disasters

Hurricanes Have Been an Impediment to Racial Justice Before

by Brandon T. Jett

The hurricane that hit Miami in 1926 caused extensive damage to the city and killed more than 300 people. It also derailed a grand jury investigation into a lynching in Lee County, a rare instance of public pressure to stop racist terrorism. Will Florida's rebuilding take attention from fights against regressive politics in the state?

Southwest Florida's Overdevelopment Made Ian Worse

by Zeke Baker

Massive hydrological projects undertaken to make Southwest Florida's wetlands into developable agricultural land and then high-priced real estate removed the key buffers for coastal floods. Storms like Ian are a rebuke to the idea that humanity and commerce can bend nature to their will. 

The Fatal Attraction to Florida

by Diane Roberts

Growth may make the Sunshine State unlivable. 

Climate Change Just Erased the Past in Kentucky. Where Will it Happen Next?

by Tina A. Irvine

The archives of the Hindman Settlement School in Knott County were inundated by flood waters on July 28—a devastating loss of one community's history and culture, and a warning to historians that our knowledge of the past is at risk from climate change. 

How Decades of Coal Mining Left West Virginia Vulnerable to Flooding

For a century, coal mining companies have taken billions of dollars of wealth out of eastern Kentucky, stripped the land of vegetation that can contain flood waters, and contributed to the climate change making severe storms more frequent, while leaving little for the people who live there. 

Songs for a South Underwater: Music that Carried People Through the Great 1927 Flood

After the devastating flooding of 1927, and an indifferent response from the government, another flood of songs of protest and resilience ensued, creating a southern musical and cultural tradition. 

The Accident that Almost Decapitated the US Government

by Stan Haynes

John Tyler intended to show off the firepower of the USS Princeton to boost his abysmal popularity and scare foreign goverments into letting him annex Texas. He nearly got more than he bargained for in one of the biggest close calls of presidential history. 

Astroworld Joins Tragic History of Concert Crowd Disasters

The tragedy in Houston is only the latest example of the dangers posed by crowds and the need for adequate safety measures. 

Haiti's Disasters are Man-Made

by Emmanuela Douyon and Alyssa Sepinwall

Haitians' vulnerability to harm from natural disaster is conditioned by centuries of foreign interference and exploitation.

How a Disaster Relief Program Changed the Roman Empire for the Better

The 10,000 Pompeiians who evacuated the city ahead of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD benefited from the redistribution of the property of nobles who didn't. 

Robert Vinson and Jennifer Allen Quoted in NPR Article: What Do You Call The 'Anniversary' Of A Disaster?

For Vinson, a word like "remembrance" is the best fit to describe how people are looking back.

Did a missile down TWA Flight 800?

Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet.The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after the jetliner took off from John F. Kennedy Airport, killing all 230 people aboard.The effort to reopen the probe is being made in tandem with the release next month of a documentary that features the testimony of former investigators who raise doubts about the National Transportation Safety Board's conclusion that the crash was caused by a center fuel tank explosion, probably caused by a spark from a short-circuit in the wiring....

Japanese disaster films highlight victims' stories

The unnerving clicks of dosimeters are constant as people wearing white protective gear quickly visit the radiated no-go zones of decayed farms and empty storefronts. Evacuees huddle on blankets on gymnasium floors, waiting futilely for word of compensation and relocation.Such scenes fill the flurry of independent films inspired by Japan's March 2011 catastrophe that tell stories of regular people who became overnight victims - stories the creators feel are being ignored by mainstream media and often silenced by the authorities.Nearly two years after the quake and tsunami disaster, the films are an attempt by the creative minds of Japan's movie industry not only to confront the horrors of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, but also to empower and serve as a legacy for the victims by telling their stories for international audiences.The impact these films have on the global and Japanese audiences could perhaps even help change Japan, the directors say...

HNN Hot Topics: Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster

The underside of the Space Shuttle Columbia shortly before it began to burn up upon re-entry on February 1, 2003. Credit: U.S. Air Force. Columbia shuttle crew not told of possible problem with reentry (1-31-13) Jonathan Coopersmith: After Columbia, Now What? (8-5-05) NYT: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Space Program (2-2-03)