hurricane

Wednesday marks six months since Hurricane Michael blew through parts of south Georgia. With planting season just a few weeks away, Georgia cotton growers are keeping an eye on the weather. 

In 2017, thousands evacuated southeast Texas in preparation for Hurricane Harvey. As they sped down the highway away from the storm, one car drove toward it. Inside it was Russell Lewis.

Officially, Lewis is NPR's Southern Bureau chief, but he's also known as the go-to guy on NPR's "go team," which covers earthquakes, fires, flood and other disasters; both natural and man-made. Lewis is often the first member of the team on a plane and on the ground, setting up logistics, drivers, translators and supplies in places where systems have broken down, so NPR can bring those events to listeners.

A fight between President Donald Trump and Democrats over hurricane relief for Puerto Rico stalled a widely backed disaster aid bill that's a top priority for some of the president's Southern GOP allies.

Only about $600 million out of the $13.45 billion relief package was earmarked for Puerto Rico. The rest was intended for Southern farmers who had their businesses upended and in some cases literally ripped from the ground by Hurricane Michael last year. 

It takes about a decade to grow a productive pecan tree and a matter of minutes to take one down. A University of Georgia specialist estimates Hurricane Michael's 100 mph winds left 75 percent of pecan crops unharvestable in several south Georgia counties. UGA also estimates a total of $2 billion in losses to the state's agriculture industry.

Five months after the storm, many farmers are still picking up the pieces. "On Second Thought" has been following up with growers ever since the storm. Randy Hudson's family has run Hudson Pecan Company in Irwin County for more than 150 years. Rob Cohen owns Pecan Ridge Plantation in Decatur County. He's been in the family business for several decades. Cohen and Hudson gave updates on their crops as a new season begins.

Florida and Georgia are left picking up the pieces following Hurricane Michael.

The storm claimed the lives of at least 11 people, including an 11-year old girl old girl who died after a tree fell on her home in Seminole County. Michael also has left damages amounting to billions of dollars, which will affect Georgia's agriculture activities. Utility crews around the state were still working to restore power to thousands on Friday.

We spoke by phone to people from McRae, Plains and Valdosta about how Hurricanes may be the new normal for South Georgia. 

Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle as a Category 4 early Wednesday afternoon and moved into southwest Georgia as a Category 3 storm, officials said.

You can follow updates from GEMA here.

A tornado watch was issued until 2 a.m. Thursday for most of the state and tornado warnings have been issued as far north as Cobb County.

Hurricane Michael makes landfall in Florida on Wednesday. The hurricane is expected to later hit Southwest and Central Georgia, according to the National Weather Service.

We spoke with Marshall Shepherd, the program director for atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia, about tracking the hurricane over the week and how meterologists convey the severity of storms. We also spoke with Gwen Cooper, an author and pet rescue expert about what to do with pets during extreme weather.

Barely a month after cleanup from the last major hurricane to hit the Southeast, Hurricane Michael is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge along portions of the Florida Panhandle and damaging winds through Georgia, officials say.

About 10 a.m. Tuesday, Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency in 92 counties in the state.

Michael is expected to make landfall Wednesday as a Category 3 major hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The latest forecasts show Hurricane Florence making landfall in the Carolinas, but the storm’s already causing dangerous conditions on Georgia’s beaches.

The effects of the first named storm of 2018 claimed lives before the official start of hurricane season, but leaders with Georgia Power, the National Weather Service and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency have been investing in technology, planning and preparing.

Despite advances in technology, the best resource for damage assessment after a storm is "boots on the ground," Georgia Power's David Maske said at a hurricane summit last week.

Friday marks the beginning of the 2018 hurricane season, which stretches from June 1 to Nov. 30, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This year, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center forecasts a 40 percent chance of a normal season, and a 35 percent chance of an above-normal season. 

Today's coastal news headlines include:

• Savannah joins growing number of Georgia municipalities suing opioid makers
• First stand-alone ER is coming to South Carolina's Lowcountry
• Hurricane "Cone of Uncertainty" is shrinking

In the wake of back-to-back natural disasters, insurance companies are flooded with claims for destroyed property. For many, there's doubt about the willingness and ability of those insurance providers to handle the millions of dollars in damage. We sit down with Carrie Teegardin, an investigative reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, to discuss her reporting as part of our occasional series, “AJC Investigates.” 

Hotels across the South are booking up, as people leave the coast ahead of Hurricane Irma.

All it takes is a quick look at any of the online booking sites to see. Georgia’s hotel rooms are sold out. Brigette Lee is the director of sales of the Holiday Inn on the north side of Macon, Georgia. She says people leaving the South Carolina barrier islands beat Floridians to the punch by looking for rooms as long ago as last Friday.