For the start of Atlantic hurricane season on June 1, scholars explain weather forecasting, evacuation orders, inland flooding risks and how social ties influence decisions to stay or flee.
Damage from Hurricane Michael and other storms may lead to higher insurance premiums.
Reuters/Terray Sylvester
Convincing people to see and appreciate the threats posed by climate change is one of the great challenges of our day. Insurers may be able to succeed where scientists and educators have failed.
Hog farm buildings are inundated with floodwater from Hurricane Florence near Trenton, N.C., in September 2018.
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Cheap fossil fuels contort the global economy in ways that have systematically harmed some and benefited others. Justice demands that those of us who have benefited take responsibility.
An inch-long bloodsucker on the hunt for a meal.
Ben Seese/Flickr
Yes, giant mosquitoes are a thing. They’re specialized to wait out the dry times only to emerge from their eggs when high water provides the perfect larval environment.
A street sign sticks up from floodwaters after Hurricane Florence in Nichols, South Carolina, September 21, 2018.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Hurricanes frequently move inland in the southeast US, causing widespread river flooding, but emergency plans focus on protecting people in coastal communities.
A sign posted in New Bern, North Carolina after Hurricane Florence.
AP Photo/Gary D Robertson
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.
Floodwaters surround farm equipment in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence near Trenton, N.C., on Sept. 16, 2018.
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Donald Trump claims his administration has carried out an “all-out effort” in preparing for the effects of climate change. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Environmental regulations generally improve communities’ preparedness and resilience during disasters.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
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.
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.
President Donald Trump tosses paper towels into a crowd at Calvary Chapel in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico in October 2017 following Hurricane Maria. Trump congratulated Puerto Rico for escaping the higher death toll of “a real catastrophe like Katrina.” A new study suggests almost 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
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.
A sunny day evacuation days before Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina.
AP Photo/Tom Copeland
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.
Florida’s Turkey Point Nuclear Plant shut down 12 hours before Hurricane Andrew made landfall in 1992.
AP Photo/Phil Sandlin
Lessons learned from Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the Fukushima disaster in 2011 have changed how utilities brace for big storms.
Rising tides move closer to the dunes in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Sept. 13, 2018, as Hurricane Florence approaches the east coast.
AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Don’t believe the skeptics or the conspiracy theorists: Weather forecasters can’t slant hurricane warnings to make political points.
Roberto Clemente State Park employees in New York, with donated bottled water bottles bound for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
AP Photo/Julie Jacobson
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.
Farm near Seven Springs, North Carolina, surrounded by water on Oct. 25, 1999, nearly six weeks after Hurricane Floyd.
AP Photo/Karen Tam
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.
High tides, whipped in by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, shattered boats and buildings in Swansboro, N.C.
AP Photo, File
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.