The popular Indonesian rock band Seventeen was performing on a stage at the edge of Tanjung Lesung beach in West Java Saturday night when the waves came crashing down and swept them away. Three members of the band , the road manager and a crew member died. Only the lead vocalist, Riefian Fajarsyah, survived.

Also missing and now confirmed dead: Riefian's wife, 25 year old actress Dylan Sahara. He posts this message to her on Instagram.

Here is a video showing how fast it happened.

Hurricane Michael is scheduled to make landfall this afternoon. Last night it gathered strength and was designated a Category 4 storm. CBS reported (no link due to autoplay video):

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) says Hurricane Michael is packing even more punch: It strengthened into a Category 4 storm early Wednesday, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. According to the NHC's latest advisory, Michael could produce a life-threatening storm surge as high as 13 feet and dump as much as a foot of rain in some places.

Florida, Alabama and Georgia are in states of emergency. 375,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. [More...]

Hurricane Florence is here. It is brutal, and it's just getting started.

The outer bands of Hurricane Florence, a large and dangerous Category 2 storm, landed on the North Carolina coast Thursday morning. Winds were already gusting to 70 mph and sea water was surging ashore along the Outer Banks, washing over roads. It marks the beginning of a prolonged assault from wind and water, which — by the time it’s over — is likely to bring devastating damage and flooding to millions of people in the Southeast.

The Weather Channel has incredible video of the waves already crashing into homes.

Last night I read the waves could be taller than an 8 story building.

Here's a live video from the shores of Myrtle Beach, S.C. [More...]

With the disastrous fires and high winds occurring this week in California, you don't need a calendar to know it's October -- season of the Santa Ana winds. I've been writing about them here for 10 years. From my post in 2007:

The Southern California fires are all over the news. Every time I see hear the words "the Santa Ana winds" I start thinking about writer Joan Didion (who just happens to be my favorite author) and how she captured the phenomenon with such great imagery in Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1968), her book about Haight Ashbury during the summer of 1967.

To give you a flavor, I've tracked down some of what she wrote and quote below:

Hurricane Nate is on track to make landfall this evening.

The storm is now packing maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. It is moving speedily to the north at 26 mph.

Hurricane warnings are in place from Grand Isle, La., to the Alabama border with Florida. This includes the city of New Orleans, which has prompted the mayor of the Crescent City to issue mandatory evacuations for parts of the area.

What a brutal year for hurricanes. Here is the 10:00 am forecast.

Thousands of shipping containers are in stand-still mode in Puerto Rico, preventing their contents with much needed supplies and food from reaching the people.

Nearly 100 percent of the island remains without power, and about 91 percent of cell sites are out of service, according to the most recent Department of Energy and FCC reports.

More on the distribution problems from NPR here. They can't distribute fuel. [More...]

Hurricane Maria did not spare Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Maria churned across Puerto Rico Wednesday as the most powerful storm to strike the island in more than 80 years, knocking out power and water to nearly the entire population and leaving people huddled in buildings to ride out powerhouse winds that have already left death and devastation across the Caribbean.

"On the forecast track, [Maria] would be the most destructive hurricane in Puerto Rico history," tweeted Eric Blake, a forecaster at the Hurricane Center.

The island is completely without electricity now. The New York Times has more.

There are flash flood warnings now for large parts of Puerto Rico. [More...]

More than 200 bodies have been pulled from the rubble of Mexico City. The photos and videos from Spanish station news last night were horrifying. A school collapsed with children inside.

“There are around 600 children at the school,” said Elena Villaseñor, 44, a neighbor who was managing the notices. “We don’t know how many children are still inside. They were in classes. The school was full.”

[More...]

Hurricane Maria hit Dominica causing widespread devastation.

The Caribbean island nation of Dominica sustained “mind boggling” damage from Hurricane Maria, its prime minister said Tuesday, after the storm hit with maximum sustained winds of nearly 160 miles per hour that ripped roofs off buildings, including his own home.

The storm has regained Category 5 strength and appears to be headed for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

(Thanks to commenters for correcting me that Dominica is not the Dominican Republic. I've changed it.)

One of my favorite songs mentioning hurricanes -- from Zachary Richard's 1992 Snake Bite Love album:

I’ve been waiting here since this morning,
I’ll wait as long as it will take.
Down in the old town of the city of New Orleans,
With my heart so heavy it might break.

Last night they put up a hurricane warning,
Last night you came into my room.
Around midnight the rain started falling,
I was holding on to you.

Midnight ET: It looks like Miami and Palm Beach were spared a direct hit, but Irma should reach Naples and Fort Myers sometime Sunday. Tampa is in big trouble and the Keys are expected to get hammered at daybreak when Irma makes land contact. Here is the 11 pm ET advisory from the National Weather Service. [More...]

Sending good thoughts to those in the Caribbean, who are about to experience the force of Hurricane Irma.

Category 5 Hurricane Irma has become one of the strongest storms recorded in the Atlantic, and is threatening to slam into Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with "potentially catastrophic" force on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said.

Antigua and Barbuda are less than 100 miles from the path of the storm.[More...]

The 4 am update from the National Hurricane Center:

WESTERN EDGE OF MATTHEW'S EYEWALL APPROACHING CAPE CANAVERAL...

During the past hour, a sustained wind of 46 mph (74 km/h) and a gust of 70 mph (113 km/h) were reported at Melbourne, Florida, while a gust of 45 mph (73 km/h) was reported at Orlando, Florida.

Miami missed the brunt of Matthew, which has been downgraded to a Category 3 Storm. Even so, the danger from the storm is still very real and serious. [More...]