SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)

"Incumbent Rick Scott, a Republican, reportedly banned the words “climate change” from state agencies as governor. Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell favors climate-resilient infrastructure."

"As Hurricane Milton pummeled Florida’s west coast with powerful winds and flooding rain, environmentalists worry it could scatter the polluted leftovers of the state’s phosphate fertilizer mining industry and other hazardous waste across the peninsula and into vulnerable waterways."

"Hurricane Milton’s rampage is not swaying House Republican leaders who oppose returning to Washington to approve billions of dollars for disaster assistance."

"Floridians are picking up the pieces after Milton made landfall as a dangerous Category 3 hurricane and cut through the state as a Category 1 storm before moving offshore. In some areas, such as St. Petersburg, the storm represented a more than a 1-in-1000 year rainfall event."

"North Carolina officials are still scrambling to restore water in areas pummeled by Hurricane Helene nearly two weeks ago."

"With its mighty strength and its dangerous path, Hurricane Milton powered into a very rare threat flirting with experts’ worst fears."

"Hurricane Milton plowed into Florida as a Category 3 storm Wednesday, bringing misery to a coast still ravaged by Helene, pounding cities with winds of over 100 mph (160 kph) after producing a barrage of tornadoes, but sparing Tampa a direct hit."

"Hurricane Milton was upgraded back to a Category 5 storm as it churns toward Florida’s west coast. The Tampa Bay area, home to more than 3.3 million people, faced the possibility of widespread destruction after avoiding direct hits from major hurricanes for more than a century."

"Black residents of Louisiana’s St. James Parish asked a federal appeals court on Monday to overturn a lower court ruling and give them the opportunity to argue at trial that local land-use policies are racist and have concentrated polluting industrial plants in their neighborhoods."