Disasters

"Emergency responders and law enforcement officials in Nebraska’s Scotts Bluff County urged residents to evacuate as they worked to contain a large fire engulfing a state wildlife management area in the western county."

"Heavy rains in Iran that began Wednesday have set off flash floods and landslides in 21 of the country’s 31 provinces, killing at least 53 people, heavily damaging hundreds of villages, cutting off access to major roads and forcing the evacuation of an ancient city, officials say."

"Increasingly destructive wildfires have consumed tens of thousands of homes over the past decade, but few states have codes that require houses be built with fire-resistant materials. Now, a new study shows that enhancing a new home's wildfire resistance adds minimal cost to an overall construction project."

"The House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation Friday boosting the pay of wildfire fighters and taking steps to improve fire resilience in Western forests."

"Triple-digit heat was being investigated Thursday as the cause of death for four people in Oregon as a sweltering heat wave enveloped the Pacific Northwest — and the forecast showed no sign of letting up soon in a region unaccustomed to such temperatures."

"Torrential rains unleashed devastating floods in Appalachia on Thursday, as fast-rising water killed at least eight people in Kentucky and sent people scurrying to rooftops to be rescued."

"Rising seas and stronger winds mean the punishing waves pushed ashore by tropical storms and hurricanes will make their way farther and farther inland. That inland march would expose a larger swath of the U.S. coast to the kind of flooding unleashed during Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and put more people at risk of drowning, the leading cause of death in hurricanes."

"Heat wave duration records could be broken in the Pacific Northwest this week and authorities are expanding capacity at some cooling centers as temperatures near triple digits are forecast to extend into the weekend."

"Since Friday, the Oak fire has consumed more than 18,000 acres of the sparsely populated mountain community. And by Tuesday morning, the blaze, located near Yosemite National Park, had destroyed 41 structures and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes."

"The Biden administration unveiled a website on Tuesday to help Americans stay safe from extreme heat, as scorching temperatures continued to grip portions of the country."