U.S. Geological Survey

President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico has left residents along the Gulf Coast sharply divided. Some say it awakens their pride in the U.S. while others suggest it’s a silly distraction.The order, which Trump signed Monday night, his first day in office, directs the secretary of the Interior Department to take all the needed steps to change the name to “Gulf of America” within 30 days.The order says in part that the Gulf plays “a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy, and in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that it officially be renamed the Gulf of America.”

Hurricane Helene dropped an unheard-of 40 trillion gallons of water, creating a water quality and quantity crisis on the ground in inland states affected by the Category 4 storm that made landfall in Florida. Part One of WGCU's Water Quality Report: Hurricane Helene Special Edtion

What to do with perfectly fine beach sand — once it's been cleared that it's really perfectly fine — depends on whom you talk to, and who pays

With little time to spare scientists with the USGS attached wave sensors on anything the agency thought might be standing after Hurricane Helene roared through

The U.S Geological Service forecast that soon-to-be Huricane Helene is so strong it will send waves overtopping the beaches and dunes everywhere on Florida's Gulf Coast leading to a "worst-case scenario"