Disasters

"A river on fire with millions of gallons of spilled oil, jet fuel and gasoline. An environmental disaster ranking with the worst in America. No fuel for a state trying to recover from a major earthquake."

"The U.N. World Food Programme said on Tuesday that 13 million people across the Horn of Africa face severe hunger, calling for immediate assistance to avoid a repeat of a famine a decade ago that killed hundreds of thousands of people."

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has updated its texting feature to help Americans find open shelters during disasters."

"A corroded pipeline that ruptured and spilled 350,000 gallons (1.6 million liters) of diesel fuel into a New Orleans area wetland did not have a fully functioning leak detection system at the time, according to federal records, which also show the spill was larger than previously reported."

"Oil and gas regulators are assuring Texans the natural gas system will keep functioning this winter, saying they’ve done more than 3,000 inspections to check on it. What they’re not saying is many of those inspections found that gas production and transmission facilities can’t guarantee they’re prepared for another hard freeze."

"Cyclone Batsirai rammed into Madagascar’s coast on Feb. 5, bringing further devastation to a country already reeling from the effects of another tropical storm, Ana, that struck on Jan. 22."

"Scientists say the recent surge of intense Northeast winter storms is probably tied to rising ocean temperatures and changes in the Arctic".

"A fire raging in an underground Colorado coal field in 1883 sent so much smoke pouring from cracks in the ground that the scene was likened to burning volcanoes and the state’s first mining inspector deemed the blaze “impossible to extinguish.”

"The Biden administration on Thursday announced a new plan to secure U.S. water systems from cyberattacks, part of a broader effort to defend elements of domestic critical infrastructure from digital threats."