Hurricane Irene has been bearing down on the United States and up until today weather experts predicted that the storm would make a direct impact with southern Florida. Obviously this would bring nothing but bad news to the area but today analysts came back with new predictions that should save Florida from quite a bit of the storm’s wrath. Thus far in the hurricane season there has not been a single hurricane or any major landfall damage so hopefully Hurricane Irene does not break the current trend.

Unlike previous predictions Hurricane Irene is now expected to stay 100 to 150 miles off the coast of Florida which means it will not be making landfall in the next few days. Hurricane Irene is unfortunately expected to strengthen as well but analysts say it is much easier to deal with a strong storm that avoids landfall entirely.

Many south Florida residents are excited and happy about the news as it could save them quite a bit of time and money. Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean is just starting to pick up however so more storms are expected in the next few weeks. For now though residents of Florida and other nearby areas are just happy to avoid having to deal with a storm in the coming week. No word on what is expected after Hurricane Irene though there are currently multiple storms forming in the Atlantic Ocean that are expected to develop into tropical storms and possibly hurricanes.

Joplin Students Return to School After Tornado Damage

The city of Joplin Missouri was put on the map just over 3 months ago when a massive tornado leveled a large majority of the city. Thousands of people lost their homes and livelihoods in the tornado and despite the help of volunteers and government agencies much of the city still has not been rebuilt. Despite all of this the town’s residents are seeing yet another sign of hope today as the children of Joplin return to school for the new school year.

When the tornado first hit the town of Joplin the mayor made it clear that rebuilding schools would be a priority because the children are the most important. Many believed there was no way that schools would be able to reopen by the start of the new school year but just as the mayor promised schools did in fact open up today on the scheduled first day of class.

Residents of Joplin say that the fact that students are going back to school gives them hope that the rest of the town will eventually be rebuilt in its entirety. It may still take quite a while for the town to rebuild but for now residents are happy just to know that at least one big part of the city is functioning almost as if nothing had happened. The rest of the recovery effort is expected to come in the next few months as groups continue to work in the city.

Tropical storm Emily marked the beginning of the tropical storm season for much of North America. While Emily might not have been the first storm to form during the season it was the first storm to potentially threaten the coast of the United States. Early storm prediction patterns indicated that Tropical Storm Emily was expected to impact Florida but fortunately for many residents the storm has now started to fizzle out and die down.

Tropical Storm Emily was always a relatively weak storm but weather analysts still believed that it could cause some significant damage with heavy rain and strong winds if it were to make landfall in Florida. Midweek this week Tropical Storm Emily broke up after passing over part of Haiti which brought good news to the United States as well as Haiti and other tropical islands.

Of course weather experts say that Tropical Storm will likely not be a good indicator of the entire tropical season. Experts say that the tropical season will likely be much more intense than average. Fortunately for everyone living in the predicted path of Tropical Storm Emily there is no immediate danger. There are also no current storms developing in the tropics at this time which means there will likely be at least a week or two of little tropical action. As the heart of tropical storm season approaches weather analysts predict that the storms will begin to pickup in frequency but for now everyone is simply happy that this first storm has died out.

Thousands of Supporters Help Joplin Tornado Victims

Just this past weekend the city of Joplin Missouri was hit by an incredibly powerful tornado which destroyed a significant portion of the city. Within a day of the storms destroying Joplin thousands of organizations and groups from around the area have begun to pitch in a hand to help those affected by the tornado.

Many municipalities and cities within a few hundred miles have begun to establish collection and donation sites to send materials and items to Joplin. So far donations have been pouring in in many places and analysts say the immediate response is simply astounding in many areas.

Fortunately despite the horrible devastation in Joplin many residents are doing their best to stay positive as well. Numerous residents of Joplin Missouri have spoken to the press and the resounding message is that they are glad to have survived and will be doing whatever they need to in order to rebuild the town.

Overall the devastation in Joplin is very widespread but the city as a whole is staying very positive and upbeat about the recovery efforts. The first wave of donations and supplies have begun to flow into the city and many people have already begun cleaning up the debris and damages in many areas. Donations are still flooding into the area as well so emergency response workers believe that there should be plenty of materials, supplies, and recovery money available to help the citizens of Joplin begin to rebuild the town in the coming months.