Hurricane forecasters are, once again, predicting a busier-than-average hurricane season for the East Coast in 2025.

AccuWeather forecasts are predicting a “dynamic” 2025 season, said lead forecaster Alex DaSilva. Forecasters currently think 13 to 18 named storms could impact the East Coast. Of those, 7 to 10 could become hurricanes and a handful become major storms with sustained wind speeds reaching 111 mph or greater. Using analog years, or years with similar environmental conditions, the team can create a prediction of how this year may go.

“These are the areas that we’re concerned with: right around the northern Gulf Coast, the Big Bend of Florida, the west coast of Florida, and then getting up into the Carolinas as well, especially the Outer Banks of North Carolina,” DaSilva said. “This could mean that we could be seeing a lot of recurving systems that clip the North Carolina coastline or South Carolina coastline before continuing to move to the north and to the east.”

Hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through November.

Researchers at Colorado State University have released their forecast for the season, predicting 17 named storms. Of the named storms, researchers forecast nine to become hurricanes, and four could reach “major” hurricane strength, which is a Category 3 or higher. The team predicts 2025 hurricane activity will be about 125% of the average season from 1991 to 2020. About half the storms could make landfall in the United States, and forecasters said there is a 26% chance that one will make landfall on the East Coast.

Last year, the CSU team predicted 2024 hurricane activity would be about 170% of the average season from 1991-2020, but by the end of the season, the actual percentage was about 130%. By comparison, 2023’s hurricane activity was about 120% of the average season.

The Atlantic basin finished the 2024 season with 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes and five intensified to major hurricanes. Five hurricanes made landfall in the continental U.S., with two storms making landfall as major hurricanes.

“So far, the 2025 hurricane season is exhibiting characteristics similar to 1996, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2017,” said Phil Klotzbach, a senior research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at CSU and lead author of the report.

The Weather Company, which runs The Weather Channel, partnered with the forecast team at Atmospheric G2 for its predictions. Currently, they predict 19 storms to form in 2025, nine of which will become hurricanes and four of which will reach Category 3 status or stronger.

While still above average, predictions for 2025 are less severe than conditions going into the 2024 hurricane season. Like in years past, warm water (which acts as fuel for tropical storms) will be a major factor for storm development.

“It’s likely going to be much of the same thing — above-average temperatures,” DaSilva said. “2024 was basically the warmest year we had on record for the Atlantic basin, and this year’s tracking a little bit below that right now. It’s still likely to be a top five, if not a top three, year for sea-surface temperatures across the Atlantic, and that can yield rapid intensification.”

La Nina could also be on the way out, DaSilva said. La Nina is a climate pattern that typically cools sea-surface temperatures along the equator and dampens wind shear in the Atlantic Ocean and was cited as a concern ahead of the season last year. Wind shear is the enemy of tropical systems, so it typically allows storms to form and stay strong. Toward the later part of this season, DaSilva said, there’s evidence to suggest that the end of the season could lean toward a neutral weather pattern. A warmer-than-normal tropical Atlantic combined with neutral conditions typically provide a more conducive environment for hurricane formation and intensification.

This week marks Hurricane Preparedness Week, and forecasters at the National Weather Service are encouraging the public to get ahead of prepping for potential storms. This includes identifying emergency evacuation routes, assembling disaster supplies and preparing their homes before the season begins.

Hurricane preparation tips

Have a go bag ready to take things with you if you need to leave in a hurry.
Trim trees around your home before a storm to prevent damage from broken branches.
Have enough non-perishable food, water and medicine to last each person in your family a minimum of three days.
Have extra cash, a battery-powered radio and flashlights. You may need a portable crank or solar-powered USB charger for cell phones.
Write down a hurricane plan and share it with your family. Determine family meeting places, including an out-of-town location in case of evacuation.

Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com

By SUSAN HAIGH

David Steiner, a former CEO of the nation’s largest waste management company who currently serves on the FedEx board of directors, is poised to take over control of the U.S. Postal Service, becoming the nation’s 76th postmaster general.

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The announcement of Steiner’s appointment, which heightened concerns from postal unions over possible efforts to privatize the USPS, was made Friday by Amber McReynolds, chairperson of the USPS’ Board of Governors, during a meeting of the independent group that oversees the service.

“We anticipate that Mr. Steiner will join the organization in July, assuming his successful completion of the ethics and security clearance processes that are currently underway,” McReynolds said.

Friday’s announcement by the the Board of Governors comes as President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have raised the idea of privatizing the nearly 250-year-old Postal Service, which has faced financial challenges amid a changing mail mix and other issues.

The choice of Steiner has been seen by the postal unions as a harbinger for possible privatization of some or all of the venerable quasi-public institution, which is largely self-funded and has a mission to serve every address in the country — nearly 167 million residences, businesses and post office boxes.

Postal unions have held protests throughout the country over potential privatization, job cuts and possibly ending the universal service obligation.

