Good morning, Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Hurricane Michael Upgrade to Category 3
Hurricane Michael churned in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, upgrading to a Category 3 storm, and is likely to make landfall as a Category 4 storm with a dangerous storm surge of up to 12 feet, officials said.
According to CNN, Michael was expected to intensify overnight and draw closer to a Category 4 in strength when it makes landfall Wednesday afternoon near the Panhandle, the National Weather Service said.
#HurricaneMichael isn't heading to any one town...
There are warnings for more than 300 miles of coastline. It's forecast to be a large and dangerous hurricane at landfall.
✔️Life-threatening storm surge
✔️Damaging winds
✔️Life-threatening flash floodinghttps://t.co/VyWINDk3xPpic.twitter.com/nsHYkBjy2r— NWS (@NWS) October 9, 2018
The hurricane is threatening dangerous storm surges to low-lying areas that are ill-equipped to handle it.
Officials have residents to evacuate the area now. If the storm makes landfall as a Category 2 or higher, it will become the strongest storm to make landfall in the United States this year.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott called Michael a “monstrous storm” that could bring “total devastation.”
“Hurricane Michael is forecast to be the most destructive storm to hit the Florida Panhandle in decades,” Scott said warned at a news conference on Tuesday. “You cannot hide from storm surge, so get out if an evacuation is ordered.”
“We can rebuild your house, but we cannot rebuild your life,” Scott warned.
Hurricane Michael will be here TONIGHT. This is your LAST CHANCE to get prepared for this monstrous and deadly storm. The state is not taking this storm lightly and neither should any family.
— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) October 9, 2018
On Tuesday night, Michael had sustained maximum winds of 120 mph, and gusts of up to 150 mph. According to the hurricane center's scale, a Category 3 storm has sustained winds of 111 mph to 129 mph. A Category 4 storm can have sustained winds of over 130 mph.
The storm is forecast to make landfall near Panama City, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon. By Thursday morning, Michael will move across Georgia and into South Carolina.
Besides the dangerous storm surge, residents should also prepare for torrential rain and major flooding, Scott said, with 4 to 8 inches of rain expected, and some areas even receiving as much as 12 inches.
According to CNN, winds of tropic storm force will be felt in the area starting as early Wednesday. Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders have already been issued in at least 22 counties on the Florida Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane Michael.
Kanye West to Meet With Trump
Kanye West is set to visit the White House on Thursday where he will meet with President Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
“Kanye West is coming to the White House to have lunch with President Trump and he will also meet with Jared Kushner,” Sanders said in a statement Tuesday. “Topics of discussions will include manufacturing resurgence in America, prison reform, how to prevent gang violence, and what can be done to reduce violence in Chicago.”
It’s unclear if West’s visit to the White House will be open to the press.
West has faced backlash over the past few months after announcing his support of Trump, including in a recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance where the rapper said that cast members “bullied” him, ABC News reports.
“They bullied me backstage. They said, ‘Don’t go out there with that hat on,’” West said of his red ‘Make America Great Again’ cap. “They bullied me backstage. They bullied me. And then they say I’m in a sunken place.”
Trump later tweeted his support for West.
Like many, I don’t watch Saturday Night Live (even though I past hosted it) - no longer funny, no talent or charm. It is just a political ad for the Dems. Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told “no”), was great. He’s leading the charge!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2018
West deleted his Twitter and Instagram accounts following the inundation of criticism after his “SNL” appearance, and for a tweet afterward in which he called for the abolishment of the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery in the United States.
The president has touted West’s support as evidence that his message is resonating with the African American community, including at a recent political rally in Topeka, Kansas.
“It’s habit because for a hundred years, African-Americans have gone with Democrats but now they're changing and they’re changing fast and they're coming. Thank you, Kanye West,” Trump said.
1,500 Noncitizens May Have Accidentally Been Registered to Vote in CA DMV Error
More than a thousand non-citizens may have been accidentally registered to vote in California in a processing error, according to officials.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) admitted the mistake on Monday, which caused as many as 1,500 noncitizens to be registered to vote in the state.
According to ABC News, the DMV was alerted about the mistake when Randall Marquis, a Canadian citizen and legal permanent resident in the U.S., went to The Los Angeles Times to tell them about receiving a piece of mail from the DMV saying he was registered to vote.
“I got this postcard thing, this little piece of cardboard, and it said, ‘Congratulations, you're registered to vote,’” Marquis told Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s the stupidest thing I've ever heard,’ and I threw it out.”
This is the second voter registration error in the state in recent months. The DMV notified Secretary of State Alex Padilla in early September that approximately 23,000 Californians had their voter registrations handled incorrectly, including being assigned to the wrong political party.
“An extensive external audit by our departments found that approximately 1,500 customers may have been registered to vote in error,” the letter from the DMV to Padilla read. “This error has been corrected and is separate from the processing error we notified you about in writing on September 5.”
“This error occurred when DMV technicians processed customer requests at field offices to change voter eligibility responses on driver license applications,” the letter says. “Due to the order in which the change was processed, the customer's initial responses were retained instead of the correct and revised responses.”
“We have worked quickly with the Department of Technology to correct these errors and have also updated the programming and added additional safeguards to improve this process,” DMV Director Jean Shiomoto said in a statement to Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV.
The DMV specified that none of the impacted individual were undocumented immigrants.
What to look out for…
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