I'm rounding up coverage of federal shutdown impacts on disaster funding and services for an upcoming newsletter. If you've written any or noticed anything in your area, please send it my way!

Question for NOAA and other weather-world people: Does the shutdown mean there are no weekly NOAA radio alert tests?

So many outlets write about young people; very few do the work to write for young people, and that was just one sliver of what made Teen Vogue special. Grateful to have worked with @allegrak.bsky.social on articles that spoke to the often overlooked impacts of disasters on students.

The news comes amid the Trump administration’s effort to dramatically slash federal spending – including by proposed cuts to key weather and climate programs within NOAA. (From KHNS - Haines)

As part of @technologyreview.com's big new package on conspiracy theories, I went long on weather modification — what's possible, what's not, what's happening and where, and why people will probably always find ways to blame weather disasters on shady forces:

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, causing widespread flooding and destruction.

NOAA hurricane hunters flying aboard a P-3 Orion aircraft ("Kermit") are monitoring Hurricane Melissa as most aircraft steer clear. The storm poses a catastrophic threat to Jamaica and Haiti. The crew are among the many federal workers working without pay during the US government shutdown.

Today is International #ShakeOut Day, the world's largest earthquake drill & a good time to learn (or practice) what steps to take in an earthquake & how to prep for these unpredictable hazards. I updated @nytwirecutter.bsky.social's guide with advice, tips, & tools: www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...

Before catastrophic floods swept through the Alaska Native village of Kipnuk on Sunday, the EPA canceled a $20 million grant intended to protect the community from extreme flooding. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/c...

"Disasters in remote Alaska are not like disasters anywhere in the lower 48 states....While East Coast homeowners recovering from a nor’easter can run to Home Depot for supplies or drive to a hotel if their home floods, none of that exists in remote Native villages."

New: There was an "emergency" all-hands meeting inside part of NOAA today basically to tell people they have no idea what to expect re a potential shutdown. "Even less than usual," per one source. There is no guidance yet available and no info on what specifically the OMB memo means. So that's cool.

Pilots reporting reduced visibility near Mount Saint Helens in Washington. Not because of an ongoing volcanic eruption, but because of gusty winds whipping up ash deposited from the 1980 eruption! USGS says this happens occasionally during gusty, snow-free conditions. Credit: USGS Volcanoes

note how Trump explicitly links approving disaster aid for Wisconsin and South Dakota to the fact he won Wisconsin and South Dakota

I spent six months walking the Lower Ninth Ward, speaking w/ dozens of neighbors, + combing through 6,000 pages of FOIA docs. My latest reveals what recent documentaries left out. If Katrina’s legacy moved you, don’t miss what’s happening to the community now capitalbnews.org/katrina-anni...

Disaster survivors are waiting longer for federal aid. A new Associated Press analysis found that it's taking more than a month, on average, for President Trump to approve major disaster declarations. That's up from an average of less than 2 weeks during the 1990s and early 2000s. buff.ly/4X0IhT6

"Half the population” of greater Los Angeles "now meet the government’s criteria for reasonable suspicion," in the wake of today's 6-3 SCOTUS ruling. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Question for people working in the world of disasters & extreme weather: What conferences do you try to attend each year? Why?

I wrote about how Hurricane Katrina helped spur pretty remarkable improvements in hurricane forecasts since 20 years ago and how current and planned budget cuts by the Trump administration to research could set us back.

For @nytimes.com Magazine, I visited the Palisades burn scar to write about fire and resilience www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/m...

This is happening now:

"Two people fighting the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula were arrested by federal law enforcement Wednesday, in a confrontation described by firefighters and depicted in photos and video." www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

The FEMA Review Council's third meeting will take place tomorrow at 11a ET & is available for the public to view at this link: www.dhs.gov/federal-emer...

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will no longer administer a grant program that has so far provided millions of dollars to local television and radio stations to upgrade the equipment they use to send out emergency alerts ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/08/21/r...

Workers at FEMA worry that demanding disaster survivors access services using email could shut out people without internet connectivity from receiving government aid. www.wired.com/story/fema-n...

