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As coastal areas have become far better at warning and evacuating people when hurricanes approach, inland communities too often remain ill prepared, with devastating results: In recent years, five times as many people died in freshwater drownings due to hurricanes’ extreme rainfall than from coastal storm surges in the continental U.S. — a dramatic reversal from a decade earlier.

This pattern held true for last fall’s Hurricane Helene, which caused more inland deaths than any hurricane in recorded history. ProPubilica journalists Jennifer Berry Hawes, Mollie Simon and Cassandra Garibay spent months reporting on Yancey County, North Carolina, a place that suffered the worst per capita loss of life. Hawes’ recent feature story dives into three families’ experiences of incredible trauma and loss. In an accompanying piece, the team shares takeaways to know as hurricane season begins again. 

The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.

But what do the courts say? ProPublica’s Molly Redden explains.