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Isaias has become the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season with 80 mph winds, expected to reach Category 2 before hitting the U.S. northern Gulf Coast on Friday, with risks of flash and river flooding. NOAA warns of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds across the Florida panhandle, southern Alabama and Mississippi.
El Niño, the cyclical warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, is expected to reduce Atlantic hurricane activity but increase Pacific storm formation during the 2026 cyclone season. The phenomenon disrupts global wind and rain patterns, altering where and how many tropical cyclones develop worldwide.
A U.S. military rescue crew in Florida described their 'quite miraculous' operation to save all 11 people from a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean, even as they themselves had to hastily leave the scene with just five minutes of fuel remaining. The survivors — all adults from the Bahamas — had been huddled on a single life raft for about five hours, unaware that help was coming. The helicopter crew made nine lifts to bring everyone aboard, reaching 'bingo time' — the fuel cutoff — just as the last person was pulled to safety.
The World Health Organization has confirmed five hantavirus infections, including three deaths, tied to a cruise ship in the Atlantic. WHO assesses public health risk as low but warns more cases may emerge due to the virus's long incubation period. The infected strain, Andes virus, is the only hantavirus known to transmit between humans under close contact.
