Breaking News: Natural Disasters

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On Leap Day last year, the largest natural disaster in Illinois in 2012 devastated a small town in Southern Illinois. Since the Feb. 29 EF-4 level tornado that tore through Harrisburg one year ago—hitting the ground with a force of 175-180 miles per hour and leaving eight people dead, injuring many others and destroying more than 250 homes—Western Illinois University Department of Health Sciences Emergency Management Assistant Professor Jack Rozdilsky has been on site close to 10 times to study the response and recovery efforts of the small town's stretched emergency management resources. His visits and data gathering have culminated in the qualitative study, "Disaster Management with Limited Local Resources: The 2012 Illinois Leap Day EF-4 Tornado." The research was funded by a grant from the University of Colorado Natural Hazards Center through its Quick Response Grant Program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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New study suggests that exposure to diverse types of traumatic events among protective services workers is a risk factor for new onset of psychopathology and alcohol use disorders.

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There is research that is off the wall, some off the charts and some off the planet, such as what a Texas A&M University aerospace and physics professor is exploring. It’s a plan to deflect a killer asteroid by using paint, and the science behind it is absolutely rock solid, so to speak, so much so that NASA is getting involved and wants to know much more.

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In light of the recent influenza outbreak, a SLU study finds that majority of businesses are not prepared for a pandemic

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Samantha Borisoff, climatologist with the NOAA Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, reviews the origins and impact of the powerful snowstorm – dubbed “Nemo” by the national media – that struck the Northeast this past weekend.

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A University of Utah seismologist analyzed seismic waves that bombarded Earth’s core, and believes he got a look at the earliest roots of Earth’s most cataclysmic kind of volcanic eruption. But don’t worry. He says it won’t happen for perhaps 200 million years.

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In New Jersey, along Hurricane Sandy's path of destruction, Drexel engineers are using infrared and ultraviolet imaging technology and acoustic emission testing combined with low-altitude aircraft photography to generate detailed maps for recovery workers to triage their efforts.

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A natural disaster can bring out the best in older children, prompting 9-year-olds to be more willing to share, while 6-year-olds become more selfish. Researchers made this finding in a rare natural experiment in China around the time of a horrific earthquake.

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New Jersey Department of Human Services partners with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to provide crisis counseling to survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

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As the power outages in the aftermath of Sandy made clear, it is critical the U.S. have an adequate number of trained personnel to maintain and work the country's power grid. But despite industry demand, significant job opportunities and decent pay, recruiting students into these programs has been challenging.

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The mindset that uses the extreme unlikelihood of a catastrophic event as a rationale for not taking measures before a disaster happens, factored into the risk management failures of the Fukushima Tsunami, 9/11 and other such events, but a better approach is available.

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With millions of gallons of raw sewage dumping into New Jersey waterways following Hurricane Sandy, University of Delaware scientists are using satellites to help predict the sludge’s track into the ocean.

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Advice and resources from conservators on saving victims' photo memories.

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The unseen emotional aftershocks of Hurricane Sandy may linger for children who were in the storm's path. A noted psychologist discusses why children may experience PTSD and how parents and caregivers can help.

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In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, attention has shifted to coordination between agencies and the subsequent recovery that are part of the disaster management cycle. Alfonso J. Pedraza-Martinez, an assistant professor of operations and decision technologies at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, is an expert on management in humanitarian operations and has studied some aspects of the International Red Cross' relief efforts.

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A computer animation produced by University of Delaware researchers shows the explosive development of Hurricane Sandy, the superstorm and its unusual track.

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University of Vermont child psychiatrist David Fassler, M.D., provides suggestions for talking to children about the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy.

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As Hurricane Sandy pummels the East Coast, Mississippi State University meteorology experts are some of the most trusted voices in the national conversation about natural disaster education and awareness.

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In addition to the immediate physical impacts Hurricane Sandy promises the Northeast, economists say the storm also will bring intrinsic financial effects that are sure to unfold over the next few days and linger through the coming months.

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An engineer at The Johns Hopkins University is predicting power outages for 8 to 10 million people in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

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As Hurricane Sandy makes landfall, University at Buffalo experts can discuss topics from infrastructure damage to psychological trauma in the wake of disaster.

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A listing of Hurricane-related news releases and journal articles to serve as resources for reporters.

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Recycled materials may become armor against flying debris: Panels for a new high-tech shelter created at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have passed the National Storm Shelter Association’s tornado threat test.

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Latest results from the monthly Rural Mainstreet Index indicate the drought is taking its toll on famers and ethanol/biodiesel plants.

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Secure World Foundation is pleased to announce the release of the Summer 2012 issue of Imaging Notes magazine dedicated to highlighting the urgent, interrelated issues of Earth remote sensing for security, energy and the environment.

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Data released this week paints a grim picture for farmers throughout the United States. Almost everywhere, fruit, crop, livestock and dairy farmers are being choked by the driest growing season since 1956. Researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University are available to talk with the media about the impacts of the Drought of 2012.

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An analysis of the costs and benefits associated with implementing a distributed generation system to improve security and reduce a regional blackout’s impacts finds key advantages.

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The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill temporarily worsened existing manmade problems in Louisiana’s salt marshes such as erosion, but there may be cause for optimism, according to a new study.

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Things are literally up in the air if a hurricane approaches, but family pets in South Carolina should now breathe a little easier. In a recent survey of coastal residents about their hurricane plans, the one near-certainty was that pets would be going with their owners in any evacuation – 95 percent of owners said so. But apart from soothing some canine and feline nerves, the survey uncovered a number of worrisome attitudes about intended evacuation behaviors among coastal residents.

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With severe weather season now in full swing, people with disabilities must ensure they can quickly escape their homes in an emergency.

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A Sandia National Laboratories technology has been used to remove radioactive material from more than 43 million gallons of contaminated wastewater at Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Sandia researchers had worked around the clock following the March 2011 disaster to show the technology worked in seawater, which was pumped in to cool the plant’s towers.

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Two years since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20 may seem a long time for some. This interval has provided partial healing of the environment and for the people whose livelihoods are dependent on the Gulf’s bounty.

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Scientific researchers and other professionals will participate in an April 27 symposium commemorating the one-year anniversary of the tornado outbreak that struck Tuscaloosa, Ala. and the region.

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Two years after leading a statewide academic task force to help the Gulf Coast region respond to the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Florida State University researchers continue to study the longer-term environmental and economic consequences of the disaster.

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All over the country, millions of Americans still live behind dams or levees, and if these were to fail and unleash catastrophic flooding, as some did in New Orleans in 2005, property and life might once again pay the price. Now there is some remarkable software to help swiftly predict how the water will spread.

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A disaster or tragedy is unexpected and often brings out strong emotions. The Disaster Distress Helpline 1-800-985-5990 can provide immediate counseling to anyone who needs help in dealing with the Midwest tornados.

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Homeland Security's "Virtual USA®" Unveils a Fourth Generation Prototype.

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University of New Hampshire researchers have found that residents of Louisiana and Florida most acutely and directly affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster -- the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history -- said they have changed their views on other environmental issues as a result of the spill.

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The recent record number of tornado-related fatalities underscores the need for safety plans.