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Many Homes Still Without Roofs in Puerto Rico, 2 Years After María
When Doña Milagros Matos Marquez and her husband Don Cruz Marquez received the news that Hurricane María was approaching Trujillo Alto in Puerto Rico, they expected some rain and maybe a little bit of wind, like with previous storms. Instead María blew their roof off once the storm made landfall exactly two years ago on Friday. In the months after...
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Above-Ground Power Lines Grow in Risk as Climate Changes
Trees toppling onto above-ground power lines spark wildfires, more than 1,000 of them in the last decade in California alone. The wires snap in blizzards and hurricanes, causing dayslong outages. Everywhere, power poles topple in all kinds of disasters, blocking escape routes.
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Camp Fire Tops 2018 List of Costliest Disasters in the World
German insurance company Munich Re says the Northern California wildfire that killed dozens of people and burned down the town of Paradise was the world’s costliest single natural disaster in 2018.
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Towns Split as Home Buyouts Help People Move on After Floods
Tammy Kilgore raised the giant claw of a John Deere excavator high in the air, then slammed it down on the roof the house where she had spent nearly her entire adult life. The shingles crunched, but not much else. So she did it again, and again — each time taking a bigger bite with the mouth-like claw, until the...
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New Federal Grant Program Allots $10M for Dams in 26 states
Built for irrigation in 1884, Smith Reservoir in Colorado no longer can hold as much water as it once did.
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Gov. Newsom Declares Statewide Emergency as Wildfires Drive 200K People From Homes
California’s governor declared a statewide emergency with nearly 200,000 people ordered to flee their homes because of wildfires fueled by historic winds, while millions were without electricity after the largest utility cut power in some areas as a precaution to prevent other fires. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that officials are deploying “every resource available” to respond to...
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California Gets FEMA Grant for Cost of Fighting Kincade Fire
California has received a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to recover 75 percent of the eligible costs of fighting the Kincade Fire near Geyserville in Sonoma County, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said.
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California Earthquakes: What to Do Before, During and After the Shaking
No matter where you live in California, there is a risk of considerable damage due to an earthquake. Here is what you need to know before during and after the rumbling.
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Wealthy Counties Get Many FEMA Buyouts of Flood-Prone Homes, Study Finds
FEMA buys flood-prone homes more often in wealthy, populous counties than in poor, rural areas, even though lower-income rural areas may be more likely to flood frequently, a new study found. The reason is probably that better-off local governments have the resources to apply for and administer the programs — and that could keep many of the people who most...
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What to Have Ready For Your Pet When Natural Disaster Strikes
During the recent fires and earthquakes in SoCal, the Little Angels Project supported lifesaving efforts to animals injured or abandoned. Now they are partnering with VEMA to launch disaster & first aid kits for pets.
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Trump Wants Acting FEMA Head to Have Job Permanently
President Donald Trump wants Pete Gaynor, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting administrator, to have the job permanently. Trump says in a statement Thursday that he intends to nominate Gaynor to be the permanent head of the government’s disaster response agency. Gaynor has filled the role on an acting basis since February, when Brock Long stepped down over questions about...
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Bay Area Crews Deployed to Aid in Hurricane Dorian Response in Carolinas
Rescue crews out of Menlo Park and Oakland were among several California search and rescue teams sent to the southern Atlantic Coast on Tuesday to aid in the response to Hurricane Dorian.
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Bay Area Crews Deployed to Aid in Hurricane Dorian Response
Rescue crews out of Menlo Park and Oakland were among several California search and rescue teams sent to the southern Atlanic Coast on Tuesday to aid in the response to Hurricane Dorian. Terry NcSweeney reports.
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Count on Hurricanes to Spark Storms of Online Misinformation
The names of hurricanes may change, but one thing seems to stay the same: Misinformation spreads quickly during these dangerous storms.
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Texas Gov. Abbott Stresses Need to Find Solutions to Mass Shootings
Texas Governor Greg Abbott discusses the need to find ways to stop mass shootings while protecting second amendment rights.
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Trump Says He'll Work With Congress to Stop Mass Shootings
President Donald Trump expressed a commitment Sunday, hours after the latest deadly mass shooting, to work with a divided Congress to “stop the menace of mass attacks.” He said any measures must satisfy the competing goals of protecting public safety and the constitutional right to gun ownership. Trump spoke shortly after the death toll in Saturday’s rampage in West Texas...
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Trump Officials Defend Decision to Send FEMA Funds to ICE Ahead of Hurricane Dorian
Trump administration officials said Sunday that transferring $155 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund to Immigration and Customs Enforcement won’t affect the federal government’s ability to respond to Hurricane Dorian, a massive storm headed for the country’s east coast. As NBC News reported last week, the Department of Homeland Security notified Congress in July that to...
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Evacuations Begin in Bahamas as Category 4 Dorian Bears Down
Hurricane Dorian bore down on the northern Bahamas on Saturday with howling winds, surging seas and a threat of torrential rains, forcing some evacuations and hotel closures ahead of the fierce Category 4 storm. Forecasters expected Dorian, packing 150 mph winds, to hit the northwestern Bahamas on Sunday before heading near Florida and then skirting along or off the U.S....
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Dorian Upgrades to Category 2, Could Become Category 4 Hurricane as It Heads for Florida
Florida residents picked the shelves clean of bottled water and lined up at gas stations Thursday as an increasingly menacing-looking Hurricane Dorian threatened to broadside the state over Labor Day weekend. Leaving lighter-than-expected damage in its wake in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the second hurricane of the 2019 season swirled toward the U.S., with forecasters warning it will...
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Vegas Police Release Report on Lessons From 2017 Massacre
Las Vegas police learned from the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history to secure high-rise buildings overseeing open-air crowds and train more officers with rifles to stop a shooter in an elevated position, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Wednesday. Among 93 recommendations in a newly released department “after-action review” are requirements to plan ahead with neighboring police, fire,...