Recovery

Officials from the Department of Environmental Quality said that they are consistently monitoring air quality, especially during fire season because "the largest impacts to air quality are from wildlife smoke."

NOAA needs aerial mapping at a level of detail that it can’t get today, but a drone partnership with Verizon Frontline will give them the data they need in hours instead of days to forecast and monitor storms.

The storm included winds up to 90 mph and hail that damaged vehicles and 28 homes were destroyed or had major damage. The National Weather Service said the combination of hail and wind is common to the Midwest.

The damage in Portage, among the hardest hit areas, was widespread, leaving several businesses inoperable, including a barbershop that was ripped in half. City officials continued to assess the damage on Wednesday.

Deputies were dispatched to try to locate a family in distress. Upon the deputies’ arrival, they could hear a male and female hollering for help.

Most of the fastest-growing private companies are rated by Demotech, the firm that rated all 12 of the companies that went belly-up recently. Researchers have recently raised red flags about Demotech's ratings.

Even with the raft of new security mandates, violence continues on campuses and schools are struggling in their role as a battleground in society’s intractable fights. Communities struggle with guns, gangs and mental health.

The mayor told the Senate Committee on Ways and Means during a Feb. 20 briefing that Maui County wanted the state to cover $402 million in what otherwise would be county wildfire recovery costs over the next three years.

Attendees will learn of the ongoing threat of wildfires, how to prepare their homes for wildfire season and how to be notified of an emergency along with information on evacuations in an emergency.

Montgomery County has worked to buy out homes with federal funds across the county since back-to-back flood events in 2016. In 2023 the county purchased more than 50 homes through buyout programs.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, Public Works Director Sean Kershaw and other officials have said the growing vagaries of weather call for rethinking long-standing seasonal approaches toward maintaining the public right of way.

A total of 26 counties are under a State of Emergency because of the severe weather. The declaration is a proactive measure ensuring the allocation of necessary resources expediting emergency response efforts.

New Jersey has 442 structurally deficient bridges. That doesn’t mean a bridge is in danger of collapsing, but that it has deteriorated over time and can’t carry the same load or weight it was designed to when new.

Lithium-ion batteries are found in many common household items, including phones, computers, and electric vehicles. Fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries are more challenging to put out with water and fire extinguishers.

The bill was introduced last year to address the public’s right to know after a derailment that sent three locomotives and six rail cars off the tracks, including two carrying hazardous materials.

Another separate investigation is ongoing by the Maui Fire Department and the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into what started the fire and where it began.

It was a cooperative effort between first responders in Britt, Iowa, and the community, including the local funeral homes for use of a casket to help emphasize how quickly life-changing events can happen.

After a lengthy grant approval process, delayed by the COVID pandemic, Old Lyme, Conn., has been awarded $708,000 from FEMA to help build the “white box” while the town will furnish equipment, furniture, and fixtures.