Disasters

"An earthquake struck northern Oklahoma early Saturday morning, rattling houses and waking residents in the region around Pawnee, about 74 miles north of Oklahoma City. Preliminary measurements show the quake had a magnitude of 5.6 — believed to be one of the strongest in state history."

"Hermine continued Monday to twist hundreds of miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to keep swimmers and surfers out of beach waters because of its dangerous waves and rip currents on the last day of the long holiday weekend."

"Fierce winds and rain from Hurricane Hermine slammed Florida's northern Gulf Coast on Friday and power outages left tens of thousands of households in the dark."

"Intense rainfall overwhelmed sewage systems, downed trees and choked roads with floodwater in Tampa Bay on Wednesday as Tropical Storm Hermine inched toward the Florida coast."

"The U.S. National Flood Insurance Program, which holds policies for more than 5 million homes, is $23 billion in debt after a string of natural disasters this century. As climate change further strains the program, analysts say it is time to shift its focus from rebuilding to mitigating risk."

"A wildfire that tore through brush east of Los Angeles forced 700 people from their homes for several hours Tuesday and destroyed a small building, officials said."

"FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER STATION — The part above ground doesn’t look like much, a few silver pipes running in a straight line, dwarfed by the far more massive, scarred reactor buildings nearby."

"Libya has shipped the last of its chemical weapons stocks out of the country on a Danish vessel, under a UN-backed plan to eliminate the arsenal, officials said Tuesday."

"There are not one but two powerful hurricanes in the Pacific that could come "dangerously" close to Hawaii over the next few days, according to forecasters."

"At least seven people were treated and several communities evacuated Saturday following an early morning leak of extremely toxic chlorine gas from a Northern Panhandle chemical plant with a recent history of significant safety problems."