Boarding up windows and filling sandbags and fuel tanks are part of routine hurricane preparation for residents of the Gulf coast. Isaias strengthened into a category 3 hurricane on Friday morning as it barreled toward the US Gulf coast, and states of emergency have been declared in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. Isaias is forecast to make landfall on Friday night, somewhere along the Alabama-Florida line, with surging seas up to 7ft (2.1 meters) and waves as high as 30ft

• Hurricane Isaias barrels toward Gulf coast as category 3 storm

• Isaias strengthens to become first Atlantic hurricane of 2026 season

On Kaua‘i, neighbors repair each other’s roofs, teens deliver meals and locals use their own equipment to clear roads

It was a few hours after the sun rose over the verdant valleys and clear waters of Hā‘ena on Kaua‘i’s North Shore. Michael Olanolan was already in his excavator, clearing the main highway where a wall of fallen trees had blocked access. Other neighbors joined him, moving debris so electric crews could reach utility poles downed by Hurricane Lowell.

The 76-year-old father of nine and grandfather of 26 did this every day for weeks after Lowell hit the Hawaiian islands of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau on 7 September. His generational home lost part of its roof to Lowell’s winds, but family and friends helped him repair it, freeing him up to also help his community. Clearing out roadways became his full-time job while residents were getting back on their feet.

Residents in areas from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Florida urged to ‘evacuate if told to do so’

Millions of people from Louisiana to Florida were under hurricane warnings on Thursday as Hurricane Isaias heads toward the US Gulf coast, with weather officials warning of dangerous storm surge, hurricane-force winds, heavy rainfall and flooding.

Isaias intensified from a tropical storm into the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season on Wednesday night, and has prompted state of emergency declarations in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, as well as evacuation orders and school closures in several Florida counties as officials urge residents to prepare for its arrival.

Several cities shatter temperatures for time of year as extreme heat warnings in place along California coast

An unprecedented heatwave has gripped southern California, boosting temperatures 15 to 20 degrees above normal for autumn.

Monday was a notably sweltering day for several cities.

First hurricane of the season has not formed this late since 1905 as scientists say possible US landfall on Saturday

Tropical Depression Nine has been predicted to be the Atlantic season’s first hurricane and potentially the latest first hurricane to develop in over a century.

The system was located on Tuesday afternoon about 630 miles south-west of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds of 35mph (56km/h), according to the US National Hurricane Center.