11 h. ago 20 states sue FEMA for canceling grant program that guards against natural disasters

Twenty Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency over the cancellation of a disaster mitigation grant program

Events

12 h. ago Trump administration sued by 20 states for cutting disaster prevention grants

Lawsuit claims Fema lacks power to cancel multibillion-dollar Bric program after it was approved by CongressA group of 20 mostly Democratic-led US states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to block the Trump administration from terminating a multibillion-dollar grant program that funds infrastructure upgrades to protect against natural disasters.The lawsuit filed in Boston federal court claims that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) lacked the power to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program in April after it was approved and funded by Congress. Continue reading...

Politics

51 h. ago Catastrophe bond sales hit record as insurers offload climate risks

Investors attracted by high yields, while recent natural disasters have failed to trigger losses for bondholders

Events

4 d. ago Trump cuts questioned as role of Fema in Texas highlights agency’s importance in natural disaster response

White House appears to be backing away from pledge to ‘phase out’ disaster-relief agency, even as key leaders have leftAs the cleanup continues from this month’s torrential rain storms and flooding in Texas that left more than 120 dead, recently departed officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) say the organization is dangerously underresourced and overstretched in the event of further natural catastrophes.A mass staff exodus, plunging morale and a loss of key leaders has left the main US disaster-relief organization ill-equipped to cope with an anticipated deadly spate of storms in the current hurricane season, former agency insiders say. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago EU should build stockpiles to prepare for pandemic, natural disaster or invasion

European Commission unveils strategy for storing food, medicine, generators and raw materialsThe EU should develop stockpiles of food, medicine, generators and raw materials to be better prepared for a military invasion, pandemic or natural disaster, the European Commission has said.Outlining its first-ever strategy on stockpiling, the EU executive said on Wednesday member states should also consider emergency supplies of water purification products, equipment to repair undersea cables, drones and mobile bridges for use in conflicts. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago EU urged to build stockpiles to prepare for pandemic, natural disaster or invasion

European Commission unveils strategy for storing food, medicine, generators and raw materialsThe EU should develop stockpiles of food, medicine, generators and raw materials to be better prepared for a military invasion, pandemic or natural disaster, the European Commission has said.Outlining its first-ever strategy on stockpiling, the EU executive said on Wednesday member states should also consider emergency supplies of water purification products, equipment to repair undersea cables, drones and mobile bridges for use in conflicts. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago How Americans think the government should respond to natural disasters, according to recent polls

Most U.S. adults who've experienced major flooding in the past five years think climate change was at least a partial cause

Politics

8 d. ago Texas flooding: a visual guide to one of US state’s worst natural disasters

Over 100 people are believed dead, many of them children, after torrential rain and extreme flash floodingTexas floods – latest updatesWith more than 100 people dead, many of them children attending a Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, Friday’s extreme flash flooding that overwhelmed a sizeable chunk of central Texas will be recorded as one of the state’s worst ever natural disasters.The brunt of the tragedy was felt in Kerr county, where at least 27 children and counsellors were killed after a deluge of water described by one witness as a “a pitch-black wall of death” swept through the all-girl Camp Mystic on the river’s south fork. About 750 young campers were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Ted Cruz explains family vacation to Greece during yet another natural disaster in Texas

Cruz was seen vacationing in Athens, Greece , over the weekend after casting his vote on Trump's budget bill last week as d eadly floods struck the Texas Hill Country over the weekend.

Events

9 d. ago Pope Leo extends condolences to Texas flood victims: ‘We pray for them’

US-born pontiff addresses probably the deadliest natural disaster in his home country since assuming role in MayPope Leo XIV on Sunday voiced his sympathies for the families whose lives have been upended by the flooding in Texas’s Hill Country, which left about 80 dead – many of them children – and others missing.After reciting Angelus prayers at the Vatican, the American-born pontiff remarked in English: “I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in a summer camp in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago ‘The ground shook’: drone attacks help Haitian government wrest control of capital from criminal gangs

Video shared on social media shows drone attacks, which some say have helped pacify gangs inflicting violence on Port-au-PrinceWarning: this story contains footage that readers might find distressing The earth beneath Jimmy Antoine’s apartment shuddered and for a split second he feared another natural disaster had struck, like the 2010 cataclysm that brought Port-au-Prince to its knees.“The ground shook like it does during an earthquake. You tremble like everything might collapse,” said the 23-year-old trainee mechanic, recalling how he and his panicked neighbours raced out on to the street. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago ‘Cyborg’ beetles could help rescue crews locate survivors after natural disasters

Australian researchers were able to control darkling beetles with removable electronic backpacks

Events

2 w. ago US says Haitians can be deported – days after ruling Haiti unsafe for Americans

Trump administration revokes temporary protected status for citizens of country racked by deadly violenceMore than half a million Haitians are facing the prospect of deportation from the US after the Trump administration announced that the Caribbean country’s citizens would no longer be afforded shelter under a government program created to protect the victims of major natural disasters or conflicts.Haiti has been engulfed by a wave of deadly violence since the 2021 murder of its president, Jovenel Moïse. Heavily armed gangs have brought chaos to its capital, Port-au-Prince, since launching an insurrection that toppled the prime minister last year. On Tuesday, the US embassy in Haiti urged US citizens to abandon the violence-stricken Caribbean country. “Depart Haiti as soon as possible,” it wrote on X. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago A popular comic’s ‘catastrophe warning’ sparks mass trip cancellations and tourism slump in Japan

Japan bookings have dropped 50 per cent after a manga artist ‘predicted’ a natural disaster, says Hong Kong travel agency

Events

3 w. ago Economic policymaking needs to adapt to the climate emergency | Heather Stewart

Tackling inflation from companies raising prices during cost shocks requires more than adjusting interest ratesThe heatwave that gripped much of the UK this week was the latest sweltering reminder that the climate emergency is already making daily life more volatile.Many of the places most brutally exposed to out-of-kilter weather patterns and natural disasters are in the global south, and rightly demand solidarity from the wealthier countries responsible for most historical emissions. But the costs of the emergency are being felt everywhere. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago A climate crisis, a ballot, and a chance at a new life in Australia

World-first agreement that creates a visa in the context of climate change stirs hope among young people in TuvaluOn the sandy shores of Vaiaku, as coconut trees sway gently in the breeze, Tekafa Piliota sits in his small classroom and dreams of becoming a doctor. The 13-year-old, who lives in Tuvalu’s capital Funafuti, knows that would mean leaving his homeland. There aren’t any universities in the small Pacific island nation, which lies between Australia and Hawaii. The country has another problem: it is predicted to be one the first countries to become uninhabitable due to rising seas.“I would like to go to Australia to study. There is higher ground in Australia, and it might be safer during natural disasters,” Piliota says. Continue reading...

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