Remembering Kai Erikson, sociologist and pioneer of disaster studies, who passed away on November 10, 2025. For nearly fifty years, Erikson was an omnipresent force in the aftermath of disasters.

The month of December was dominated by flooding in Washington State and record-breaking snowfall throughout the Northern Plains, Great Lakes, and Northeast. With this final wrap-up, we say goodbye to 2025 and look forward to a fresh start in 2026.

In rural areas, vast distances and lack of resources can make disaster response and recovery more challenging. Learn how geography, population, and resources impact emergency management in rural places.

Cold and flu season is here, the NTSB kept working during the shutdown, tornadoes, volcanoes, mind-reading algorithms, communities rebuilding in slow motion, and David Richardson’s acting career is over. November offered us a reminder that even when disasters are slow, things can still get weird.

Managing a disaster is difficult and complicated but having access to social scientists can take some of the burden off the emergency manager. Learn how social scientists fit into emergency management and why they may be the most important tool an emergency manager can have in their toolbox.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28th as a Category 5 hurricane, leaving devastation behind that’s “never been seen before.”

In an urban setting, interdependencies between complex infrastructure and utility systems can profoundly complicate response and recovery operations. Learn how geography, population, and resources impact emergency management in urban places.

The mechanics behind FEMA, its workforce, functions, budget, and ability to transfer payments, are all complicated by nuance during a shutdown.

Climate change is often cited as a key contributing factor to the rise in costly disasters over the past 40+ years, but less widely discussed is the role urban sprawl has to play. Learn how sprawl development increases the impact of disasters and how we can reduce our vulnerability.