Tropical activity will cut the United States a big break with Hurricane Rafael taking a track that will spare the central Gulf region from flooding rain and damaging winds. Also, firefighters are rescuing people from homes engulfed in flames as they battle a wildfire moving at a dangerously fast speed in a dense suburban neighborhood northwest of Los Angeles. AccuWeather meteorologists say that some rain is coming to the Northeast amid a dry streak that has increased the risk of wildfires and caused streams and reservoirs to drop to low levels.

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