Canadian Wildfires Force First Nations Evacuations as Federal Government Expands Indigenous-Led Fire Response As Canada's 2026 wildfire season intensifies, First Nations communities are once again among those bearing the greatest burden, with entire communities evacuated, homes destroyed, and…

Canadian Wildfires Force First Nations Evacuations as Federal Government Expands Indigenous-Led Fire Response

As Canada's 2026 wildfire season intensifies, First Nations communities are once again among those bearing the greatest burden, with entire communities evacuated, homes destroyed, and thousands of Indigenous residents displaced by fast-moving fires. According to the Government of Canada, hundreds of active wildfires continue to burn across the country, with the largest fires concentrated in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. Smoke from the fires has spread well beyond Canada's borders, prompting air quality alerts throughout the Upper Midwest and Northeast United States.

nativenewsonline.net

Preliminary maximum rainfall amounts exceeding 20-25" have occurred during the last four days across parts of south-central TX, leading to catastrophic flooding in the area. Raining continues across south-central TX.

Current GOES satellite view of the wildfire smoke over the Northeast.

It is now apparently 102 and feels like 110 in Brooklyn. I have written ... so much about heat and climate change in my careers so here are some hopefully useful stories: 🧪 This looks at how summers and heat waves have changed since our childhoods (or those of parents and grandparents):

This Isn’t Your Grandparents’ Summer Heat

The face of summer is transforming, as people today face more frequent, longer-lasting and hotter heat waves than they did several decades ago

scientificamerican.com

Last week, the Senate held a confirmation hearing for five federal agency nominees, including Cameron Hamilton. For all my disaster nerds, I watched through and compiled a transcript of just Hamilton's comments about the past/present/future of FEMA: us14.campaign-archive.com?u=1e85c2348d...

When I posted this week that NPR is shrinking its climate reporting staff it got a big reaction on here. Please help me also share that there remain dozens of climate & energy reporters at LOCAL public media outlets all across the U.S. whose work deserves props and support. Here are 20. Plz repost!

Hi disaster professionals on Bluesky! I'm looking to improve my disaster-world literacy and would love your recommendations for programs/courses that you think would be helpful for a journalist covering extreme weather events to take. Can be paid or unpaid but must be online!

There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism, but there is growing research that shows a link between wildfire smoke exposure in pregnant mothers and autism diagnoses. Two studies published in the last month indicate wildfire smoke has profound neurological impacts: grist.org/health/growi...

Growing evidence points to link between autism and wildfire smoke

Two new studies have identified an alarming connection between exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy and autism in young children.

grist.org

As @postguild.bsky.social assesses the damage from last week’s layoffs, it turns out between 44% and 47.5% of the newsroom has been axed. It “may have been the biggest one-day wipeout of journalists in a generation.” washingtonian.com/2026/02/09/a...

Actually, the Washington Post Layoffs Were a Bigger Bloodbath Than You Thought - Washingtonian

The layoffs announced last week at the Washington Post were disfiguring to the esteemed news organization, with whole sections and departments—sports, books, staff photography—wiped away, and devastat...

washingtonian.com

I'm told the catastrophic Washington Post layoffs today include at least 14 climate journalists. Totally gutting. Details: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...

Breaking: Washington Post gutting its climate team

Clean energy dies in darkness. Courtesy of Jeff Bezos.

climatecoloredgoggles.com

The pace of our news cycle makes it easy for stories to fall off the screen - but the disaster in parts of the South from the ice storm is still very much ongoing. Some important observations from the ground there - and more about the next major storm for the East. tinyurl.com/43987xnn

High impact winter storm looks increasingly likely for parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast this weekend, while major impacts linger from ice storm

Arctic cold and high winds will add to the issues through the weekend

tinyurl.com

Going to thread some actionable, basic winter weather advice here. Please send me any you see/know from your own experience!

Capital Weather@capitalweather.com · 6mo ago

Preparedness tips National Weather Service is asking media partners to pass along for both the snow/ice and cold.

