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FEMA plans to double down on climate preparedness

Dec 10, 2021
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's new strategic plan focuses on helping communities adapt to the changing climate.
A FEMA task force searches a flooded North Carolina neighborhood in 2018. The emergency response agency is boosting its investment in helping communities withstand destructive weather.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

Lots of homeowners are dropping flood insurance, study shows

Aug 4, 2021
It's bad news for federal officials who are trying to convince more homeowners that they need flood protection.
A Houston home sits in floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Many in Houston did not have flood insurance.
Spencer Platt via Getty Images

Nashville flooding renews federal push to tear down homes

Apr 29, 2021
Those in areas prone to flooding are weighing whether it's better to stay in a home, or take a government buyout.
Baylie McDaniel is a public school teacher in Nashville who is starting the long process of rebuilding after floodwaters inundated her home in late March. She says she'd prefer the city to focus on controlling Seven Mile Creek rather than buying homes to tear them down.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News

We might be underestimating our collective flood risk

Aug 26, 2020
Matthew Eby, head of the First Street Foundation, wants to help homeowners protect themselves as climate change poses hazards to coastal properties.
Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images

Who pays for California's wildfires?

Oct 28, 2019
Multiple wildfires continue to burn in California, prompting evacuations, preventive power outages and a scramble for funds to pay to fight the fires.
A home burns during the deadly 2018 Camp fire in Northern California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

FEMA officials in the hot seat over disaster preparedness

Jun 12, 2019
The agency's acting chief and President Trump's nominee for the permanent job face questions as recovery from past disasters drags on.
Activists rally in support of Puerto Rican families displaced by Hurricane Maria, on the steps of City Hall, April 19, 2018 in New York City.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Repeated flooding leaves small North Carolina town looking for answers about its future

Nov 6, 2018
The Atlantic hurricane season officially has a few more weeks to go, but already this year has been deadly and destructive. The mainland U.S. took a hit from Hurricane Michael in October and Hurricane Florence the month before. Florence devastated many parts of North Carolina, including areas far from the coast. For many small communities, […]
A roadway is flooded by remnants of Hurricane Matthew on Oct. 11, 2016 in Fair Bluff, North Carolina. The town was devastated again by Hurricane Florence in 2018. 

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Strong demand for cleanup crews in North Carolina

Oct 18, 2018
After recent storms, residents are still struggling to get back to normal amid mountains of debris.
“This is heart wrenching, you know?” says Randy Campbell, who with his crew clears debris after disasters. “We just come in and help clean it up and make some money doing it.”
Andy Uhler/Marketplace

Strong demand for cleanup crews in North Carolina

Oct 18, 2018
After recent storms, residents are still struggling to get back to normal amid mountains of debris.
“This is heart wrenching, you know?” says Randy Campbell, who with his crew clears debris after disasters. “We just come in and help clean it up and make some money doing it.”
Andy Uhler/Marketplace

How a chef helped serve 3.6 million meals in Puerto Rico

Sep 13, 2018
“Every time we made contact with a community, we kept going back, and we kept going back, every day without missing a beat,” José Andrés says.
With schools closed or only open for a short time, children across the island were a priority.
Photo courtesy of World Central Kitchen