Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Caribbean, moving towards Florida

Just days after Hurricane Harvey devastated the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Irma threatens the Caribbean and the southeastern United States. On Monday night, hurricane warnings were in effect as the Category 5 storm moved towards islands including Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Maarten, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The governor of the British Virgin Islands urged residents of Anegada island to evacuate, and schools and government offices were closed across the Caribbean.

Hurricane Florence forecast to be among costliest U.S. storms on record

It is no secret that Hurricane Florence is a force to be reckoned with— it is predicted to be one of the strongest storms to hit the East Coast in decades. Though the previously Category 4 storm was knocked down to a Category 2 as it approached the southeast U.S. early Thursday, the system for categorizing hurricanes solely measures wind speeds, which are still expected to reach 110 mph, in addition to intense rainfall, storm surges, and coastal flooding.

Hurricane Florence brings health and safety concerns for North Carolina rivers

In the diedown of the weekend’s heavy rains from Hurricane Florence, all eyes are on the major rivers of North Carolina, expected to cause catastrophic flooding as the rains flow into the sea. As of 5 AM local time on Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center reported that the remnants of Florence are expected to produce “heavy and excessive rainfall over the next couple of days” and that flash flood warnings were in effect across a large swath of land covering southern and western North Carolina, northeast South Carolina, and southwest Virginia. As of 5 AM Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center reported that the remnants of Florence is expected to produce “heavy and excessive rainfall over the next couple of days” and that flash flood warnings were in effect across a large swath of land covering southern and western North Carolina, northeast South Carolina, and southwest Virginia.

Hunger crisis in Yemen highlights importance of food and healthcare security

After three years of conflict, the humanitarian situation in Yemen only continues to worsen. The war, which is fought between the Saudi-led coalition supporting the incumbent regime, with American supplies, and the Houthi rebels, has claimed nearly 50,000 lives. The factions have made it difficult for aid groups and humanitarian organizations to reach vulnerable populations, causing a famine that has devastated the country. It is estimated that 17.8 million Yemeni, over half of the population, are food insecure, and an additional 8.4 million are unaware of where their next meal will come from. According to a UN report, 400,000 children are at risk of dying daily due to lack of sufficient food sources.

How the decline of the freight rail industry highlighted the importance of community resilience: Murdo, South Dakota

Located one-hour’s drive south of Pierre, through the South Dakota plains along US-83, the town of Murdo's 482 residents are mostly employed in agriculture, construction, and natural resource extraction. This is very different from the town’s heyday in 1970, when it was home to 865 residents and was a key cog along the Milwaukee Road. This line, like many others all across the US, was closed during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the American railroad industry. The close dependence on this line by the Murdo community meant that its closure deeply affected the community’s economy. Today, Murdo stands as an example of resilience, when examining small American towns affected by the downsizing of the railroads.

How the decline of the freight rail industry highlighted the importance of community resilience: Booneville, Arkansas

In my last post, we explored the story of the small farming town of Murdo, South Dakota after the closure of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. By establishing the 1880 Town, an attraction providing a glimpse into Murdo's railroad heyday, the town was able to provide a means of survival. However, Murdo's survival past the closure of its railroad lifeline is not entirely unique, nor is the means by which they did so. Whereas Murdo mainly relied on the railroad to connect it to the rest of the world, some towns built their entire economy around the railroad, making the task of survival more difficult. Despite the odds, Booneville, located in Western Arkansas, is one example of a town that did, despite their previous dependence.