Recovery

The study is part of emerging research to understand how climate change can alter the way wildlife and insects evolve. Another hurricane-specific 2018 study found that lizards with longer legs survive hurricanes better.

County officials say years of excessive precipitation — including 11-15 inches of rain that fell in August 2018 — have left the groundwater tables so high that the soil can’t drain, making low-lying areas prone to flooding.

A Housing Recovery Resource Fair for tornado survivors revealed confusion over FEMA letters and worry over high fees for rental applications and higher rents — for places not hit by the tornado but that are barely livable.

Registration for FEMA aid ends Wednesday. Survivors who have discovered holes in their insurance coverage should contact FEMA for potential help. Statewide, FEMA has dispensed $14.5 million to over 5,000 registrants.

It was the fifth day since the severe storm and EF-1 tornado tore through the South Dakota town. Sunday marked the chance to appreciate the progress, and a chance to recharge for another week of cleanup.

More than 65,800 residences were impacted by flooding in August 2016, according to federal data. Of the 15,634 who were offered grants through Restore Louisiana, 12,980 homeowners have been sent checks as of July 26.

While it never grew more than 400 acres, the Montana Creek Fire threatened the historic town of Talkeetna and drew a large response from firefighters in the Northwest continental U.S., including eastern Washington.

The emergency management agency hopes to learn if the county has enough uninsured damage to homes, trailers and businesses to qualify for SBA loans, which can help businesses and homeowners recover from disaster damage.

According to FEMA, federal disaster assistance for individuals and families can include money for rental assistance, essential home repairs, personal property losses, and other serious disaster-related needs.

“Most of the people that came in, they were eating their first hot meal in days. For some, us being open brought a sense of normalcy, offering them basic necessities in an area that’s destroyed.”

About 830 citizen soldiers and airmen conducted flood operations in a dozen counties as high waters caused widespread damage to roads, levees and other public facilities, the Illinois National Guard said.

California employers are now required to protect all workers — except for those in closed buildings with filtered air — from wildfire smoke whenever the air is officially deemed unhealthy to breathe.

Bay County, Fla., is set to stop accepting applications for its private property debris removal program on Friday. The deadline comes after county officials extended the popular federally-funded program in June.

The Sutter County, Calif., Fire Department applied four months ago for a SAFER grant. It also applied for an economic hardship waiver, which would have waived the cost share portion for the county, but it was denied.

To date, 77 percent of structural debris on properties in the Camp Fire Consolidated Debris Removal Program has been removed for a total of over 2.6 million tons of ash, debris, metal, concrete and contaminated soil.