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4 weeks ago | 
scientificamerican.com | Thomas Frank |Andres Picon
CLIMATEWIRE | State officials were urged Wednesday to prepare for the possible abolition of the Federal Emergency Management Agency following a report by POLITICO’s E&E News that senior Trump officials were taking steps to dissolve or shrink the agency.
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2 months ago | 
scientificamerican.com | Thomas Frank |Anne Mulkern |Andres Picon
CLIMATEWIRE | The federal government Tuesday shut down the online system it uses to distribute billions in disaster aid after President Donald Trump ordered agencies to freeze the flow of public money, alarming officials who are struggling to respond to catastrophes.
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Jan 23, 2025 | 
scientificamerican.com | Thomas Frank |Jean Chemnick
CLIMATEWIRE | President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a 31-year-old environmental justice directive threatens the health of tens of millions of people in minority or low-income communities, which have often been dumping grounds for pollution, waste sites and heavy industry, said civil rights advocates and experts.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
consumerwatchdog.org | Thomas Frank
By Thomas Frank, E&E NEWSThe Los Angeles wildfires could force California residents to pay billions of dollars to bail out the state’s teetering property insurance program, an analysis by POLITICO’s E&E News shows. A bailout could further destabilize a U.S. insurance market that is becoming highly risky as climate change and development intensify wildfire damage.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
scientificamerican.com | Thomas Frank |Avery Ellfeldt
CLIMATEWIRE | President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the department in charge of disaster recovery has been skeptical of climate change, declined to accept federal climate money and been criticized for her own handling of a natural catastrophe. Trump named Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota on Tuesday to run the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency at a time when damage from extreme weather is soaring.
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Oct 17, 2024 | 
scientificamerican.com | Anne Mulkern |Thomas Frank
CLIMATEWIRE | The Small Business Administration, which provides billions for disaster recovery, has run out of money to help people and businesses that were hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, President Joe Biden said Tuesday.
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Oct 9, 2024 | 
scientificamerican.com | Thomas Frank
CLIMATEWIRE | As Florida prepares for Hurricane Milton’s violent winds and massive flooding, the state also is contending with a unique danger — debris left by Hurricane Helene that officials fear will become lethal or damaging missiles. Florida is taking unprecedented steps to clear streets and parks of appliances, furniture, splintered houses and tree limbs before the arrival of Milton, which is projected to hit the Tampa area on Wednesday evening as a Category 4 storm.
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
scientificamerican.com | Thomas Frank |Chelsea Harvey
CLIMATEWIRE | The conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration calls for weakening the government's response to disasters by slashing public rebuilding money and dissolving federal flood insurance. That could deprive survivors of disasters like Hurricane Helene of the financial help they need to rebuild their homes as rising temperatures and expanding development magnify the costs of catastrophes across the United States.
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Sep 30, 2024 | 
scientificamerican.com | Chelsea Harvey |Thomas Frank
CLIMATEWIRE | Communities across the Southeast are reeling in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which is likely to make history as one of the country’s most destructive disasters on record. The swath of devastation, which cut hundreds of miles inland from Florida’s Gulf Coast into southern Appalachia, is a stark reminder of the worsening impacts of climate change. Rising temperatures are fueling stronger, deadlier hurricanes with impacts that can ripple across the country.
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Jul 11, 2024 | 
scientificamerican.com | Thomas Frank |Ariel Wittenberg
CLIMATEWIRE | More than 1 million homes and businesses remained without power in the Houston area Thursday morning, raising questions about the resiliency of the region's electricity infrastructure in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. The Category 1 storm made landfall three days ago, knocking down power lines and leaving 1.3 million utility customers without electricity and air conditioning.
