Tag Archives: natural disasters

The Associated Press reports: Two California communities north of San Francisco were accessible only by boat Wednesday after a rain-swollen river overflowed its banks and inundated low-lying areas around them overnight, authorities said. One of them, the small city of Guerneville, “is officially an island,” the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. A short time later, an official …

USA Today reports: Residents in Tennessee and Georgia got a big surprise Wednesday morning: the rumblings of an earthquake. A magnitude 4.4 earthquake was recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey at around 4:14 a.m. ET, with its epicenter near Decatur, Tenn., which is roughly more than 150 miles from Nashville. An aftershock was felt about 13 minutes later with a …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump expressed his support for Alaskans affected by an earthquake on Friday, telling them to listen to emergency response personnel and calling the earthquake a “big one.” Trump has a history of comments after natural disasters that many have characterized as tone deaf or just plain weird. After Hurricane Maria, Trump and San Juan Mayor Carmen …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Sarah Palin and her family are safe following two intense earthquakes in Alaska, however, as she tweeted Friday, her residence is not. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a 7.0 magnitude quake near Anchorage, Alaska, at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Five minutes later, another, measuring at 5.8, struck again nearby. According to seismologists, both earthquakes had “epicenters …

The Associated Press reports: A 7.0 magnitude earthquake has rocked buildings in Anchorage, the U.S. Geological Survey says. A tsunami warning has been issued 30 miles south-west of Palmer, Alaska. There are numerous reports of damage coming in. A magnitude of between 7 and 7.9 is considered a major earthquake that will cause serious damage. Terrified residents took to social …

USA Today reports: Storm-weary residents of North Carolina struggled Monday to loosen the grip of Florence, the lingering killer that has closed more than 100 roads, cut off power to almost 500,000 homes and businesses and essentially cut off the city of Wilmington from the world. At least 17 people have died in the wreckage of the hurricane-turned-tropical depression that …

Fortune reports: Get ready to receive a text message from President Donald Trump on Sept. 20. But it won’t be a political message or attack on one of his perceived enemies—or at least, it’s not supposed to be. He plans to message every cell phone in America to test a new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) system that will allow …

The Hill reports: The Puerto Rican government acknowledged in a new report in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria that more than 1,400 people likely died on the island because of the storm, roughly 20 times the previous number that had been provided. The government on Thursday published a report titled “Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation,” which outlines …

The Los Angeles Times reports: The Mendocino Complex fire is now the largest wildfire in modern California history, scorching more than 283,000 acres and frustrating firefighters as it continues to leap across natural and man-made barriers in Lake County. The Ranch and River fires, which make up the complex fire, had grown to 283,800 acres as of Monday evening, according …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: As more than a dozen major fires roar across the state of California, some of them have burned so fiercely that they’re creating their own weather systems. Massive pyrocumulus clouds have formed over the Carr, Ferguson, Cranston and Mendocino Complex fires burning in four different parts of the state (Shasta County, near Yosemite, Riverside County, …

The New York Daily reports: The number of people killed in Puerto Rico amid Hurricane Maria is at least 70 times higher than the official government death toll, according to a study published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers in the United States and Puerto Rico estimated more than 4,645 people were killed as a result of …

CBS News reports: Emergency workers in Hawaii are racing to protect a geothermal power plant near the Kilauea Volcano. Slow-moving molten rock entered the site and is just a few hundred yards from the wells. There is concern lava could trigger the release of deadly hydrogen sulfate gas, reports CBS News’ Mark Strassmann. Lava continued its steady advance toward the …

Hawaii News Now reports: Two lava flows are now pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the Kilauea eruption. The flows are dripping into the water on the southeast side of the island, in the vicinity of the Mackenzie State Park. It’s a beautiful sight that could come with the hazardous effects of a new concern: Laze. Civil Defense officials say …

NBC News reports: Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted from its summit before dawn Thursday, shooting a dusty plume of ash about 30,000 feet into the sky. The explosion came at about 6 a.m. local time (12 p.m. ET) after two weeks of volcanic activity and the opening of more than a dozen fissures east of the crater that spewed lava into …

The Associated Press reports: The death toll from the mudslides that struck Southern California climbed to 15 on Wednesday as rescue crews searched for anyone trapped, injured or dead in the onslaught that smashed homes and swept away cars. The torrential rainstorm that set off the disaster cleared out and was no longer a hindrance as searchers made their way …

The Daily Beast reports: NBC News reported Wednesday morning that the Los Angeles wildfires ravaging the area near Bel-Air have now begun to consume Rupert Murdoch’s property. “This is the $30-million house and vineyard property that is owned by Rupert Murdoch,” NBC Los Angeles reported on the latest victim of the 125-acre Skirball fire. “And it looks like it is …

NBC News reports: Wildfires continued to explode across Southern California on Wednesday as dry conditions and roaring winds turned the region into a tinderbox, forcing thousands to evacuate. The Thomas Fire, as the blaze has been dubbed, put approximately 50,000 residents under a mandatory evacuation and burned more than 55,000 acres in the Ventura County area with no containment after …

The Los Angeles Times reports: A fast-moving, wind-fueled wildfire swept into the city of Ventura early Tuesday, burning 31,000 acres, destroying homes and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate. About 150 structures — including at least one large apartment complex — were consumed by flames, and many more were threatened as the fire crept about a quarter mile away from City …

Rolling Stone reports: The Simpsons‘ resident bartender Moe helped step up relief efforts for Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria with a video that both raised money and trolled Donald Trump. In the minute-long video, Moe personally addressed San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who clashed with Trump in the aftermath of the devastating hurricane. Moe also subtly mocked Trump, who …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration released a dire scientific report Friday detailing the growing threats of climate change. The report stands in stark contrast to the administration’s efforts to downplay humans’ role in global warming, withdraw from an international climate accord and reverse Obama-era policies aimed at curbing U.S. greenhouse-gas output. The White House did not seek to …