Natural Disasters

Early Sunday afternoon, much of Northern California is red-flagged for fire danger with strong winds gusting up to 90 mph in some areas and extremely dry air. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has shut off power for more than 355,000 households and business in 34 different counties with some…

Typhoon Goni, the strongest typhoon this year, passed through the southern region of the Philippine’s main island, Luzon killing at least ten people. Heavy rain and winds up to 133 miles per hour have destroyed dikes, caused rivers to overflow, and buried hundred of houses in landslides. The…

A vegetation fire began in Silverado Canyon in Irvine, CA early Monday morning. Propelled by strong winds, the fire spread quickly, burning about 2,000 acres by noon. Approximately 60,000 residents have been evacuated and some highways have been closed to assist in dealing with the fire. California…

An earthquake of 7.5 magnitude in Sand Point, Alaska led to a tsunami of about 130cm. An advisory was sent to the tsunami warning center in Palmer, Alaska. Several aftershocks occurred within an hour after the big earthquake. Although, the center mentioned that the US and Canadian Pacific coasts in…

With thousands of people filing for unemployment insurance and millions of acres of cropland flattened, along with numerous homes and businesses, the thunderstorm that swept through the Midwest in August and focused its destruction in Iowa is noted as the most costly thunderstorm event in recorded…

Tens of millions of Americans have experienced the thick haze of wildfire smoke over the past few months. While immediate health effects are known, long-term lung function after smoke exposure is much less understood. For more information, click here.

As Hurricane Delta makes landfall in the continental U.S., it brings along disaster and devastation. Although only a category 2 hurricane (Hurricane Laura which made landfall earlier this year was a category 4 hurricane), it still brought immense destruction to Louisiana. Along with the storms and…

Hurricane Delta touched a few days ago in Louisiana, an area still dealing with the fallout of Hurricane Laura which hit just two months ago. Areas of Louisiana are experiencing major flooding, and 5.5 million people in the surrounding area are under flash flood warning. Hurricane Delta made…

Adding onto the various disasters of 2020, the southeast coast is dealing with a string of tropical storms. There have been 25 hurricanes this year alone, exhausting the available hurricane names the National Hurricane Center had prepared for this year's hurricane season. This means that new…

The first time in decades, the August Complex that began in an area in California has spread and burned at least 1,002,000 acres. Since August 16, the area is bigger than Rhode Island in size. In 2020 until now, there have been 4 million acres of land across the nation burned by wildfires. Millions…

This year Americans have spent more time in emergency housing than any year in the past decade, with three months still to go in 2020. This is striking considering that the wildfire season is just beginning and that hurricanes are still a danger. The increase in natural disasters caused by climate…

Indigenous groups have traditionally set fires to improve the health of forests and reduce underbush. This practice was reduced after Europeans settled in the US and functionally stopped after “The Big Blowup” wildfire in 1910. Experts saw the risk of this, and in the 1990s forest managers…

Amongst all the havoc that Hurrican Sally has wreaked last week, there is some good news. The public health department in Mobile County (Alabama)  has reported a decrease in COVID-19 cases which they believe the hurricane may have played a role in. Dr. Scott Chavers with the Mobile County Health…

Blazing with increasing intensity and size each year, California fires have burned a total of 10.8 million acres (and counting) in the past decade. About 3 million of those acres were burnt in 2020 alone. Fire season will most likely continue into the rest of autumn as new fires tend to come along…