"Before the remnants of Hurricane Helene swamped this town, the Super 8 Motel, wedged between a highway and the Swannanoa River, provided affordable short and long-term housing for dozens of people who couldn't find affordable housing elsewhere."

"The biggest source of salty freshwater in D.C. and other major northern inland cities is an overapplication of road salt to thaw winter ice, which runs off into rivers or the ground." 

"Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a congressional committee that the US National Hurricane Center was fully staffed even though key positions are going unfilled as hurricane season begins."

"“Sunny day” flooding is now a thing down the shore, where the tides have risen at twice the global average. Sooner or later, “we’re not going to be able to protect everything everywhere,” one state official says." 

"An environmental group filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue over staffing concerns at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, established specifically to protect the sea cows." 

"A massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year as it heads toward the United States."

"With predictions for a busy hurricane season beginning Sunday, experts in storms and disasters are worried about something potentially as chaotic as the swirling winds: Massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to hurricanes."

"A natural gas company has surrendered its permits to pump water from a western Pennsylvania creek in a move welcomed by environmentalists fearful of rising industrial demand for surface water and the growing threat of climate change."

"EPA’s core workforce would shrink to its smallest size since the mid-1980s, while funding for numerous grant programs would be zeroed out, according to new documents released Friday."