If I could say just three words to prepare someone for disaster it would be these: Disasters change things. All of the reasons for not being prepared, and for not following emergency instructions in a disaster (too hard, too expensive, no need), are tied to those words.

Is the United States dangerously complacent about possible biological and chemical weapon attacks, leaving open the possibility of mass deaths or a huge disruption in the economy or both? Or has the country in fact come a long way in its preparations to protect itself against this type of attack?

The answer may be both.

RAPID CITY, S.D. - Nearly a week ago we told you about adults becoming prepared in case a disaster strikes. Today teenagers were put to the test.

Students from Central, Stevens and Rapid City High School put their four weeks of training into a simulated reality today.

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Three years ago, Superstorm Sandy ravaged seaside communities along the East Coast.

Real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. says Northern Virginia has now passed the New Jersey-New York region as the largest data center market in the U.S., accounting for nearly 20 percent of the market share in enterprise demand so far this year.

(TNS) — WASHINGTON — Thirty-six members of Congress from Western states asked President Barack Obama on Wednesday for $16.1 million to complete an earthquake early-warning system being developed by scientists in Southern California and along the West Coast.

Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., led the members in a letter to Obama asking him to include the funding in the U.S. Geological Survey’s fiscal 2017 budget.

As classes resumed at schools across the country this fall, the issue of school safety is once again at the forefront of the national debate. How best to address school safety, both at the K-12 and higher education levels, is a weighty issue with no easy answers.

Simply trying to assess the level of school and university preparedness is challenging.

(TNS) -- As the deadly Butte fire ravaged the foothills of Amador and Calaveras counties last month, rooms at the Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort were transformed from guest rooms to cot-filled dormitories to accommodate hundreds of people evacuated from nearby communities. The fire scorched 71,000 acres, felling scores of power lines in its path.

A brutal U.S. fire season has helped build support in Congress to classify catastrophic wildfires as natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes, opening new sources of funding to pay for putting them out.

Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson said his bill is now co-sponsored by nearly 150 House members and has the support of more than 300 outside organizations, including cities, outdoors and conservation groups.

Researchers from the University of Southampton have been investigating how images created by the Google Street View cars can be used to compare with photos taken after earthquakes and other major events such as tsunamis to not only establish the extent of the damage but also help improve resistance against future disasters.