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Natural disasters – Análisis y Comentarios

Inmate fire crews work alongside professional fire crews and do the same work. But they receive little, if any, pay. David McNew/AFP via Getty Images

Rural counties increasingly rely on prisons to provide firefighters and EMTs who work for free, but the inmates have little protection or future job prospects

Georgia’s inmate fire crews respond to hundreds of calls in surrounding counties every year. Without them, there might not be a responder, but they aren’t universally loved – and they don’t get paid.
Utilities can turn off power to reduce the risk that their equipment could spark wildfires during extreme weather events. Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images

Colorado is latest state to try turning off the electrical grid to prevent wildfires − a complex, technical operation pioneered in California

Turning off power is a last-ditch strategy for utilities to reduce the risk that their systems could spark wildfires. In most states, deciding whether to take that step is up to utilities.
Crews clear lots of destroyed homes in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., in February 2022, four months after Hurricane Ian. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Climate change is a fiscal disaster for local governments − our study shows how it’s testing communities in Florida

A new study of Florida’s fiscal vulnerability to climate change finds that flooding directly threatens many local tax bases.