Government agencies spend millions of dollars yearly to buy and demolish homes sited in floodplains. But the program is slow, cumbersome and doesn’t always help those who need it most.
Hurricanes frequently move inland in the southeast US, causing widespread river flooding, but emergency plans focus on protecting people in coastal communities.
The urge to provide disaster aid is borne out of the best characteristics of humanity. But it’s important to consider when to donate to disaster survivors, along with what and to whom to give.
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, forever changing the lives of the children who survived. Their stories can help Puerto Rico identify and aid the kids most traumatized by Hurricane Maria.
The damage to coal ash sites from Hurricane Florence demonstrates how a community’s vulnerability to natural disasters is closely linked to how stringent environmental regulations are.
It’s been one year since a Category 4 storm turned Puerto Rico into a disaster zone. Today, nearly every pillar of society — including the economy, health care and schools — remains hobbled.
The billions of dollars worth of aid dispatched every year to alleviate the suffering and damage after earthquakes and hurricanes would do more good if it didn’t get clumped up.
As Trump fumes about the Hurricane Maria death toll, it’s clear that politics and political considerations often play an important role in how death toll estimates are communicated to the public.
Widespread flooding in North Carolina from Hurricane Florence shows the need for better advance planning in inland areas of the south and mid-Atlantic, especially near rivers.
Many factors can influence people to evacuate or stay in place when disasters loom. Research using Facebook posts suggests that people with broad social networks are more apt to get moving.
Hurricanes in the southern US have caused widespread damage inland in recent decades, mainly through river flooding. But evacuations and stormproofing focus almost entirely on keeping people safe on the coasts.
As Hurricane Florence is expected to pound the Carolinas with significant flooding, an insurance expert explains how the program designed to help the millions affected recover.