Climate Extreme Weather
All Stories
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![A river runs through a rural area]()
![A river runs through a rural area]()
Texas floods showed why many rural communities feel abandoned in a crisis
Almost a third of Americans live in unincorporated communities beyond city limits, where disaster aid can confuse and frustrate.
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![A photo looking down a muddy street, with construction equipment along the sides and workers in high-vis vests looking on.]()
![A photo looking down a muddy street, with construction equipment along the sides and workers in high-vis vests looking on.]()
They survived Hurricane Helene. Here’s how they’re doing a year later.
The powerful storm caught many people off guard as it drove through six states. As devastating as it was, did Helene truly change anything?
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![Collage of aerial view of Hurricane Helene damage in North Carolina, Trump and Franklin Graham, people praying with their arms raised, Trump's GoFundMe page, and a dollar bill]()
![Collage of aerial view of Hurricane Helene damage in North Carolina, Trump and Franklin Graham, people praying with their arms raised, Trump's GoFundMe page, and a dollar bill]()
Trump raised $8 million for Hurricane Helene survivors. Where did it all go?
The presidential campaign bad-mouthed FEMA while using crowdfunding to donate to evangelical nonprofits.
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![Photo of a man walking past an excavator cleaning up debris]()
![Photo of a man walking past an excavator cleaning up debris]()
How to track disaster spending in your community
As rising global temperatures fuel more intense weather, and disaster recovery budgets skyrocket, this accountability work has never been more important.
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![Collage of a worker wearing a hazmat suit cleaning up after wildfire, a worker repairing a power line, and a firefighter standing in a field]()
![Collage of a worker wearing a hazmat suit cleaning up after wildfire, a worker repairing a power line, and a firefighter standing in a field]()
The people behind America’s disaster recovery
From cleanup crews to powerline techs, these are the workers called in after catastrophe.
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![A fire rages at night with a transmission line in the foreground]()
![A fire rages at night with a transmission line in the foreground]()
Who pays for wildfire damage? In the West, utilities are shifting the risk to customers.
Utah laws cap wildfire damages and let utilities pass the cost onto customers. Utility lobbyists are pushing the model in other states.
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![A postal carrier makes deliveries in San Francisco, the mid-day sky darkened and orange from smoke wafting in from wildfires burning hundres of miles away.]()
![A postal carrier makes deliveries in San Francisco, the mid-day sky darkened and orange from smoke wafting in from wildfires burning hundres of miles away.]()
Wildfire smoke could soon kill 71,000 Americans every year
The haze may already kill 40,000 people in the U.S. each year — the same number who die in traffic crashes. Climate change will only make matters worse.
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![RFK Jr. and Brooke Rollins hold up ice cream cones]()
![RFK Jr. and Brooke Rollins hold up ice cream cones]()
How climate change is fueling your sugar addiction
Rising temperatures are feeding America's sweet tooth — and creating a new public health challenge in the process.
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![a farmworker in a blue hoodie carries a bucket of tomatoes on their shoulder as they walk through a row of crops]()
![a farmworker in a blue hoodie carries a bucket of tomatoes on their shoulder as they walk through a row of crops]()
Farmworkers already face harsh conditions. Now they may have to deal with a pay cut.
Hard-line immigration policy, climate change, and labor shortages are colliding to create a real problem for U.S. farms.
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![digital collage of photo of damaged house, man looking at bills and covering his mouth, with red jagged cutouts showing invoice details on top]()
![digital collage of photo of damaged house, man looking at bills and covering his mouth, with red jagged cutouts showing invoice details on top]()
First came the wildfire. Then came the scams.
As extreme weather becomes more frequent, so too have post-disaster contractor scams like excessive billing and shoddy repairs.
