Former President Donald Trump has refused to condemn recent racist and conspiratorial comments from right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer, who traveled with him earlier this week to the debate and several 9/11 memorial events.

Archaeologists have been gingerly digging up the ground at a site in central Louisiana this summer to unearth and preserve evidence of prehistoric occupation.

Gay couples have begun to get married in Cuba under the country’s new Family Code.

A single hurricane can cause billions of dollars in damage, not to mention the physical and emotional toll it takes on those in its path.

Human-caused climate change made the record-smashing 2020 Atlantic hurricane season even wetter.

Deana D'Andrea breaks longstanding powerlifting record total

The data scientists at the Florida Department of Health plan to take a few days off from providing new COVID-19 case numbers and other figures during the Memorial Day weekend.

It's going to be crowded at airports and on the road this Memorial Day weekend.

Agents Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, and Daniel Alfin, 36, were gunned down Tuesday while serving a search warrant at the Broward County home of a child pornography suspect. The service for Schwartzenberger was held at the Miami Dolphins' football stadium. It's a job with high stress, high emotional toll and high burnout,” Wray said of the agent, who was originally from Pueblo, Colorado. She'd talk to anybody and everybody about protecting children from predators online.”Federal government officials who attended the service with Wray were Acting U.S. Attorney General Monty Wilkinson and President Joe Biden's Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall. “During her 15 years as an FBI Special Agent, Laura Schwartzenberger was selfless, tireless, brave and committed to protecting some of society’s most vulnerable: its children,” Wilkinson said in statement.

Lockdowns that France has used to fight the coronavirus have come at considerable cost to mental health. Behind her, the psychiatric emergency ward's heavy double doors — openable only with a staff member's key — thud shut. She is unnerved that she is starting to obsess about knives, fearful that her mental health might be collapsing. But the costs to mental health have been considerable. The pandemic has also had other mental health repercussions that are less evident but no less devastating.

Tourists walk on the beach as the tail end of Hurricane Zeta makes landfall in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, early Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. Zeta, the 27th named storm of a very busy Atlantic hurricane season, was a hurricane when it began raking across Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula early Tuesday. It emerged in the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm but was expected to regain hurricane strength before landfall south of New Orleans on Wednesday evening. Officials in two Mexican states hit by Zeta reported power outages and damage caused by downed trees, but no deaths. The extraordinarily busy hurricane season has focused attention on the role of climate change, which scientists say is causing wetter, stronger and more destructive storms.

Delta is expected to make landfall in Western Louisiana Friday as a Category 2 hurricane just six weeks after Category 4 Laura devastated those same areas. Delta will be the fourth named storm -- following Cristobal, Marco and Laura -- to make landfall in Louisiana in what has been an extremely busy hurricane season for the Gulf Coast. 2004 was a rough hurricane season for the Sunshine State to say the least. Five named storms impacted Florida in 2004Frances and Jeanne took the 2004 hurricane season to another level by making landfall just a few miles apart within three weeks of each other. In total, three of the four hurricanes that impacted Florida in the 2004 season occurred in a three-week period in September.

This impacts Laura, and to a lesser degree Marco, have had on water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are now evident. In the areas especially where Laura traveled, water temperatures have dipped into the low-to-mid 80s! Water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical systems typically want the water temperature to be 80 degrees or above for development. The drop in sea surface temperatures in the Gulf is just a short term change, but another impact of these monster storms.

To assist with disaster relief efforts, the Red Cross of Central Florida region deployed more than 20 volunteers. “The team that I’m on, we go out there -- we’re the first team in for the Red Cross, both at home and out there on disaster relief operations. I mean, he just lost it and that was probably one of the most memorable moments that I ever had.”The Red Cross Central Florida region is deploying 21 volunteers: about 6 of them from Orlando. On Tuesday, News 6 caught up with two volunteers as they were getting ready to fly out to Houston and Louisiana. “When you’re there as a Red Cross responder and you’re able to provide that comfort to that individual and show them that little light at the end of the tunnel, that little ray of hope.

The situation was so dire Wednesday the National Hurricane Center called Lauras storm surge unsurvivable. Storm surge is the leading cause of hurricane-related fatalities in the United States and the main reason evacuations are ordered by local officials. Lake Charles observations from Lake Charles Regional Airport from August 26-27, 2020 as Hurricane Laura made landfall along the Louisiana coast. ACE is calculated by using the intensity and duration of the storm once it reaches tropical storm status and is a better measure of how intense a storm season is than names alone. The peak of hurricane season occurs September 10.

Winds gusted above hurricane force to 128 mph (206 kph) while Laura's northern eyewall moved onshore over Cameron Parish. A sudden storm surge knocked over cameras meant to capture the hurricane’s effects. Storm surge warnings extended from Freeport, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Wary of opening mass shelters during a pandemic, Texas officials instead put evacuees in hotels, but Austin stopped taking arrivals before dawn because officials said they ran out of rooms. Forecasters said storm surge topped by waves could submerge entire towns.

