extreme weather

Rising water level causes flood at Rongshui Miao Autonomous County on July 2, 2017 in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Continues rain raised the water level of Rong River 5.4 meters higher than the warning line, and left Rongshui county flooded on July 2. (VCG/Getty Images)

Weather disasters cost $344 billion in 2017, the most expensive year ever

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
Tropical storm rina

Tropical storm Rina was the 17th named storm of the year, and that’s rare

Have you ever wondered how a hurricane gets its name? Or who chooses names like Harvey, Irma, and Jose?
U.S. Army Cpt. Heim shaves during a sand storm in his base in Arghandab valley, near Kandahar

’It looked like a spaceship’: What it’s like to be caught in a sandstorm

‘It hurts tremendously. Imagine being sandblasted.’
Storm Chasers Monitoring Approaching Tornado in Western Kansas

’Run! It’s coming this way’: What it’s like at the centre of a tornado

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

’It came right through the shop’: How to endure a B.C. mudslide

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

’This is like a living thing’: How it feels to escape a wildfire

‘It’s absolutely beautiful and absolutely terrifying at the same time’
Extreme winds and seaweed-filled storm surge during Hurricane Dennis.

’I felt awe and fear’: New Orleans in the middle of Katrina

‘We would see a piece of someone’s roof fly by. We could see a tree fly by.’
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’You don’t know what’s under your feet’: How to survive a North Pole storm

‘When it blows that much, the snow can cover open water’
CUBA-HURRICANE-IRMA

How storm surges, landslides and tornadoes can make hurricanes even more dangerous

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