More than 160 million people across the U.S. are expected to face dangerous weather in the coming days amid a winter storm. Here's how much snow may fall where you live. nyti.ms/49BkZmS

Large, high impact winter storm incoming - forecast confidence has increased but plenty of uncertainty remains. I took a dive into some of the key forecast challenges, from how much sleet in the south central US to how the cold air "wedge" evolves in the Southeast. tinyurl.com/yu5ufffm

Taking a dive into the various forecast challenges with the upcoming large major winter storm

Confidence has increased in precipitation amounts, but still plenty of lurking issues with the forecast and ultimate impacts

tinyurl.com

I was at the Power Resilience Forum in Houston for the past two days and can confirm that utilities are concerned. It was a little surreal as this bears down on us. Hopefully work and progress since Uri pays off. Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/b...

Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S.

nytimes.com

If you are a resident of California, the state now has a portal where you can demand deletion of your personal data from 500+ registered data brokers with a single request form, for free. consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov

The Weather Prediction Center warns of a high (>70%) chance of flash flooding in Southern California on Thursday. This is a rare issuance of a HIGH RISK Day 3 excessive rainfall outlook. High risk days are extremely dangerous from a deadly flooding perspective.

The Cajun Navy started after Katrina as volunteer boaters conducted rescues on the fly. Despite legal trouble, scandals and infighting, it's still going. And some leaders say they've been advising Trump officials on FEMA + the US disaster system. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

The Cajun Navy Is Shaping Trump's Vision for US Disaster Relief

While the Trump administration rethinks federal disaster relief, Republicans have praised how Cajun Navy groups have responded to major storms.

bloomberg.com

Breaking News: More than 100,000 people in Washington state were told to leave their homes after heavy rain pushed waterways to record levels, creating potentially deadly conditions.

100,000 in Washington State Ordered to Evacuate as Rivers Rise

Days of heavy rain pushed waterways to record flood levels in a mountainous region north of Seattle. “Do not wait,” local officials warned residents as they urged them to seek higher ground.

nyti.ms

PBS reporting that today's FEMA Review Council meeting — which is supposed to be happening right now — has been canceled.

Here's what Tumwater Falls looks like today. There’s flood warnings and watches all over the state with 26 rivers at risk of flooding. Make sure you’re following weather alerts near you. Put your ZIP code in at weather.gov to find the latest.

In the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires, residents repeatedly shared their concerns with me about the soil on their properties after debris removal. So, for @nytwirecutter.bsky.social, I dug into how to approach post-fire soil testing and mitigation: www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...

Is Your Soil Safe? We Sent Samples to Labs to Find the Best Soil-Testing Method.

Soil tests are best left to experts in labs. We found local and mail-in options that address multiple concerns.

nytimes.com

Indonesia is grappling with severe shortages of food, medicine, and clean water after catastrophic floods and landslides on Sumatra Island. Displacement has risen into the hundreds of thousands www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTnS...

Indonesia floods: Shortages create challenges for recovery effort

YouTube video by Al Jazeera English

youtube.com

In the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires, residents repeatedly shared their concerns with me about the soil on their properties after debris removal. So, for @nytwirecutter.bsky.social, I dug into how to approach post-fire soil testing and mitigation: www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...

Is Your Soil Safe? We Sent Samples to Labs to Find the Best Soil-Testing Method.

Soil tests are best left to experts in labs. We found local and mail-in options that address multiple concerns.

nytimes.com

Floods across Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have killed nearly 1,000 people in less than a week.

Rescue efforts under way after severe floods across Asia kill nearly 1,000

Floods across Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have killed nearly 1,000 people in less than a week.

bit.ly

"David Richardson on Monday resigned as acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to people familiar with the situation, ending a brief tenure leading an agency the administration had publicly expressed a desire to dismantle." wapo.st/4nYPtDa (gift link)

FEMA head resigns. Richardson had been hard to reach during Texas floods.

David Richardson resigned Monday after a brief tenure leading the Federal Emergency Management Agency

wapo.st

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.

Lex McMenamin (they/them)@lexmcmenamin.com · 9mo ago

if you want to know what happened to Teen Vogue yesterday, my work wife @allegrak.bsky.social — who ran our politics section for 6 years until this past June — said it all in this. can't even pull out a favorite part til I sign my separation letter lol, just read the whole thing.

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)

NOAA cancels funding for data collection crucial to tsunami warning systems

The Alaska Earthquake Center has long provided NOAA with seismic data for tsunami monitoring and warning purposes. That work will wind down in November, after the federal agency said it can no longer…

ktoo.org