Disasters

"Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement for a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio, but local residents worry the money won’t go very far because their potential health needs down the road may be tremendous."

"Colombia's capital Bogota will start rationing water this week to alleviate droughts wrought by the El Nino weather pattern, which has exacerbated the Andean country's dry season and caused reservoir levels to fall, Mayor Carlos Galan said on Monday."

"An unprecedented leap of 38.5C in the coldest place on Earth is a harbinger of a disaster for humans and the local ecosystem".

"Environmental advocates threaten to sue within weeks if Charleston Water does not present a plan to prevent hundreds of wastewater overflows."

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency revoked the discount it gave to 125,000 property owners in Lee County who have FEMA flood insurance after warning local officials about unsafe rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ian in 2022."

"Buckle up and hunker down: An "extremely active" hurricane season is likely, top forecasters from Colorado State University announced Thursday. In fact, the forecast includes the highest number of hurricanes ever predicted in an April forecast by Colorado State since the team began issuing predictions in 1995."

"The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a final rule Tuesday increasing the minimum size for train crews to two people, a longtime ask for rail worker unions, which nearly led to a strike in 2022."

"Delicately and with intense concentration, Zanyiwe Ncube poured her small share of precious golden cooking oil into a plastic bottle at a food aid distribution site deep in rural Zimbabwe." "They’re aiming to help some of the 2.7 million people in rural Zimbabwe threatened with hunger because of the drought that has enveloped large parts of southern Africa since late 2023."

"Extreme flooding and droughts may be the new norm for the Amazon, challenging its people and ecosystems."

"Surveying the stripped landscape of her farm - dotted with pools of cyanide-tainted, tea coloured waste water left by illegal gold miners - is enough to make Janet Gyamfi break down. Only last year, the 27-hectare plot in western Ghana was covered with nearly 6,000 cocoa trees. Today, less than a dozen remain."