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Climate

How Hurricane Idalia Swamped Florida, in 9 Striking Photos

The region faces a long road to recovery.

While it appears that Hurricane Idalia may not have been as destructive as initally feared, the storm still incurred plenty of damage, with heavy rains and flash flooding stretching from Florida’s Gulf Coast to eastern North Carolina. Nearly 300,000 customers have been left without power, scores of homes were lost, and as these photos show, the region will face a long road to recovery.

Flooded Tarpon Springs.A fire burns as flood waters inundate downtown Tarpon Springs, Florida, after Hurricane Idalia. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A woman and her dog walking through floodwaters.A woman and her dog walk through floodwaters in Tarpon Springs.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A man walking his bike through floodwaters.A man walks his bike past his flooded apartment in Crystal River, Florida.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

People kayaking through flooded streets.People kayak through flooded streets in Crystal River.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A submerged car.A car that crashed after hitting a fallen tree sits in a gully in Perry, Florida.Sean Rayford/Getty Images

A storm-damaged gas station.A storm-damaged gas station in Perry.Sean Rayford/Getty Images

A storm-damaged Dollar Tree.A storm-damaged Dollar Tree store in Perry.Sean Rayford/Getty Images

A storm-damaged McDonald's sign.A storm-damaged McDonald's sign in Perry.Sean Rayford/Getty Images

People working to clear Interstate 10 of fallen trees.People work to clear Interstate 10 of fallen trees near Madison, Florida.Sean Rayford/Getty Images

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Energy

New York’s Energy Future Could Look Like Canada’s ... Or Tennessee’s

Reading between the lines of Governor Kathy Hochul’s big nuclear announcement.

Kathy Hochul.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

With New York City temperatures reaching well into the 90s, the state grid running on almost two-thirds fossil fuels, and the man who was instrumental in shutting down one of the state’s largest sources of carbon-free power vying for a political comeback on Tuesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that she wants to bring new, public nuclear power back to the state.

Specifically, Hochul directed the New York Power Authority, the state power agency, to develop at least 1 gigawatt of new nuclear capacity upstate. While the New York City region hasn’t had a nuclear power plant since then-Governor Andrew Cuomo shut down Indian Point in 2021, there are three nuclear power plants currently operating closer to the 49th Parallel: Ginna, FitzPatrick, and Nine Mile Point, which together have almost 3.5 gigawatts of capacity and provide about a fifth of the state’s electric power,according to the nuclear advocacy group Nuclear New York. All three are now owned and operated by Constellation Energy, though FitzPatrick was previously owned by NYPA.

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Energy

Why Oil Markets Aren’t Sweating the Strait of Hormuz

Even as Iran retaliated against U.S. airstrikes, prices have stayed calm.

Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Oil prices have stayed stable so far following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend, and President Donald Trump wants to keep it that way.

In two consecutive posts on Truth Social Monday morning, the president wrote “To The Department of Energy: DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!” and “EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!”

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Climate

AM Briefing: The Northeast Bakes

On record-breaking temperatures, oil prices, and Tesla Robotaxis

Why the Intense Heat Wave Hitting the Northeast Is Unusual
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Wildfires are raging on the Greek island of Chios • Forecasters are monitoring a low-pressure system in the Atlantic that could become a tropical storm sometime today • Residents in eastern North Dakota are cleaning up after tornadoes ripped through the area over the weekend, killing at least three people.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Intense U.S. heat wave could break numerous records

A dangerous heat wave moves from the Midwest toward the East Coast this week, and is expected to challenge long-standing heat records. In many places, temperatures could hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit and feel even warmer when humidity is factored in. “High overnight temperatures will create a lack of overnight cooling, significantly increasing the danger,” according to the National Weather Service. Extreme heat warnings and advisories are in effect from Maine through the Carolinas, across the Ohio Valley and down into southern states like Mississippi and Louisiana. “It’s basically everywhere east of the Rockies,” National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Gehring told The Associated Press. “That is unusual, to have this massive area of high dew points and heat.”

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