For most viewers, the Weather Channel is a utilitarian network, a quick stop on the basic cable lineup to check the day’s forecast. Best known for delivering local weather updates every 10 minutes, it competes for attention with programming as diverse as cooking shows and “Game of Thrones.” But as a pair of historic hurricanes disrupt large portions of the United States, the Weather Channel has never been more relevant, or more energized.

For weeks now, the network has broadcast live nonstop, first as Hurricane Harvey inundated Texas, and now as Irma menaces Florida. Roughly 70 reporters and producers are in the field, and many employees have all but moved into company headquarters.

“They’re the only broadcast entity that’s covering a Harvey or an Irma 24/7,” said J. Marshall Shepherd, director of the atmospheric sciences program at the University of Georgia. “On quiet days, it’s tough for them, but they are tailor made for times like this.”

Ratings bear this out. The Weather Channel averaged nearly 1.3 million viewers during prime time over the first half of last week, up sharply from an average of 150,000 viewers during the last week of July, when the weather wasn’t a story, according to Nielsen.

Since the last week of August, reporters and producers have worked extended shifts. Employees from the human resources department have volunteered to help monitor social media. And all around the headquarters, there are signs that the Weather Channel has kicked into high gear.