Tom covers the federal response to climate change, focusing on FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers and other disaster-response agencies. He worked previously at USA Today, BuzzFeed News, Newsday and several local newspapers. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2012 and has won other national journalism awards including from the Scripps Howard Foundation, the National Press Club and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He has a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
Tens of thousands of homeowners flooded by Hurricane Sally face potentially large financial losses because the federal government lists them improperly as living outside a flood zone and does not require them to have flood insurance.
Wildfires have burned 7 million acres in the United States this year, forced massive evacuations and destroyed thousands of buildings.
The Trump administration has agreed to pay every state except South Dakota unemployment benefits from the federal disaster fund to help people who lost jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A federal program designed to protect properties that have been flooded repeatedly is being poorly managed and has given preference improperly to owners of vacation homes, a new government investigation shows.
Vast areas of the West experienced unknown levels of heat last month, setting the stage for the biggest fires ever seen in some states. Scientists say the heat could have larger consequences next year.