Articles by Michael Phillis and Brittany Peterson

Helene’s Flooding a Reminder of Appalachia’s Growing Risk From Violent Storms

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Helene dumped trillions of gallons of water hundreds of miles inland, devastating communities nestled in mountains far from the threat of storm surge or sea level rise. But that distance can conceal a history of …

Study: California’s 2023 Snowy Rescue from Megadrought a Freak Event

Last year’s snow deluge in California, which quickly erased a two decade long megadrought, was essentially a once-in-a-lifetime rescue from above, a new study found. Don’t get used to it because with climate change the 2023 California snow bonanza —a …

Here’s Why Experts Don’t Think Cloud Seeding Caused Dubai Flooding

With cloud seeding, it may rain, but it doesn’t really pour or flood — at least nothing like what drenched the United Arab Emirates and paralyzed Dubai, meteorologists said. Cloud seeding, although decades old, is still controversial in the weather …

Many US Cities Vulnerable to Low Water Pressure Amid Wildfire Dangers

Hours before devastating fires scorched the historic town of Lahaina on Maui, Kyle Ellison labored to save his rental house in Kula, a rural mountain town 24 miles away, from a different blaze. As high winds whipped burning trees and …

Rising Flood Risks Threaten Many Water and Sewage Treatment Plants

The crack of a summer thunderstorm once comforted people in Ludlow, Vermont. But that was before a storm dropped eight inches of rain on the village of 2,200 in two days last month. And it was before the devastation of …