Disasters

"A total of 850 people remain missing following the devastating wildfires in Maui, the Hawaiian county’s mayor said Monday, with this latest count coming ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to the island."

"[I]t’s not often that a tropical storm from the Eastern Pacific moves through Southern California on the same weekend that three tropical storms erupt in the Atlantic. That’s where things stood on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023."

"Tropical Storm Hilary drenched the American Southwest before fading Monday to a mere rainstorm, leaving communities from the Pacific Coast to inland Nevada with a substantial cleanup effort but no reported deaths in the United States."

"Torrential rains and unabated construction are frequently triggering disasters in India's Himalayan region."

"David woke suddenly in the mid-afternoon. The 56-year-old chef could hear commotion outside and scrambled up from his nap, finding his roommates on the roof of their shared home, holding garden hoses and spraying water on a raging inferno licking closer by the minute."

"After days of urgent warnings and preparations, Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall in Baja California on Sunday, turning roads into rivers and imperiling homes before barreling north toward Southern California."

"A growing population and rising temperatures will strain the world’s freshwater supplies over the next 30 years, jeopardizing available water for drinking, bathing and growing food, according to new research."

"Lahaina is plagued by hazardous debris, chemicals and undrinkable water. A big storm could worsen and spread the wildfire contamination."

"Agnolo di Tura was a sometime shoemaker and tax collector with a yen for keeping a journal. He was also his family’s sole survivor when the Black Death tore through Siena, Italy, in 1348. He buried his wife and five children with his own hands, he wrote in his journal. He was somehow spared."