Hurricane Center

Remember contraflow? Here's why it hasn't been used in 15 years

By MIKE SMITH | Staff writer
Jun 6, 2023

A list of requirements must be met before the complicated procedure can be employed ahead of hurricanes.

Disturbance off coast of Africa has little chance of development, National Hurricane Center says

By KASEY BUBNASH | Staff writer
Jun 5, 2023

A disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Africa has little chance of developing into a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center said Monday morning.

Tropical Storm Arlene forms in Gulf on second day of hurricane season

BY ROSHAUN HIGGINS | Staff writer
Jun 2, 2023

A disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico was upgraded to Tropical Storm Arlene on Friday -- the first named storm of the brand new hurricane season.

Photos: 1,000 food-relief boxes packed by volunteers for the start of the 2023 hurricane season

BY CHRIS GRANGER | Staff photographer
Jun 1, 2023

To mark the start of the 2023 hurricane season, Second Harvest Food Bank Volunteers will be packing 1,000 Disaster-Relief Boxes for Hurricane Season

Resources

Low-pressure system in the Gulf has become a tropical depression

BY ROSHAUN HIGGINS | Staff writer
Jun 1, 2023

Hurricane season started with a bang Thursday, as the low-pressure system sitting just below Alabama's coast slowed down and became a tropical depression.

Louisiana joins nine other states to sue feds over skyrocketing flood insurance premiums

By MIKE SMITH | Staff writer
Jun 1, 2023

Louisiana is joining nine other states in a lawsuit against the federal government over its new system for setting flood insurance rates, which is triggering steep hikes for homeowners, Attorn…

System in Gulf of Mexico becoming more organized; could become tropical depression

By KASEY BUBNASH | Staff writer
Jun 1, 2023

A disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico now has a 50% chance of forming into a "short-lived" tropical depression or storm in the next two to seven days, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday.

It's officially hurricane season. Here's what you need to know.

Staff report
Jun 1, 2023

So it begins. Today is the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season and this is your official reminder to prepare, prepare, prepare.

Survey shows 17% of Louisiana residents lost home insurance last year

By Eliza Stanley, LSU Manship School News Service, via WWL-TV
May 31, 2023

Seventeen percent of Louisiana residents say insurance companies canceled their homeowner’s policies last year, according to an LSU survey released Tuesday.

Two years after Ida, many senior living sites aren't complying with new disaster planning rules

BY BEN MYERS | Staff writer
May 31, 2023

New Orleans officials said Wednesday they are determined to keep vulnerable residents safe during the 2023 hurricane season, even as they acknowledged that some independent living facilities a…

Weather system in Gulf of Mexico has low chance of becoming tropical depression

BY ROSHAUN HIGGINS | Staff writer
May 30, 2023

Though hurricane season doesn't start until Thursday, bad weather in the Gulf and Atlantic is already gaining the attention of storm watchers.

Another hurricane season arrives. Will Louisiana again be spared?

By MIKE SMITH | Staff writer
May 28, 2023

An average number of storms is forecast for this year, but there is significant uncertainty. State officials are urging preparations -- and to not rely on contraflow.

Secret tape shows embattled Houston law firm scrambling to keep Louisiana business

BY DAVID HAMMER | WWL-TV
May 26, 2023

As Louisiana and federal officials accused him of fraud and the walls started crashing down around his Houston-based law firm, founding partner Zach Moseley came to McClenny Moseley & Asso…

How the state’s post-Ida housing program provided blueprint for future storm aid

BY FAIMON A. ROBERTS III | Staff writer
May 26, 2023

When state officials dropped off a 30-foot Olympia travel camper in the Bayou Gauche yard of Melissa Jeansonne and her husband Keith on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 2021, it was like bei…

What does a 'near normal' hurricane season mean? Not what it did a decade ago

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
May 25, 2023

This year's forecast for a "near normal" season would have been considered a more active season just a decade ago.

This hurricane season will be 'normal,' NOAA says. Here's how many storms to expect.

By MIKE SMITH | Staff writer
May 25, 2023

NOAA is forecasting a hurricane season with a normal range of storms compared to previous years, it announced Thursday.

Disturbance in Atlantic likely to reach East Coast by this weekend

BY ROSHAUN HIGGINS | Staff writer
May 24, 2023

Disturbance forms a week ahead of the start of hurricane season.

Disturbance in the Atlantic has little chance of development, forecasters say

By KASEY BUBNASH | Staff writer
May 22, 2023

Hurricane forecasters on Monday were tracking a disturbance in the Atlantic that has little chance of development, according to National Hurricane Center forecasters.

As hurricane season looms, Corps rushes to address pump corrosion

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
May 18, 2023

Cause of the corrosion in key parts of New Orleans' flood protection system remains a mystery.

World's biggest pumping station gets a test run ahead of hurricane season

BY ROSHAUN HIGGINS | Staff writer
May 11, 2023

Louisiana has the world's biggest pump station, which could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in four seconds. Officials ran it at full capacity for an hour to guarantee they're ready for hu…

We've already had our first system of the Atlantic hurricane season. It was 4 months ago.

By KASEY BUBNASH | Staff writer
Updated May 11, 2023

A storm that formed in the Atlantic Ocean off the northeastern coast of the U.S. in January is being dubbed the year's first cyclone, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday.

‘Agents of chaos:’ How a Texas law firm undermined Louisiana’s hurricane recovery

BY ALENA MASCHKE | Staff writer
Updated May 10, 2023

Firm faces allegations of a litany of abuses, with some supposed clients even unaware they were being represented.

Storm names for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season: See the full list

By CATHERINE ZEILMAN | Staff writer
May 3, 2023

The 2023 hurricane season officially begins on June 1, and Arlene sits at the top of this year's list of storm names.

Hurricane Hunters land in New Orleans with storm season advice

BY ROSHAUN HIGGINS | Staff writer
May 2, 2023

The nation's Hurricane Hunters showed up in New Orleans on Tuesday and issued advice ahead of the June 1 start of tropical storm season, part of a tour across the Gulf states for Hurricane Pre…

Corrosion in flood protection system forces Corps to install temporary pumps at New Orleans site

By MIKE SMITH | Staff writer
Apr 27, 2023

Corrosion in parts of New Orleans' hurricane protection system will force the Army Corps of Engineers to install temporary pumps at a key location ahead of the June 1 start of hurricane season…

City Council urges state to repay Road Home elevation grantees who returned money after suits

BY DAVID HAMMER |WWL-TV and RICHARD A. WEBSTER | Verite News
Apr 21, 2023

The New Orleans City Council voted unanimously Thursday to ask the Legislature to reimburse more than 400 families who paid back some or all of their Hurricane Katrina recovery grants to the s…

Louisiana will be at less risk from flooding in 50 years under new $50 billion coastal plan

BY TRISTAN BAURICK | Staff writer
Apr 19, 2023

Louisiana will need to spend billions of dollars on new levees and revive several thousand acres of marshland to protect the coast from what’s expected to be a rough couple of decades, accordi…

Follow weather service hurricane alerts on Twitter? A new Elon Musk policy might end them.

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Apr 17, 2023

The National Weather Service has used Twitter for years to quickly get out life-saving warnings about tornadoes, hurricanes and other weather threats.But last week, NWS officials were told tha…