The U.S. Forest Service has spent decades blocking efforts to better protect its wildfire fighters, sending crews into smoke without masks or warnings about the health risks, a New York Times investigation found. nyti.ms/4mm9oMr

More than 400 people suspected to have died from extreme heat so far this summer in Phoenix, Arizona, and surrounding county - Temperatures have at least 110F (43C) nearly every day in August #climatecrisis Story by @ninalakhani.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Energy Secretary Chris Wright says Trump admin is altering previous National Climate Assessments. These were produced by hundreds of climate scientists and mandated by Congress. (1/2)

🚨SCOOP: A "select" number of FEMA probationary employees have been involuntarily reassigned to ICE, effective immediately, to "assist with hiring and vetting." If the employees don't report to ICE within seven days, they are threatened with termination. prospect.org/labor/2025-0...

My friend and fellow journalist @alecluhn.bsky.social is missing. If you have any info/sway that could help this situation please send me a message 💛

Emergency alerts/warnings followers: I'm looking to speak with experts about what the funding cuts to public broadcasting mean for this space. If you're interested in talking on this topic, please send me a message!

The Gifford fire had burned 65,000 acres by early Monday, scorching through part of Los Padres National Forest in south-central California and putting hundreds of people under evacuation orders.

About 6 months after the Los Angeles wildfires devastated their homes, two Wirecutter writers are struggling to regain safety, security, and normality. They share their hard-won lessons and what they wish they had done before disaster struck. https://nyti.ms/46uGvIR

Red Flag Warnings are in effect today (August 4) across Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. These conditions will linger across portions of the western U.S. on Tuesday and Wednesday.

KNOW YOUR ZONE, NYC: www.thecity.nyc/2022/07/06/n...

The city of Kerrville released copies of texts and emails that officials sent Friday as the flood waters raged. A big thing stood out: Some of the officials didn't seem to know the magnitude of the flash flooding killing people upriver and heading toward them. www.texastribune.org/2025/07/30/t...

Useful advice here from a Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire survivor, along with survivors of other disasters

So many of you shared with me tools and items that you turned to when fires, floods, heat, and other hazards hit your homes. Here are some of your stories, which I gathered for @nytwirecutter.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...

Updated to a M8.7

The threat of a potential tsunami exists for the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, parts of the North Pacific coastline of Russia and for Japan after a 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean on Tuesday evening Eastern time, according to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System.

On the Road with the Tornado Hunters www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

"Over the past 40 years, innovations like Doppler radar have almost halved the deaths from tornadoes... in more recent years, advancements in forecasting and modeling have helped sharpen predictions. That can mean lifesaving warnings reaching communities faster." Read this by, @colleenhagerty.com

I cannot recommend this @rollingstone.com piece by @colleenhagerty.com enough. Captures our current situation and the rigors of research in our field so well. www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

"More than a dozen active and retired U.S. Forest Service employees told Reuters the agency is struggling to fill critical roles after approximately 5,000 employees - roughly 15% of its workforce - quit in the past five months." www.yahoo.com/news/us-wild...

The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, which runs a network of teams stationed across the country that can swiftly respond to natural disasters, has resigned. cnn.it/4f16A4z

Really like this combination of rainfall info and hydrologic context (geology, wildfire burn scars, impervious surface) ⚒️🧪 🎁 There’s a Flash Flood Season, and This Is It www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

2025 has been a disaster of year for flooding so far. The year has the seen most US Flash Flood Warnings to date. 3050 as yesterday. In July it’s over 700 and counting.

“I don’t know how long it took—ten seconds, maybe fifteen—for the house to come apart." During the early-morning hours of July 4, the Guadalupe River pulled senior editor Aaron Parsley and six members of his family into its waters. Read his firsthand account:

NEW: FEMA records show Kerr County officials did not use FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System to send warnings with safety instructions to all mobile phones in the affected area during critical hours as the flooding began.

In light of the devastating Texas floods, it's relevant that the Trump admin recently clawed back nearly $900 million in grant funding already promised but not yet disbursed to states for improvements to stormwater systems and building flood control systems. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

people who think the gvt controls the weather are a faction that is quickly gaining power on the right — and MTG says she's planning to introduce legislation on this soon @davidgilbert.bsky.social & i looked at how these conspiracy theories got supercharged after the tx floods this weekend: