Scientists Are Getting Way Better at Forecasting. It Could Change How We Deal With Droughts.

This story was originally published by High Country News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. When a rainstorm slammed California's Russian River watershed in December 2012, water rushed into Lake Mendocino, a reservoir north of San Francisco.

Most of mudslide-stricken California town told to empty out

In this Jan. 9, 2018 image from video provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, a woman and an infant are hoisted aboard a Coast Guard helicopter as they are rescued from a flood-damaged home in Montecito, Calif. Flash floods on Tuesday swept immense amounts of mud, water and debris down from foothills that were stripped of brush by a recent wildfire.

Wild swings occur in numbers of California mudslide missing

The number of missing after a California mudslide has fluctuated wildly, due to shifting definitions, the inherent uncertainty that follows a natural disaster, and just plain human error. On Thursday, the number provided by authorities went from 48, down to eight, then back up to 43. Officials say a clerical mistake led to the figure of eight being released.

Interagency Task Force report addresses opioid abuse

USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture in November awarded $2.8 million in grants to support rural health. Of the nine awards funded by NIFA's Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive Grant Program, six were designed specifically to prevent and reduce opioid abuse.

To catch mass killer, focus on fentanyl shipments

With people across the country dying at the rate of 53 a day from overdoses of fentanyl and similar compounds - now the leading killers in the opioid epidemic - efforts to stop this scourge ought to come from every corner of the federal government. But even as President Trump has declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency , some agencies have failed to act as if it is one.

Lucy Parke dies aged eight from rare Progeria syndrome

BREAKING NEWS: Trump's lawyer tries to BAN publication of explosive book with cease and desist letter to author and publisher 'Dumb as s***, a dope, and a f***ing idiot': Trump's top officials and billionaire confidants including Rupert Murdoch let loose on what they really think about the president I've got DOZENS of tapes of hours of interviews Michael Wolff tells friends as he says White House sources simply walked over to his hotel to spill 'You can't make this s*** up': How Trump's aides '100% came to believe he was incapable of functioning in his job' The 'bomb cyclone' has detonated! Whiteout storm hits the Northeast with heavy snow and gale-force winds - closing schools and causing traffic chaos as plows run around-the-clock to clear roads and more than 3,300 flights are cancelled The simple tweaks that will make healthy meals even BETTER for you 'I slept with five of his ... (more)

Storm slaps coastal South with most snow in nearly 3 decades

A brutal winter storm smacked the coastal Southeast with a rare blast of snow and ice Wednesday, hitting parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina with their heaviest snowfall in nearly three decades. Forecasters warned that the same system could soon strengthen into a "bomb cyclone" as it rolls up the East Coast, bringing hurricane-force winds, coastal flooding and up to a foot of snow.

‘Like a hurricane’: Coastal streets deserted in winter storm

Temperatures plummeted overnight to 2 degrees in the north Georgia mountains, 14 in Atlanta and 26 as far south as New Orleans as the... . Steam rises above the waters of the Mississippi River underneath the Eads Bridge as the temperature hovers around -1 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018, in St. Louis.

Disasters Affected 8% of U.S. Population in 2017, FEMA Notes in Review of Historic Year

The Federal Emergency Management Agency supported 59 major disaster declarations and 16 emergency declarations in 2017, a year during which unprecedented disasters affected more than 25 million Americans, almost eight percent of the U.S. population. In its year-end review, FEMA notes it was a record busy year for FEMA employees and for state and local emergency responders across the country, as well for the federal flood insurance program, which FEMA manages.

Time to conquer – crisis’ of opioids

Recently we noted Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly had urged President Trump to follow through on his promise to declare the ongoing opioid crisis a national emergency and direct federal resources to address the epidemic. Like Donnelly, we believe this insidious issue constitutes immediate attention.