Disasters

"Hurricanes Harvey and Irma may have hit white and non-white families alike, but it will be people of color who will have the toughest time getting their homes back, which is by design."

"After an oil tank in Houston’s Manchester neighborhood caved in, private monitors found levels that far exceeded California’s health guidelines".

Post-Harvey emissions of pollutants from Houston-area petrochemical plants make air unhealthy for residents to breathe.

"President Donald Trump's nominee for the No. 2 spot at the Federal Emergency Management Agency withdrew from consideration on Wednesday after NBC News raised questions about a federal investigation that found he had falsified government travel and timekeeping records when he served in the Bush administration in 2005."

A long history of damage to Florida's 360-mile-long Florida Reef Tract has weakened it as a barrier to storms.

"Utilities in the U.S. Southeast returned power to almost half of the homes and businesses knocked out by Hurricane Irma, leaving about 4.3 million customers in the dark as of midday Wednesday, in one of the biggest restoration efforts in U.S. history."

"Texas has launched aerial attacks on mosquitoes swarming coastal regions of the state and threatening to spread disease and hinder disaster recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey."

"As Hurricane Irma rampaged through Florida, snapping power lines and damaging vital equipment, it left as many as 15 million people in the state without electricity, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday. While some homes may see power restored within days, utilities said that other customers may have to wait weeks."

"Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters triggered a spill of almost a half-million gallons of gasoline from two storage tanks along the Houston Ship Channel, marking the largest spill reported to date from a storm that slammed into the heart of Texas' huge petrochemical industry."

"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —  Hurricane Irma's devastating storm surge came with weird twists that scientists attribute to the storm's girth, path and some geographic quirks."