Brian L. Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said Steiner is not just any executive from the private sector but someone who sits on the board of one of the Postal Service’s top competitors.

“His selection isn’t just a conflict of interest — it’s an aggressive step toward handing America’s mail system over to corporate interests,” Renfroe said in a statement. “Private shippers have been waiting to get USPS out of parcel delivery for years. Steiner’s selection is an open invitation to do just that.”

Renfroe’s union represents 205,000 active city letter carriers and around 90,000 retirees.

Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 220,000 USPS employees and retirees, likened the appointment of Steiner to a fox guarding a hen house.

“FedEx has a very different agenda than the public postal service. And they’re a major competitor of the United States Postal Service,” he said. “I’m not talking about any attributes of an individual, but to me, that’s the last type of person you will put in charge of the public institution as the anchor of the mailing package industry in the country.”

Steiner, who will leave the FedEx board, said in a written statement that he admires the public service mission of the USPS and called it “an incredible honor to be asked to lead the world’s greatest postal organization.”

“I believe strongly in maintaining its role as an independent establishment of the executive branch,” said Steiner, who served as CEO of Waste Management Inc. from 2004 through October 2016.

In a written statement, McReynolds called Steiner “the right person to lead the Postal Service at this time to ensure this magnificent and historic organization thrives into the future.”

“Dave is a highly regarded leader and executive with tremendous vision, experience and skill that can be applied to the long-term mission and business needs of the Postal Service,” she added. “Our Board looks forward to working with Dave as he takes on the core mandates of providing universal and excellent service for the American public and doing so in a financially sustainable manner.”

The Postal Service is in the midst of a 10-year modernization and cost-cutting plan that began in 2021 under Postmaster Louis DeJoy, who resigned in March. The plan is an attempt to stop losses at the agency, which has a budget of about $78 billion a year and is mostly self-funded, including through stamps and packages.

Known as “Deliver for America,” the initiative has received markedly mixed reviews. While postal officials contend it has led to major efficiency improvements, some members of Congress have criticized it for leading to mail delays, unsustainable postage increases and declines in business.

Besides privatization, there’s also been talk of possibly moving the USPS under the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The choice of Steiner was first reported by The Washington Post.

By LISA MASCARO and SEUNG MIN KIM

WASHINGTON (AP) — After musing publicly and privately with the idea of raising the top tax rate for wealthy millionaires as Republicans draft his big bill in Congress, President Donald Trump early Friday backed off that call — sort of.

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Trump posted on social media that hiking taxes on anyone, even the rich, could stir a political backlash, reviving the “Read my lips: No new taxes” warnings of the Bush-era that helped topple a president. The post came days after he floated the idea of higher taxes on those single filers earning $2.5 million and above.

But this time, the president, didn’t completely discourage GOP lawmakers from pursuing that option as they rush to finish their massive tax breaks and spending cuts package this weekend.

“The problem with even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘Read my lips,’” Trump wrote.

“In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!” Trump wrote Friday.

The last ditch-push by the president comes as Republicans are laboring to push his “big, beautiful bill” toward public hearings next week, on track for a House vote by Memorial Day. Divisions run strong in the party, and the president’s on-again, off-again push for millionaires taxes complicates the outcome.

Over the past months, Trump has repeatedly brought up the idea of imposing a higher rate for millionaires and the president revived his request in private talks.

Trump told Speaker Mike Johnson again this week he wants to see a higher rate on the wealthy in the big bill coming from Congress, according to a person familiar with the conversations and granted anonymity to discuss the private talks.

The president sees higher taxes on millionaires as a way to clip the argument coming from Democrats that the GOP’s big tax package only benefits his wealthy friends, including billionaire Elon Musk, the person said.

Thanks to Trump’s 2017 tax cuts bill, the top rate is now a 37% bracket that expires at the end of the year. That rate is for incomes beyond about $600,000 for single filers. Trump would like to see that rate expire, reverting back to 39.6%, or 40%.

This week Trump pitched top rate on incomes of around $2.5 million for individuals and $5 million for couples.

The debate over millionaires has been raging with a robust collection of anti-tax activists led by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist at Americans for Tax Reform and others working vigorously to prevent any tax hikes.

Trump appeared Friday to have again heeded the message from Gingrich, who has warned that George H.W. Bush during the 1988 presidential campaign pledged to not to implement any new taxes as president.

Bush then faced an onslaught of criticism during his unsuccessful 1992 reelection campaign for breaking that promise. Trump posted a few weeks ago that Gingrich was correct. But on Friday the president said independent candidate Ross Perot had caused Bush’s loss that year.

As the conversations swirl in public and private, they keep coming back to Trump’s own politically-populist instincts, touching off the GOP divide.

“I’m not excited about the proposal, but I have to say, there are a number of people in both the house and the Senate who are,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, the GOP chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said earlier this week on the Hugh Hewitt show, “and if the President weighs in in favor of it, then that’s going to be a big factor that we have to take into consideration as well.”

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By JAMEY KEATEN and SARAH EL DEEB

GENEVA (AP) — International aid agencies warned on Friday that plans presented by Israel to control aid distribution in Gaza, including a U.S.-backed proposal, will only increase suffering and death in the devastated Palestinian territory, which has been under a total Israeli blockade for nearly 10 weeks.

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They urged Israel to lift its ban on all food, medicine and other supplies entering Gaza, which has caused a surge of malnutrition and hunger among Palestinians as supplies rapidly dwindle.

“Humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said in Geneva.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said that a new system for delivering humanitarian aid and food to Gaza was being launched, with deliveries set to begin “very soon.”

He said that details would be announced in the coming days. He depicted it as independent from Israel, which he said wouldn’t be involved in distribution. He said that private companies would provide security, while Israel’s military would secure the perimeters of aid areas from afar.

“I will be the first to admit it will not be perfect, especially in the early days,” Huckabee said.

A new U.S.-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has put forward an aid distribution plan along the lines of Israel’s demands, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The group is made up of American security contractors, former government officials, ex-military officers and humanitarian officials.

It wasn’t immediately clear if this was the plan that Huckabee was referring to. But aid workers have said the creation of the group does little to assuage their concerns.

The U.N. has rejected Israeli plans to control aid

Israel has spoken for weeks of imposing a new aid system in Gaza, but has given no details publicly. The United Nations and most aid groups, which have led the aid operation in Gaza since the war began, have refused to participate, saying the details provided by Israel in private discussions violate humanitarian principles.

They say that the plans floated by Israel center on creating a limited number of distribution hubs inside Gaza to which Palestinians would have to come to receive food — armed security companies would transport the aid and guard the hubs. Israel also wants to vet recipients of the help, aid workers say.

Elder, of UNICEF, said that the plan as presented to the aid community appeared “designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic.” He said that it doesn’t comply with Israel’s obligations to allow and facilitate impartial humanitarian relief.

He said that the plan would entrench forced displacement “for political and military purposes,” as Palestinians will be forced to move to be closer to distribution hubs. The most vulnerable, including children, older people and those suffering from illness, may not be able to get to the hubs. It also endangers people by forcing them to seek aid from militarized areas.

“More children are likely to suffer and risk death and injury as a consequence of this plan,” Elder said. “There is a simple alternative. Lift the blockade, let humanitarian aid in, save lives.”

Huckabee called on U.N. agencies and independent aid groups to join the new aid mechanism.

But Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said Friday that multiple meetings with Israeli officials haven’t assuaged U.N. concerns over the plans.

“The current shape that we have been briefed about by (Israeli officials) would not allow us to resume lifesaving activities at the scale that was possible prior to the total blockade of Gaza,” he said.

UN says new plan can’t match scale of aid need

Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza on March 2, then resumed bombardment of the territory, breaking a two-month ceasefire. It says the moves aim to pressure Hamas to release its remaining hostages and disarm. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and possible war crime.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

The government has said that aid won’t resume until a new distribution mechanism is in place, accusing Hamas and other fighters of siphoning off large amounts of the help. The U.N and aid workers deny that there is significant diversion, saying that the U.N. strictly monitors distribution.

Throughout the war, multiple U.N agencies and other humanitarian groups have been trucking in supplies and distributing them as close as possible to where Palestinians were located. Before the blockade, aid groups were distributing supplies at hundreds of locations around Gaza.

The operation has been led by UNRWA, the main U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel has banned the agency since last year, alleging that its staff have been infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA, which employs more than 10,000 staff in Gaza, said that it acts quickly to remove any staff suspected of having militant ties, and that Israel hasn’t given it evidence of its claims.

UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said that it would be “impossible to replace UNRWA” to deliver aid to Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

“We are the largest humanitarian organization. We have the largest reach,” she said. The agency also provides shelters, runs warehouses and trucking services for aid distribution. ”It is very, very difficult to imagine any humanitarian operation without UNRWA.”

In its proposal, the Gaza Humanitarian Fund said that it would initially set up four distribution sites, each serving 300,000 people. That would cover about half of Gaza’s population. The system would be scaled up to meet the needs of 2 million people. But the proposal doesn’t give a time frame. It said that subcontractors would use armored vehicles to transport supplies from the Gaza border to distribution sites, where they would also provide security. The aim would be to avert criminal gangs and other armed groups, it said.

Touma said that claims of aid diversion are hard to counter when there are no independent media or monitoring on the ground in Gaza. Israel has barred international media from entering the territory. When the ceasefire was in place, reports of looting significantly decreased, she added.

Laerke said that “the looting of a few trucks here and there” wasn’t the main problem for aid distribution.

“The problem is the blockage of hundreds of aid trucks that should go into the Gaza Strip every single day. That is the root cause of the humanitarian crisis there.”

Sarah El Deeb reported from Beirut.