International

The deadliest hurricanes in recent US history

After almost a week of having made landfall in northwest Florida as a category 4 hurricane, Helene is currently responsible for more than 200 deaths and is already the second deadliest cyclone recorded in the continental United States in the last 50 years.

Ahead of him, and with a considerable advantage, Hurricane Katrina tops the list, which with 1,392 deaths attributed is among the five most lethal tropical cyclones in the history of the United States, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of this country.

These are the deadliest hurricanes that have impacted the continental United States in the last 50 years:

Katrina (2005).- The immense hurricane Katrina hit the US coast of the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005. It made landfall first at Keating Beach, Florida, like a category 1 cyclone, and then reached Louisiana and Mississippi with category 3. The highest number of deaths was reported in the city of New Orleans (Louisiana), which recorded catastrophic floods due to the storm surge.

According to NHC records, Katrina is surpassed by the hurricane known as Great Galveston, in Texas, from 1900 and which is estimated to have claimed at least 8,000 lives, as well as Lake Okeechobee, in Florida, from 1928 and responsible for about 2,500 deaths.

Helene (2024).- She entered through northwest Florida, in the area known as Big Bend, on the night of September 26 with category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale (of a maximum of 5) and from there left a tra trile of at least 800 kilometers of devastation by six states in the southeast of the United States. In North Carolina, the death toll amounts to almost a hundred, especially in the area south of the Appalachian Mountains, but the authorities do not rule out that the number will increase in the coming days.
Ian (2022).- The powerful Hurricane Ian entered the United States through the west coast of Florida and, like Helene, did it with category 4. It left 156 deaths mainly in Florida, in addition to North Carolina and Virginia. After destroying more than 19,000 homes and buildings in Lee County, where Fort Myers is settled, Ian landed again in South Carolina.
The “superstorm” Sandy (2012).- It produced at least 147 direct deaths and a catastrophic storm surge on the coasts of New York and New Jersey, where it made landfall at the end of October as a gigantic posttropical cyclone.
Harvey (2017).- It produced rains of historical records in Houston, Texas, a state whose central coast facing the Gulf of Mexico it made landfall on August 25, as a category 4 hurricane. The death toll reached 103 and caused destruction in that state and in Louisiana.

Other noteworthy hurricanes are Agnes (1972), which claimed 128 lives, especially in the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia and Maryland, where significant floods were recorded after the cyclone made landfall in northwest Florida as a category 1 hurricane.

Similarly, Hurricane Audrey, which made landfall in Louisiana in June 1957 with category 3, and was responsible for more than 400 deaths after registering a storm surge of up to 3.5 meters (12 feet) in areas of that state and Texas.

And finally, Hurricane Maria, category 4, which devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017 and is considered the most destructive in the recent history of the Caribbean island, which was almost entirely without electricity. Although at first 67 deaths were attributed to him, a subsequent study by George Washington University commissioned by the Government of Puerto Rico, raised the number of fatalities to 2,975.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

International

Trump orders U.S. control of Strait of Hormuz after failed Iran talks

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the United States will take control of the Strait of Hormuz“effective immediately,” following the collapse of negotiations with Iran held in Islamabad.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had ordered the U.S. Navy to block vessels attempting to enter or exit the strategic waterway, a key route for global energy trade.

“The meeting went well, agreement was reached on most points, but the only really important one — nuclear weapons — was not approved,” Trump said, referring to the talks with Iranian representatives.

The president also stated that he had instructed authorities to intercept ships in international waters that had paid tolls to Iran to transit the strait, calling such payments “illegal.” He further accused Tehran of hindering an agreement by deploying mines in the area, describing the move as “international extortion.”

Trump added that the United States will undertake efforts to clear mines from the strait and expressed confidence that a future agreement ensuring free navigation could eventually be reached.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

The announcement came after Vice President JD Vance and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner briefed the president on the outcome of the negotiations, considered the highest-level contacts between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

While Trump acknowledged that enough progress had been made to maintain a temporary truce, he criticized Iran for remaining unwilling to abandon its nuclear ambitions, calling its position “very inflexible” on the central issue.

International

Child Found Malnourished in Van in France; Father Admits Confinement

French gendarmes discovered a child in a van in Hagenbach, in northeastern France, after a neighbor reported hearing what she described as “childlike noises” coming from the parked vehicle.

After unlocking the van, officers found the boy lying in a fetal position, unclothed and covered with a blanket, surrounded by garbage and near human waste, according to a statement from the Mulhouse prosecutor, Nicolas Heitz.

Authorities said the child appeared pale and severely malnourished. Due to prolonged confinement in a seated position, he was no longer able to walk. He was immediately taken to a hospital in Mulhouse for medical care.

The boy’s father, who lived with his partner and two daughters aged 10 and 12, admitted to keeping the child confined and depriving him of proper care.

According to the prosecutor, the man said he placed the child in the van in November 2024, claiming he wanted to “protect him” because his partner intended to have the boy admitted to a psychiatric facility.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

The suspect also stated that he allowed the child out of the vehicle in May 2025 and permitted him to enter the family apartment around mid-year, when the rest of the family was on vacation.

The man’s partner—who is not the child’s mother—also faces charges, including failure to report abuse. However, she has denied all accusations.

International

Europe Faces Jet Fuel Shortage Risk Amid Hormuz Disruption

The Airports Council International Europe has warned of a potential “systemic shortage” of jet fuel if maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is not restored within the next three weeks, according to a letter reviewed by AFP on Friday.

In the document, addressed to the European Commission and first reported by the Financial Times, the European airport lobby stated that a “systemic jet fuel shortage will become a reality” in the European Union unless stable and significant transit through the strait resumes soon.

The association, which represents around 600 airports across 50 countries, called on Brussels to implement “urgent monitoring of fuel availability and supply” over the next six months.

Jet fuel prices have surged amid the conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy transport.

The conflict escalated on February 28 following joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

In response, Tehran imposed several countermeasures, including blocking maritime traffic through the strait, a route through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil, jet fuel, and gas supply passes.