The climate threat • The hurricane season

Meteorologist cried on TV: "An incredible, incredible hurricane"

Veteran meteorologist John Morales broke down in tears while giving his forecast for Hurricane Milton's progress on WTVJ in South Florida.

- It is an incredible, incredible hurricane. The pressure has dropped with ...

He looks down at his screen and continues in a shaky voice:

- ... it has dropped by 50 millibars. In ten hours.

His voice breaks. The faster the air pressure in a hurricane drops, the faster it strengthens.

- I apologize. It's just terrible.

In an interview afterward, he told the New York Times that he began to cry out of shock at the hurricane's rapid development, compassion for the victims, and frustration at humanity's failure to reduce global warming, which is behind the increasingly extreme weather.

- To see what I have warned about when I have called for action against climate change and not been heard, it is frustrating, he says to People.

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Researchers: Pay out support before natural disasters

Giving people a small amount of money via their cell phones ahead of a storm can pay big dividends, according to several studies. Researcher Ranil Dissanayake, at the research center Center for Global Development, tells AFP that "the sooner the better".

Dissanayake believes that the money helps people prepare, for example by storing food items or by temporarily leaving their home. In hot countries, it can also mean that people can afford to stay home from demanding work in extreme heat.

The UN and Oxford have also studied the issue and concluded, among other things, that the risks were reduced for the households that received money.

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Milton gains new strength - could be worst storm in 100 years

Six million people have been urged to evacuate as Hurricane Milton - which could be the worst in a century - is now heading towards Florida in the US, several media reports. Earlier in the week, Milton was downgraded to a hurricane strength four, but on Tuesday it increased again to a five and as it passed the Yucatan Peninsula, winds were measured at nearly 72 meters per second.

Milton is expected to make landfall sometime overnight Thursday, US time.

- Today is the last day to get ready, warns Craig Fugate, who was previously head of the crisis agency FEMA, to AP.