Hurricane Irene

Looking for a quick, clear look at where Hurricane Irene is heading? Check Storm Pulse . Meanwhile, here are the latest links to travel advisories from various businesses: Delta flight updates . United flight updates . Southwest travel center . JetBlue travel alerts . American Airlines travel alerts . Cruise news . Amtrak storm updates . Greyhound cancellations ...

Hurricane Sandy has forced many cultural institutions in the Mid-Atlantic region to close their doors and cancel performances. In New York, Broadway shows that perform on Mondays have canceled their scheduled evening performances. That includes "Annie," "Chicago," "Evita," "Mamma Mia!," "Newsies," "Phantom of the Opera," "Rock of Ages" and "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. " The Metropolitan Opera has canceled its Monday evening performance of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro. " [ Updated 2:45 p.m. Monday: All Broadway shows have cancelled their Tuesday performances as well.]

As FEMA's budget is under new strain in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, a top House Republican maintained that any new funds allocated for federal disaster relief must be offset by budget cuts elsewhere. Speaking on Fox News Channel, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a natural disaster like Hurricane Irene is an "appropriate instance" for a federal role, but that the government can't go deeper into debt to pay for unexpected outlays. "We will find the money if there is a need for additional monies," he said.

Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home-improvement chain, reported third-quarter earnings that got a boost from homeowners preparing for and picking up after Hurricane Irene. For the three months ended Oct. 30, the Atlanta company said its net income jumped 12% to $934 million, or 60 cents a share, from $834 million, or 51 cents, a year earlier. The report Tuesday came a day after its closest competitor, Lowe's Cos., showed a plunge in earnings. Profit at the North Carolina company dropped 44.3% year over year to $225 million, with earnings per share down to 18 cents from 29 cents.

If a powerful hurricane raked New York City , it could destroy the region's economy by causing more than $168 billion in damage. And that doesn't include the potential death toll. That's the assessment in a report released Thursday by CoreLogic, an analytics firm that evaluated the threat that hurricanes pose to the East Coast. The firm's annual Storm Surge Report pinpoints the vulnerabilities of single-family homes to storm-surge damage along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

Storm-weary North Carolina residents nervously watched rivers rising toward flood stage on Monday in the wake of Hurricane Irene, the third hurricane to target the state since August. Irene, which left 15 people dead as it ripped through Cuba, the Bahamas and Florida, dumped nearly a foot of rain on parts of the state still struggling to recover from devastating floods caused by Hurricane Floyd last month.

Airlines have canceled more than 7,400 flights as Hurricane Sandy nears major airports along the East Coast. About 1,200 flights were scratched for Sunday and more than 5,500 were canceled for Monday as airlines scrambled to prepare for a potentially severe storm. An additional 640 flights were dropped for Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com, an airline information service. Many of the cancellations involved flights coming or going to New York area airports, such as Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy.

NEW YORK - East Coast residents prepared Saturday for the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy, which forecasters expect to make landfall as soon as Monday night and then merge with a sprawling winter storm to create weather havoc for tens of millions of people across one-third of the nation. From Maine to the Carolinas, federal and state officials urged residents and businesses to prepare for the worst - drenching rain, flooding, high winds, highs seas, snow and widespread power outages.

Six weeks after Hurricane Irene severed the only road to Hatteras Island, North Carolina's long struggle to reconnect the barrier island's 3,300 stranded residents to the mainland is almost over. The badly battered Highway 12 is finally due to reopen early this week. The reopening has required much more than just fixing a road. Highway 12, a slender ribbon of asphalt, is built on shifting sand. The island it serves refuses to stay in one place, buffeted by powerful tides and punishing storms.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium  has another young great white shark on exhibit . It was found Aug. 18 off  Marina del Rey.  The aquarium says it hopes this one will remain on exhibit for several months before returning it to the sea . . . . Coronado holds a free art walk Sept 17-18 at the ferry landing and at Spreckels Park, part of San Diego's Arts Month   . . . . Be sure to top off that rental car. USA Today reports that ...