• How dual threats of heat and COVID-19 exacerbate threats to vulnerable communities

    How dual threats of heat and COVID-19 exacerbate threats to vulnerable communities

    Jul 30, 2020 11:08 PM EDT

    ... by the American Meteorological Society found that without global warming due to human activity, parts of the world would have avoided disasters such as severe wildfires, drought and high levels of winter rainfall. Emergency managers are well aware of the compounding threats that communities are facing amid the pandemic. “We ...

  • Getting coronavirus updates in Spanish is mixed bag in U.S.

    Getting coronavirus updates in Spanish is mixed bag in U.S.

    Mar 18, 2020 06:55 PM EDT

    ... community engagement task force to address things like language barriers. And while government officials have had to communicate in other languages before, such as during wildfires, the virus outbreak is unprecedented, she said. “Our messaging isn’t effective if people can’t understand it," Meehan said. In the California wine ...

  • 2 years later, U.S. island territories still hurting from Hurricanes Irma and Maria

    2 years later, U.S. island territories still hurting from Hurricanes Irma and Maria

    Dec 26, 2019 11:45 PM EDT

    ... Puerto Rico or to the U.S. Virgin Islands. It's a lot -- easy to put a on a truck and get stuff down to Texas, for example, than it is to go to islands. Is any of that, the logistical hurdles, does any of that feed what you described ...

  • Despite extreme weather and surging activism, 2019 saw political paralysis on climate

    Despite extreme weather and surging activism, 2019 saw political paralysis on climate

    Dec 25, 2019 11:45 PM EDT

    ... 18, the country logged its hottest day on record, a national average high of 107.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Along with the heat came hundreds of wildfires fueled by drought-parched brush. Wildfires once again ravaged California this year. A quarter million acres burned. In September, the remnants of Tropical Storm ...

  • News Wrap: Appeals court strikes down ACA individual mandate

    News Wrap: Appeals court strikes down ACA individual mandate

    Dec 18, 2019 11:45 PM EDT

    ... today, but it stopped short of throwing out the entire law. The three-judge panel in New Orleans today agreed with a lower court in Texas that the individual mandate to buy health insurance is unconstitutional. Congress had already gutted that provision. The rest of the law goes back to ...

  • News Wrap: October jobs numbers exceed expectations, despite GM strike

    News Wrap: October jobs numbers exceed expectations, despite GM strike

    Nov 01, 2019 10:55 PM EDT

    In our news wrap Friday, the U.S. turned in better-than-expected October economic numbers. The Labor Department reports that employers added a net 128,000 jobs last month, and figures for August and September were revised upward. Also, former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke announced he is ending ...

  • Drought conditions worsen across 14 southern U.S. states

    Drought conditions worsen across 14 southern U.S. states

    Oct 03, 2019 05:25 PM EDT

    ... now in the midst of what’s being called a “flash drought” that’s cracking farm soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires, scientists said Thursday. The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday shows extreme drought conditions in parts of Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South ...

  • News Wrap: Trump defends authorizing Barr to release classified information

    News Wrap: Trump defends authorizing Barr to release classified information

    May 24, 2019 10:50 PM EDT

    ... and floods. The Senate passed it yesterday, after stripping out border security money, but President Trump said that he would sign it anyway. Today, however, Texas Republican Chip Roy blocked a final vote in the House, with most lawmakers already gone for Memorial Day. Rep. Chip Roy, (R)-Texas: If ...

  • House approves $19 billion disaster aid bill over Trump opposition

    House approves $19 billion disaster aid bill over Trump opposition

    May 10, 2019 05:39 PM EDT

    ... and some Republicans want to add Trump's border request to the measure. "We should provide much needed relief to communities recovering from hurricanes, floods, wildfires and tornadoes. But we cannot turn our backs on a border crisis that is growing worse by the day," said top Appropriations Committee Republican ...

  • O'Rourke unveils $5 trillion plan to combat climate change

    O'Rourke unveils $5 trillion plan to combat climate change

    Apr 29, 2019 01:31 PM EDT

    The announcement comes amid O'Rourke's first visit as a presidential candidate to California, a state that's experiencing more destructive and deadlier wildfires due in part to climate change. A blaze last summer caused a partial shutdown of Yosemite, and O'Rourke on Sunday met privately with firefighters ...