Disasters

"The Obama administration is giving Shell permission to fully drill an exploratory well in the Arctic Ocean and burrow into potential oil-bearing rock thousands of feet below the seafloor that previously was off limits."

"Japan warned on Saturday that a volcano 50 km (31 miles) from a just-restarted nuclear reactor is showing signs of increased activity, and said nearby residents should prepare to evacuate."

"Chinese soldiers and rescue workers in gas masks and hazard suits searched for toxic materials in China's port of Tianjin on Sunday as Premier Li Keqiang arrived to offer condolences, days after explosions flattened part of a national development zone."

"More than a thousand residents in north-central Washington state fled their homes on Friday after a cluster of wildfires erupted around the town of Chelan, while fierce blazes blackened a swath of the drought-stricken U.S. West, officials said."

"When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 most residents evacuated safely. But thousands lost homes, careers, and the lives they had known. Since then, many seem to have recovered emotionally from the trauma. But some have not."

"This year’s El Niño weather pattern could be the most powerful on record, federal forecasters said, while warning that the effects of the weather system are never certain."

"Huge, fiery blasts at a warehouse for hazardous chemicals killed at least 50 people and turned nearby buildings into skeletal shells in the Chinese port of Tianjin, raising questions Thursday about whether the materials had been properly stored."

"Despite the agency’s attempts to account for bigger storms, its outdated rules leave communities unprepared for disaster".

"The Federal Railroad Administration plans to impose big penalties on railroads that fail to meet a year-end deadline to install a new collision avoidance system, including more than 70 percent of the nation’s commuter railroads."

"A typhoon battered China's east coast on Sunday, killing 14 people and forcing the authorities to evacuate hundreds of thousands more."