The April 2011 outbreak spurred the state to overhaul its emergency systems — now officials say its coordinated efforts may serve as a blueprint for other states.
Only 2% of post-fire applications have been approved as residents battle regulations, high costs and competition from foreign buyers snapping up burned lots
The reforms expand grants for fireproofing homes, require higher advance payments after wildfires, and give the state’s last-resort insurance plan more financial stability.
A look back at nearly 150 years of deployments shows the guard responding to labor strikes, riots, protests and pandemics, but never under federal orders.
Already, 1 in 3 counties receive federal disaster declarations each year. With disasters growing in strength and frequency, federal policies need to change.
Officials have denied public access to findings on the Gas Co. Tower, one of the city’s tallest buildings, even as engineers warn it could be unusable after a major earthquake without costly retrofits.
With storms intensifying faster, officials consider widening shoulders for emergency travel lanes, though costs and infrastructure gaps challenge implementation.
Florida showed the way decades ago by adopting a single statewide standard, saving lives and billions of dollars and showing that hazard resistance is achievable and affordable.
Gov. Kotek’s order is aimed at making state buildings resilient to “The Big One” so they can be used as staging areas for emergency response and recovery.
Median home values have risen 60 percent since 2012, yet the city has 20,000 fewer housing units than before the storm, with nearly 29,000 still vacant.
One of the hurricane's most important lessons isn’t about storm preparations — it’s about injustice. Communities should build disaster resilience across the entire population, focusing aid where people need it the most.
After waters peaked at 16.65 feet, newly installed HESCO barriers and early alerts spared schools, homes and businesses from major damage with no rescues or evacuations.
Hurricane season begins in earnest in August. The devastating floods in Texas earlier this summer underscored the importance of state and local readiness as the federal government rethinks its role in disaster response.
With scorching temperatures blanketing nearly half the country, power providers brace for peak demand as cities issue health warnings and transit systems slow under the strain.
We need competent responders every hour of the day, every day of the week. But we often don’t have them.
The incinerated town of Lahaina has barely begun to recover. Policymakers have scrambled to ease inflexible laws and regulations but rebuilding would be happening much more quickly if that had happened before the fires.
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Future in Context
