bump, up to 5,461. —Another large increase came with January and the new year, with 7,669 room-nights recorded. —In February, the number dropped to 2,712. —In March it dropped again to 1,216. By the end of April, there were no flood victims staying in Haywood County hotel rooms, at least not on FEMA's tab. The large jump between October and November is due in part to displaced flood victims staying with friends and relatives immediately following the storm before turning to hotel rooms. Numbers continued to climb as more people quit couch surfing or could no longer stay in tents and campers as temperatures dropped. Meanwhile, the drop-off after January is likely due to displaced flood victims finding more permanent housing solutions. Others victims lost their eligibility for the hotel housing program. How it worked The FEMA program that housed flood victims in hotels is called the Transitional Shelter Assistance program, also referred to as TSA. Participation by Haywood's lodging businesses was voluntary, and not every business participated for the entire six-month stretch. Some didn't participate at all. It was up to flood victims to call participating hotels and find if any had room. FEMA then paid the hotels directly. The program was extended twice, once to Jan. 11, 2025, and again to May 26. The TSA program did not cover short-term vacation rentals, providing payments only to hotels and motels. Complicating an analysis of how many flood victims were using hotels, FEMA only knows total room nights for the month — not individual families. Because of the migratory nature of families involved in the program, obtaining an average nightly number was also impossible. Similarly, FEMA had no record of which hotels and motels within the county had TSA-booked rooms on any given date. It's difficult to say how many were from outside Haywood County — places like Chimney Rock or Spruce Pine where there wasn't nearly as much hotel inventory for flood victims to tap. During their time here, the county's hotel and motel proprietors did the best they could to make the storm victims feel comfortable in a less-than-ideal situation. At the Days Inn, the hotel staff held a Christmas party for flood victims, complete with presents brought in by a charity that had conducted a toy drive down east for Helene victims. "There were multiple kids that had a wonderful Christmas even away from their traditional homes," Shaw said. Shaw also reached out to First United Methodist Church, which was a clearinghouse for flood relief, to get supplies brought directly to the hotel. "Twice a week, they went to hotels and stocked water and snacks and dry food. It was really neat, because I would tell them what the need was for our guests, and they would leave a stack of it in the lobby," Shaw said.
