Preparedness and Communications

While the city has a dozen warning sirens, officials say residents should not rely on those as their sole means of learning about an emergency. CodeRED and phone notifications are also essential.

While serious cold still remains a pressing problem for Maine residents, emergency officials across the state are already planning for a future where they're responding to temperature spikes as silent natural disasters.

A project to analyze flooding in south Chicago will eventually consist of about 50 sensors transmitting data in real time for analysts and emergency responders.

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake off the Russian coast last week should serve as a wake-up call for the U.S., which is "overdue" for a similarly major earthquake at a time when federal funding for response is in question.

While Monday's tsunami response was ultimately more of a drill than a true emergency, the traffic it triggered offered a real-time test of Oahu’s evacuation capacity — one that state officials admit was deeply strained.

A five-city tech collaboration led by Virginia Beach, Va., will connect it with four neighbors through computer-aided dispatch. It will replace manual call transfers with real-time emergency data sharing across jurisdictions.

Gov. Greg Abbott said responding to the devastating July 4 floods is his top priority for a special legislative session that began Monday, including providing relief to victims and improving early warning systems.

Over 38,000 buildings that flooded in North Carolina between 1996 and 2020 were located in areas not identified as high risk — leaving many residents potentially unaware as flooding becomes more frequent and severe.

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program aimed to distribute billions of federal dollars to state and local governments to protect against climate-related disasters, but the administration now says it was “wasteful and ineffective.”

As extreme weather like Tropical Storm Barry — which contributed to the devastating flooding in Texas — becomes more frequent, satellite data contributes to giving forecasters the most accurate info.

Following the deadly flash floods in Texas and ahead of a flood watch in Pennsylvania, the National Weather Service and FEMA offer tips on what to do before the water rises and how to stay safe when it does.

Resilient regions and organizations require well thought out disaster plans addressing recovery and mitigation. In creating them, state officials said, collaboration with other governments and communities is essential.

A shared satellite system is at risk for closure due to military cybersecurity concerns, which would delay hurricane forecasts by hours. This is just one of several recent threats to funding for key forecasting tools.

The federal government has announced plans to end the use of satellite data that hurricane experts say is crucial to tracking storms and spotting the early warning signs of rapid intensification.

Large portions of the state have limited or no coverage from National Weather Service radar, meaning dangerous storms can arrive without warning. Officials are working to get more low-level radars in place.