The center of Laura will move away from Cuba and over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico overnight. As Marco was on its deathbed, the National Hurricane Center issued its first storm watches for Laura. Heavy rain was expected across portions of the north-central Gulf Coast overnight, according to the National Hurricane Center. Then a little less than a month later came Hurricane Rita which struck southwest Louisiana on Sept. 24 as a Category 3 storm. On the Louisiana coast at Holly Beach in an area nicknamed the “Cajun Riviera,” Eric Monceaux was frantically packing what he could take with him.

We will see lower rain chances as drier air works in, News 6 meteorologist Troy Bridges said. The tropical systems -- Laura and Marco -- are actually pulling our moisture away and thats why we can expect only a 30% coverage of rain Tuesday and Wednesday.Rain chances increase to 60% Thursday through Sunday. 3 hurricane]Orlando will reach a high near 95 Tuesday, but it will feel more like 110, Bridges said. The record high on this date is 98, set in 1915. Orlandos yearly rain deficit stands at 2.65 inches, although theres been a surplus of 3.40 inches since June 1.

A girl wades towards her flooded home the day after the passing of Tropical Storm Laura in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. Laura battered the Dominican Republic and Haiti on it's way to the U.S. Gulf Coast, where forecaster fear it could become a major hurricane. Now forecasters are turning their attention the Gulf Coast, where up to 11 feet (3.4 meters) of sea water storm surge could inundate the coastline from High Island in Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana, the hurricane center said. Hurricane Rita then struck southwest Louisiana that Sept. 24 as a Category 3 storm. We might have dodged a bullet with Marco, and obviously some people along the Gulf Coast are not going to be as blessed as us.___Martin reported from Marietta, Georgia.

Forecasters raised the ominous possibility that warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico could super-charge Laura into a powerful hurricane. Laura's center was remaining just off Cuba's shore, and was not expected to weaken over land before entering the gulf. That's a recipe for damaging, hurricane-force winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph) as Laura approaches the U.S. coast, forecasters said. Rain bands from both storms could bring a combined total of 2 feet (0.6 meters) of rain to parts of Louisiana and several feet of potentially deadly storm surge, forecasters said. Basically that would be 10-feet plus along the southwest Louisiana coast line in a reasonable worst-case scenario, Schott said.

ORLANDO, Fla. Tropical storms Laura and Marco will remain far away from Central Florida, but that doesnt mean they wont have any impacts here. Both storms are on projected paths toward Louisiana and Texas, with landfall expected this week. Highs will reach 94 Monday, with a heat index up to 110 degrees and a 40% coverage of rain. [RELATED: Forecast cones, computer models, more for tropical storms Laura, Marco]Rain chances stay at 40% Tuesday and Wednesday before creeping up to 50% for the rest of the week. Orlando has a yearly rain deficit of 2.64 inches.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Laura and Marco are not coming to Florida, but some of their feeder bands, storms developing and moving over the state, will impact us through Monday. Those storms could contain wind gusts of up to 50mph, like our routine summer storms. Storm chances Sunday will be lower than Saturday, but a few storms could be strong. Beach forecast:Beach forecastGusty showers and storms will work onshore Sunday. Tropical update:Tropical DevelopmentLaura and Marco will threaten the west and North Gulf coast through the middle of the week.

Although this occurrence is unusual, Laura and TD 14’s proximity could make it even more rare by causing the Fujiwhara effect. The Fujiwhara effect. This could cause two smaller storms to evolve into one larger storm. It will be just a matter of time to see if these two storms will “dance” in the Gulf by next week. Click here to see the latest track and information on Tropical Storm Laura and Tropical Depression Fourteen.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Tropical Depression 14 formed Thursday morning in the Caribbean. The system will not impact Florida. Tropical Depression 14. (WKMG)The next two named storms will be called Laura and Marco. [RELATED: Radar | Plan & Prepare | Top 3 factors for development | Hurricane Prep Checklist]It joins Tropical Depression 13 and another wave off Africa as the tropics heat up.

Tropical Depression 13 has the potential to either become Laura or Marco in the coming days. By the time 13 gets close to the island, it should be a tropical storm. Timing for Tropical Depression 13 would be early next week for Florida. Tropical Depression 14 could move into the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend. Saharan dust and other detrimental factors for tropical development begin to go away and thunderstorm activity over the tropics tends to increase.

ORLANDO, Fla. The tropics are popping and theres a very good chance two of three systems in the Atlantic could soon become named storms. A tropical wave south of Hispaniola on Wednesday continues to produce disorganized showers and thunderstorms, along with gusty winds. The National Hurricane Center said the system has an 80% chance of tropical development over the next five days. The next two named storms will be called Laura and Marco. Orlando-area forecastA day after a possible tornado touched down in DeLand, strong to severe storms are expected Wednesday in Central Florida.