UN official highlights how better preparation has shrunk disaster deaths despite worsening climate

As climate change makes disasters such as cyclones, floods and droughts more intense, more frequent and striking more places, fewer people are dying from those catastrophes globally because of better warning, planning and resilience, a top United Nations official said. The world...

Papua New Guinea's prime minister visits the site of a landslide estimated to have killed hundreds

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Papua New Guinea’s prime minister on Friday visited the site of a major landslide, which is estimated to have buried hundreds of villagers in the South Pacific island nation’s mountainous interior a week ago and left the ground too unstable for heavy earthmoving...

Clouds, high winds hamper efforts to rescue 2 climbers on North America's tallest peak

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Clouds and high winds hampered efforts by rangers on Thursday to reach two climbers who remained high up on North America's tallest peak two days after first sending a distress signal. Teams on the mountain and a high-altitude helicopter pilot were on standby waiting for...

Editorial Roundup: West Virginia

Gazette-Mail. May29, 2024. Editorial: West Virginia becoming part of Tornado Alley In the past two months, at least 11 tornadoes have hit West Virginia as powerful storms surged through the Mountain State. It’s a number that almost defies belief over such a short...

Kentucky families struggling after being hit for a second time by a tornado in the same locations

BARNSLEY, Ky. (AP) — Devin Johnson’s life was uprooted for a second time when a tornado flattened his home over the Memorial Day weekend — on the same lot in Kentucky where another storm left him homeless in 2021. Johnson, 21, watched Tuesday as workers used chain saws to cut...

More than 1 million customers without power in Texas as US weathers powerful, destructive storms

Disaster declaration issued for April snowstorm that caused millions in damage in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A powerful late-season snowstorm that caused millions of dollars in damage in Maine was a major disaster, the federal government has declared. The disaster declaration by President Joe Biden will help clear the way for funding to help rebuild. The April...

Biden says each generation has to 'earn' freedom, in solemn Memorial Day remarks

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden marked Memorial Day with a pledge that the country would continue the work of the nation's fallen toward a more perfect union, "for which they lived, and for which they died." Delivering remarks at a solemn remembrance ceremony at Arlington...

Strong earthquake hits Tonga but no reports of tsunami risk or damage

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A strong earthquake struck the South Pacific Island nation of Tonga on Monday, but there were no tsunami warnings or immediate reports of damage. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 when it hit at 9:47 a.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey...

Sheriff says at least five dead in Texas, multiple injuries after powerful storms tore through rural community