"Record-breaking triple-digit temperatures were prolonging a devastating drought that has been baking the South and the dry spell could extend into next year and beyond, climate experts said on Thursday."
"A new study says firefighters who toiled in the wreckage of the World Trade Center in 2001 were 19 percent more likely to develop cancer than those who were not there, the strongest evidence to date of a possible link between work at ground zero and cancer."
"The earthquake that shook the East Coast last week rattled casks holding radioactive nuclear waste at a Virginia plant, moving them as much as 4.5 inches from their original position, the plant's operator said.
The 5.8-magnitude quake shifted 25 casks, each 16 feet tall and weighing 115 tons, on a concrete pad at Dominion Resources Inc's North Anna nuclear plant."
Roberta Rampton reports for Reuters September 1, 2011.
"NEW ORLEANS -- A slow-moving tropical depression was slogging toward the U.S. Gulf coast Friday, packing walloping rains that could drench the region with up to 20 inches (50 centimeters). In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal said he was concerned about the serious threat of flash flooding in his state and he declared a state of emergency Thursday. After devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005, nothing is being taken for granted."
"The risk that an earthquake would cause a severe accident at a U.S. nuclear plant is greater than previously thought, 24 times as high in one case, according to an AP analysis of preliminary government data. The nation's nuclear regulator believes a quarter of America's reactors may need modifications to make them safer."
When covering each type of natural disaster, you'll need to dig into a wide range of human, weather/climate, and geography issues to describe accurately to your audience what the trends are, how prevention and emergency responses might be improved, etc. Here are resources for hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, heat waves, drought, blizzards, and more.
"Federal panel's report blames PG&E for last year's deadly gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, but other agencies come in for criticism too."
"The U.S. East Coast is mopping up after Hurricane Irene's weekend battering that killed around 40 people and authorities and residents are looking out anxiously over the Atlantic and asking: Is another one coming?
Tropical Storm Katia is jogging west at a brisk 18 miles per hour (30 km per hour) and the U.S. National Hurricane Center says it is expected to become a hurricane by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
"An independent investigation panel has confirmed that [Japan's] Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency asked utilities in at least three cases to mobilize their employees for government-sponsored symposiums on nuclear power and express supportive or neutral opinions."
"The Vermont National Guard will try today to reach the town of Wardsboro, the only Vermont town without a road — even a makeshift one — to the outside world."
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