Tropical Storm Franklin makes landfall with major flood threats to Dominican Republic and Haiti

Tropical Storm Franklin brings torrential rain to Dominican Republic and Haiti on Wednesday

Crews work to clear mud and debris from California roads after Storm Hilary

Tropical Storm Franklin was moving inland from the southern coast of the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, bringing torrential rains to the country and neighboring Haiti.

Tropical Storm Harold, which had formed only hours before Franklin, was downgraded to a depression after making landfall in south Texas on Tuesday. The system has since crossed into northern Mexico where it was threatening the region with heavy rains.

The cyclones, which scientists say are being supercharged by the impacts of the climate crisis, are part of a record-breaking pattern unfolding in the Atlantic.

Aside from Harold and Franklin, two other systems formed in the Atlantic - Emily and Gert - in 39 hours, making it the fastest time on record for four named Atlantic storm formations, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University Meteorologist.

This weekend, Tropical Storm Hilary wreaked havoc across Mexico, California and Nevada. Hilary, which caused one death in Mexico, was the first tropical storm to hit California in almost a century and deluged cities including Los Angeles and San Diego, leading to widespread flooding and mudslides.

Key points

• Storm Hilary brings a year’s worth of rain to Death Valley
• Storm Hilary to batter Oregon and Idaho after flooding California
• Texas braces for flooding as Tropical Storm Harold barrels towards state
• Rescuers drive bulldozer through mud to reach senior citizens stuck in California care home

[23 August 2023 16:40 · Louise Boyle]

Watch: What has happened to desert cities after Tropical Storm Hilary hits the west coast?

[23 August 2023 17:03 · Louise Boyle]

What is happening to the ocean - and what does it mean for hurricanes?

The ocean absorbs around 90 per cent of heat in the atmosphere that comes from greenhouse gas emissions mainly caused by burning fossil fuels.

All that accumulated heat is leading to a number of historic extremes.

Global sea surface temperatures have been continuously hotter than any previous summer on record — and by a wide margin.

Warmer oceans can fuel stronger hurricanes, leading them to rapidly intensify, and give communities little time to prepare.

Ocean warming also risks coral reef bleaching, which can have devastating impacts on marine ecosystems and people who depend on them.

Record ocean temperatures 2023 (Climate Central)

Source: Climate Central

[23 August 2023 17:19 · Louise Boyle]

Watch: Tropical Storm Harold slammed into Texas

[23 August 2023 17:41 · Louise Boyle]

Fears for Haiti as Tropical Storm Franklin makes landfall

In the Caribbean, officials were most concerned about Franklin’s impact in Haiti, which is vulnerable to catastrophic flooding given the country’s severe erosion.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry had urged Haitians on Tuesday to stock up on water, food and medication as authorities checked on some of the more than 200,000 people displaced by gang violence, with some living on the street or in makeshift shelters.

Some recalled how a powerful thunderstorm that unleashed heavy rains one day in June left more than 40 people dead across Haiti.

The Associated Press

[23 August 2023 18:02 · Louise Boyle]

Storm warnings issued for more parts of the Caribbean

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the entire southern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, as well as the entire northern Dominican coast on Wednesday.

The government of the Bahamas also issued a tropical storm warning for the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The Associated Press

[23 August 2023 18:33 · Louise Boyle]

Watch: Governor Greg Abbot sends migrants on bus to California during historic storm

[23 August 2023 19:02 · Louise Boyle]

Tropical Storm Franklin update

The National Hurricane Center shared key updates for Tropical Storm Franklin, currently moving inland over the Dominican Republic on Wednesday morning.

[23 August 2023 19:12 · Louise Boyle]

Greg Abbott branded ‘evil’ for sending migrant bus to LA in middle of Tropical Storm Hilary

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been branded “evil” for sending a busload of migrants to Los Angeles while the city was bracing for Tropical Storm Hilary.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass slammed the Republican governor for “endanger[ing] the lives” of vulnerable families with young children by sending them into the heart of the storm at a time when residents were warned to seek shelter.

“It is evil to endanger the lives of vulnerable migrants by sending a bus with families and toddlers on board to a city that at the time was under an unprecedented tropical storm warning,” the mayor said on Monday.

“As I stood with state and local leaders warning Angelenos to stay safe and brace themselves for the worst of the coming storm, the Governor of Texas sent families and toddlers straight for us on a path through extreme weather conditions.”

The mayor said that Mr Abbott should know more than most the dangers given his state is regularly pummeled by these weather events.

[23 August 2023 19:32 · Louise Boyle]

Burning Man flooded by Tropical Storm Hilary - revelers told to delay

Muddy conditions have delayed the opening of Burning Man, the annual music and arts festival held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

The arid region received more than half an inch of train from Tropical Storm Hilary which passed over the area on Monday.

But organizers tweeted that “weather permitting” they planned to begin allowing people on to the site from Wednesday afternoon.