I am writing this as Hurricane Florence approaches the southeast coast of the United States. News reports of affected residents’ fears, worries, and anxieties, brought to mind the concerns that I and many of my colleagues faced following 9/11, regarding the mental...
In the aftermath of virtually any major disaster, the internet overflows with haunting images of what were, only days before, whole communities. Homes are gone; in their place, shattered debris sits strewn across the streets. Newsreels flash with the hunched profiles...
Winds that shred houses to splinters, floods that destroy a city, clouds of crop-choking dust that circulate for years, tremors that topple skyscrapers and split the earth miles deep: these events–and the thousands of lives torn apart in their wake—have been...
Just last year, in late August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey tore through the Houston metropolitan area. Its winds ripped apart anything in its path not bolted to the ground, then drenched what was left in sheet after solid sheet of pouring rain. Roads overflowed and...
Most news media organizations exist to inform, but more than ever in this internet age, in order to survive, the traditional news media look to sell stories as best they can. There is a long-standing aphorism in reporters’ circles: “if it bleeds, it leads.” No doubt...