The hurricane named Florence is expected to hit the east coast of the US, between North Georgia and South Virginia on 13 September. Florence began life as “tropical depression 6”, intensified to a tropical storm over the following few days and to a hurricane on 5 September. It then weakened, but since has been undergoing re-intensification and is expected to return to hurricane strengthbefore landfall, with a forecast intensity of category 4.

Meanwhile, Japan has been recovering from the impact of Typhoon Jebi, which made landfall there on 4 September. Jebi was the strongest cyclone to strike Japan since Yancy in 1993, and it brought widespread damage from strong winds and flooding. At Kansai international airport, located on a constructed island, runways were submerged. More than 600 injuries and 11 deaths in Japan have been attributed to the storm.

Torrential rain and flooding has also affected Guangdong province in China. Although this was not directly associated with a tropical storm much of the region had more than 100mm or even 200mm of rain in the days leading up to 1 September. Tens of thousands of residents were evacuated by the local authorities.