Recovery

The storm, which some forecasters are calling a "bomb cyclone" or "snow hurricane," is bringing snow along with damaging winds, bone-chilling temps and the chance of coastal flooding

Systems that should have warned residents of impending danger failed when they were needed most.

(TNS) — The Lake Oroville spillway crisis and evacuation last February might have only lasted a few days for Yuba-Sutter residents, but the ordeal left many with unanswered questions and a newfound fear of the unknowns of living downstream from an aging water storage facility and system.

As the cost of firefighting has gone up, the Forest Service budget has stayed relatively flat. The result is that fire suppression now consumes 55 percent of the agency's annual budget, and some officials estimate that could grow to two-thirds in a few years.

Volunteers continue recovery aid to people affected by hurricanes Nate, Harvey, Maria and Irma.

A recent Associated Press review of the data found that 2 million Americans live within a mile of one of the 327 vulnerable Superfund sites.

Police and fire departments across the country have struggled with how to support first responders after mass violence.

There have been some years of respite, but in general, firefighting costs have been climbing since 2000.

Four months after Irma formed, fewer than half its nearly 866,000 claims in Florida worth an estimated $6.6 billion have been closed with payment, state records show.

Developers in East Baton Rouge can try to mitigate flood risk by including features like retention ponds, but groups like the Center for Planning Excellence say that adding more green spaces with water-sopping vegetation could also help.

The school system’s new director of security, emergency preparedness and response will deliberate issues thoughtfully.

This system, long advocated by the National Transportation Safety Board, was supposed to be in placed on all trains operating in the United States by the end of 2015.

Using data from both government and volunteer sources is key to an effective disaster response strategy.

Before the new law, known as Wisconsin Act 97, rural emergency medical services workers in small EMS departments could function only as basic EMTs.

In any case, available technology would have prevented the Amtrak crash, experts say.