extreme weather

A new report from a reinsurance company tallies the total global economic cost of last year’s many disasters, and these photos capture the devastation

Have you ever wondered how a hurricane gets its name? Or who chooses names like Harvey, Irma, and Jose?

‘It hurts tremendously. Imagine being sandblasted.’

‘My husband had to pry her hand away from that table. She never did hear me screaming for her.’

‘An eight-foot wide creek that wasn’t there before was now in my backyard’

‘It’s absolutely beautiful and absolutely terrifying at the same time’

‘We would see a piece of someone’s roof fly by. We could see a tree fly by.’

‘When it blows that much, the snow can cover open water’

Climatologist David Phillips explains how hurricanes can trigger more natural disasters, which make recovery that much more difficult for devastated areas.

Hurricane Irma may have weakened to a tropical storm, but the ferocious winds and rain pummelled Florida. Two-thirds of the State remains without power, and cities, households and businesses face billions of dollars in clean-up costs. Here is a look at the damage wrought by the storm after it passed over Florida.        …

The field known as “attribution science” might have the answer

Floodplain maps are out of date, insurance is inadequate and few of Canada’s cities are prepared to deal with the looming crisis