Disasters

"A legacy of mining means that toxic metals could be carried along plumes of smoke." 

"Recent fixes to long-standing problems at the Federal Emergency Management Agency are in jeopardy as the Trump administration slashes programs and cuts staff, emergency experts warn."

"Before the remnants of Hurricane Helene swamped this town, the Super 8 Motel, wedged between a highway and the Swannanoa River, provided affordable short and long-term housing for dozens of people who couldn't find affordable housing elsewhere."

"As severe storms once again soak, twist and pelt the nation’s midsection, a team of dozens of scientists is driving into them to study one of the nation’s costliest but least-appreciated weather dangers: Hail."

"The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) today announced that the agency is seeking public comment on two Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to reduce regulatory burdens imposed on the energy sector."

"Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a congressional committee that the US National Hurricane Center was fully staffed even though key positions are going unfilled as hurricane season begins."

"Many fires burning across Canada, forcing evacuations and threatening air quality in the United States, cannot simply be put out, authorities and experts say." 

"“Sunny day” flooding is now a thing down the shore, where the tides have risen at twice the global average. Sooner or later, “we’re not going to be able to protect everything everywhere,” one state official says." 

"An independent agency that investigates chemical disasters — including fatal fires and explosions at chemical plants and oil refineries nationwide — would shutter by October 2026 under little-noticed language in White House budget documents released Friday."