Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated communities in the southern U.S., especially North Carolina, where hundreds died, and Florida. While forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, had predicted an above-average hurricane season, the intensity of these two storms caught the public by surprise. Do we need a new way of categorizing storms so people are better prepared? And what's next for the six weeks left in hurricane season? Ghassan Alaka, Director of the Hurricane Research Division at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab in Miami, joins The Excerpt to respond to these and other pressing questions on this catastrophic hurricane season.

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