Nearly two years ago, Hurricane Helene knocked out power in Burnsville, North Carolina. Fire Chief Niles Howell had to use the station’s generator to keep everything running. Through the storm, and the devastating flooding that followed, the fire department provided a landing pad for helicopters, a base for search-and-rescue operations, and a field hospital to tria...
This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance.
In April, when an out-of-control wildfire threatened the remote Xeni Gwet’in First Nation in western Canada, local governments issued evacuation alerts. The blaze quickly spread to 618 acres before being extinguished a few days later, and people were allowed to return home.
Although th...
When Super Typhoon Rai — equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane — began battering Batasan Island in Bohol, Philippines in December 2021, Trixy Elle and her husband, two children, and father waded into the storm, fearing they would be trapped in their home. Holding on to one another, they were determined not to let go.
By morning, the house Elle and her husband had sp...
Wind turbines can confuse radar systems on ships and aircraft. Their massive rotating blades create a “blade flash” on radar screens, while their steel bases reflect electromagnetic waves, making it difficult to distinguish the turbines from aircraft or other objects. That’s a problem for the military, which relies on radar for threat detection and navigation. For over a deca...
Dave Carew was going on vacation. But first, he had some tabling to do.
It was Thursday, two days before the Fourth of July, and Carew, a UPS worker of 13 years, had set up an information booth with pamphlets and thermometers outside the company’s customer center in the north Bronx. His goal was to catch workers on their way in and out of shifts and educate them on...