Disasters

"MIAMI -- Dozens of personnel from the Environmental Protection Agency worked to secure some of the nation's most contaminated toxic waste sites as Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida. The agency said its employees evacuated personnel, secured equipment and safeguarded hazardous materials in anticipation of storm surges and heavy rains."

"Houston’s sprawling network of petrochemical plants and refineries released millions of pounds of pollutants in the days after Hurricane Harvey began barreling toward Texas."

"Hurricane Irma dropped to a Category 1 storm early Monday after it tore through southwest Florida and left more than 4 million customers without power."

"GALENA PARK, Texas —  Cindy Sanchez began to feel ill while barbecuing just before Harvey's torrents started pelting this city just east of Houston, along a corridor with the nation's highest concentration of petrochemical plants."

"A group of first responders exposed to smoke from a Crosby, Tex., chemical plant fire after Hurricane Harvey are suing the owner of the plant for more than $1 million, saying that they vomited and gasped for air in the middle of the road in a scene the suit describes as 'nothing less than chaos.'"

"Two Florida nuclear power plants in the path of Hurricane Irma are shutting down to brace for the Category 5 storm's devastating wind and rain."

"Officials in Florida’s Palm Beach County announced a mandatory evacuation for communities south of Lake Okeechobee in an 'overabundance of caution' ahead of Hurricane Irma."

"The Senate on Thursday approved a short-term bill to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling despite frustration among Republicans about the deal that President Trump struck with Democrats."

"CHANNELVIEW, Texas — Public health officials are investigating a case of dangerous liquid mercury that appears to have washed or blown ashore here, east of Houston, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey."

"A wet winter and spring in the Western U.S. brought predictions that the 2017 wildfire season would be mild. It was anything but. It ended up one of the worst in U.S. history in land burned."