Disasters

"NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, N.C. -- A crane swung a new roof truss into place above a house being built on this belt of sand last week, helping to expand development on what some experts say is one of the most dangerous islands to build on in the United States."

"MARIETTA, Okla. -- The ground had been shaking for a week, on and off, when the biggest of the earthquakes hit. People here heard two loud booms. Then the picture frames started falling. Wendy Gillham turned to see her flat-screen television crash to the floor only a foot or so from her infant girl. Then she looked outside and saw her chimney in pieces on her driveway."

"Long before disaster struck, the 5,900 residents of Lac-Mégantic had grown accustomed to the sight of large oil tankers rolling through their small, tightly knit community in the Eastern Townships of Quebec."

After 4 railcars plunged into a creek a year ago near Paulsboro, N.J., spilling vinyl chloride, the effects are still being felt by local residents.

"LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Lawsuits and alleged safety violations are mounting against Exxon Mobil Corp. following the rupture eight months ago of a pipeline that spilled thousands of barrels of oil in central Arkansas."

"We've heard that climate change likely played a very minor role in the havoc that typhoon Haiyan wrought on the Philippines."

"WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A New Zealand judge on Tuesday rejected a Kiribati man’s claim that he should be granted refugee status because of climate change."

"Fears for the future: About one in four people in Arkansas counts on drinking water from a source that is crossed by Exxon's burst Pegasus pipeline."

"National standards should be set for building construction, storm shelters and emergency communications to reduce death and damage from tornados, a federal agency that studied the deadly 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, recommended on Thursday."

"Halfway across the world from the typhoon-ravaged Philippines, several small, remote communities at the northwestern tip of Turtle Island have been declared disaster areas from damage wrought by severe storms and flooding in mid-November."