STORM

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered federal assistance to supplement a number of storm-battered areas and counties in New Jersey, days after Hurricane Irene hit the entire Eastern seaboard on August 27, 2011.

Tropical Storm Katia is now a Category 1 hurricane, but its impact on the United States, if any, remained unclear as it continued to strengthen on Thursday.

A low pressure located in the central Gulf of Mexico could strengthen into a tropical storm or depression in the next 24 hours as Hurricane Katia churns in the Atlantic.

Now that Hurricane season is in full force, with Irene making the first strike on the U.S. since Ike in 2008 and Hurricane Katia warming up in the Atlantic late this week, it's time to take a crash course. Here are five things to know about a hurricane.

President Barack Obama declared Wednesday a number of towns, cities and counties in New Jersey as major disaster areas and ordered federal assistance to supplement storm-battered areas affected by Hurricane Irene on August 27, 2011, and days after.

Hurricane Katia is likely to become a major storm this weekend, and an eventual threat to the U.S. has not been ruled out. The National Hurricane Center said Thursday Katia, now about 1,000 miles east of St. Lucia in the Carribbean, is on a projected path to be well east of the Bahamas and south of Bermuda by Sept. 6. Katia has winds near 75 miles per hour, and the storm is moving west at 20 miles per hour.

If a new tropical storm gains momentum and becomes a hurricane, it could wreak havoc on oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Katia is official, as the storm strengthened in the past 24 hours from tropical storm strength. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Katia, the second hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season, will likely further strengthen and become a major hurricane by the weekend. The threat that Katia could eventually strike the U.S. remains, through models are uncertain.

Every year tourists gather to watch the soaring tide on the banks of Qiantang River in Haining, eastern China. The tides and waves recorded the highest level in 10 years ahead of Typhoon Nanmadol.

Hurricane Irene may heap billions of dollars of extra costs on the already fragile U.S. economy, but insurance companies are likely to emerge relatively unscathed.

Tropical Storm Katia strengthened into a hurricane over the Atlantic Wednesday, while another mass of thunderstorms that could become a named storm this week triggered evacuations of some oil workers from the Gulf of Mexico.

Rapper T.I., real name Clifford Harris Jr., was welcomed by well-wishes from family, friends and fans after he was released from federal prison Wednesday a month earlier than expected.

Floodwaters finally started to recede from areas of the northeast devastated by Hurricane Irene but many communities were still underwater on Wednesday and relief workers battled cut-off roads and raging rivers to deliver emergency supplies.

It's too early for forecasters at the National Hurricane Center to tell if Tropical Storm Katia will eventually strike the U.S. but that possibility certainly exists, they say. Katia holds the potential for making a path similar to Irene's track. Currently, Tropical Storm Katia poses no threat to land. The storm, expected to reach hurricane strength today before perhaps escalating into a major storm category, is located in the middle of the Atlantic, about 1,600 miles east of the island of...

As people living in Hurricane Irene's path begin a multi-billion dollar rebuilding effort, many will have to contend with the fact that homeowners insurance does not cover the flood damage that was a chief source of destruction.

Hurricane Irene left a path of destruction from North Carolina to the hills of Vermont. Here's a look at the latest photos of the damage.

190,000 in Nassau and Suffolk counties remain without power

Tropical Storm Katia strengthened rapidly on Wednesday, approaching hurricane status, but it was too soon to tell whether it would threaten land in the Caribbean or the United States.

This figure will surely escalate as state and federal officials quantify the losses arising from crop damage, costs of clean-up, road-and-bridge repairs among other expenses.

Irene's damages to the U.S. mainland probably reached $3.4 billion but only 60% of it was covered.

While parts of the East Coast hard-hit by Hurricane Irene manage the damage and despair in Connecticut, New Jersey and Vermont another storm is cranking up in the Atlantic -- Tropical Storm Katia is on a path to become Hurricane Katia 2011 later Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The threat of Katia comes just days after Irene battered the Caribbean and the U.S. It's too early to tell if Katia will also hit the U.S.