The drilling is scheduled to start this month in waters off the Bahamas, just 150 miles from the Florida coast. It's raising alarms among environmental groups and businesses that rely on tourism.
When Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas last year, it was the strongest ever to devastate the Caribbean country. Now, meteorologists are trying to learn why some of their forecast models fell short.
Just over a month after Hurricane Dorian slammed into the northern Bahamas, parts of the island nation are still in ruins, thousands remain displaced and rebuilding efforts have only just begun.
"The number of people registered missing with the Bahamas government is going down daily," a spokesman for NEMA told reporters, adding that many could be unaccounted for in shelters.
P.J. Thomas was an experienced boat captain and harbor pilot who guided some of the world's largest cruise ships to the dock. During the hurricane, he died saving his wife.
"Cash is king. For us to rebuild these communities, we need funds," the president of Rotary International says. The Bahamas' government has also posted a list of desperately needed items.
"Anywhere we could put a warehouse has been destroyed by floodwaters and may not be safe for storing supplies," one aid group says of the widespread destruction brought by Hurricane Dorian.
After Hurricane Dorian devastated two islands in the northern Bahamas, people are debating whether to leave their homes. On hard-hit Abaco Island, people are discovering it's not a clear-cut decision.
Dorian is roughly 105 miles off the shore of Fort Pierce, Fla. It has maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. Officials in the Bahamas say there are at least five storm-related deaths.
The storm has slowed as it passes over the Bahamas, battering the islands. It's expected to move west and north, grazing Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, but the track is less solid than usual.
With sustained winds of 185 mph, Dorian is hitting the Bahamas as "the strongest hurricane in modern records" to hit the archipelago, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded a state of emergency to include all of the state's 67 counties, citing the storm's "uncertain path." Georgia has made a similar declaration for a dozen counties.
"There is an increasing likelihood of life-threatening storm surge along portions of the Florida east coast" on Labor Day weekend, the National Hurricane Center says.
The National Transportation Safety Board has released a data recorder transcript from the cargo ship El Faro, which sank last year after it sailed into a hurricane. All 33 people on board died.
Hurricane Matthew drowned and battered the island nation on Tuesday. At least 283 people died and, more than 48 hours after the storm made landfall, many of the worst hit areas are still inaccessible.
The advisory from the Caribbean country comes after two recent high-profile police shootings of black men. And it's not the only one. Two Middle Eastern countries have issued similar alerts recently.
The hurricane currently over the Bahamas has maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. Forecasts are unclear whether it will hit the U.S. East Coast in the next few days or stay out to sea.
