Disasters

Residents in Georgia and Alabama returned to waterlogged homes after flooding caused by torrential rains caused at least nine deaths.

"The Tennessee Valley Authority said Monday that it would spend $43 million on economic development projects in Roane County, Tenn., the site of a huge coal ash spill at one of the authority’s power plants last December."

"Members of Congress Thursday demanded a shake up at the agency that regulates the transport of hazardous materials, saying officials for years have quietly waived safety rules because of a cozy relationship with industry."

Ironworker Joe Picurro volunteered to help work on "the pile" at Ground Zero that resulted from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Now he is nearing death from the air he breathed there. He is one of thousands suffering similar diseases.

"The Station fire in the San Gabriel Mountains has taken an enormous toll on the environment."

"In a mile-high duel, driven firefighters are determined to keep flames from the historic facility."

"President Barack Obama is creating a new federal interagency task force to coordinate the "economic and environmental resiliency" of Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast region."

"The Station blaze [near L.A.] has destroyed more than 50 buildings and burned more than 105,000 acres of mountainous brush. Little hope of containment is seen as long as hot, dry conditions continue."

"LOS CABOS, Mexico – Emergency workers struggled to evacuate thousands of reluctant slum dwellers as extremely dangerous Hurricane Jimena approached Mexico's resort-studded Baja California Peninsula on Tuesday."