Photo: Satellite image of Tropical Storm Melissa at 7 a.m. EDT, Oct. 23, 2025. Image courtesy of NOAA/CIRA

Plus, the secret to emergency alerts that actually work

Welcome back to This Week in Disasters! This newsletter combines expert perspectives with a weekly roundup of upcoming threats, recent natural disasters, and available survivor assistance. If you’re an HR, Risk, Employee Assistance, or Emergency Management professional (or you’re just really curious about disasters in the United States!) you’re in the right place.

Major Disasters of the Last Week

Photo: Flooded streets in New York City (Lokman Vural Elibol / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images).

Forecasted Risks for Next Week

Giant cutoff low is likely to bring downpours, and strong to severe storms to Florida, Southeast Georgia, and Coastal South Carolina by early next week.

Elevated fire weather conditions in Southern California and South Texas. Low humidity and dryness and breezy/offshore winds are present/

A second atmospheric river to bring heavy rainfall to western Washington and northern Oregon. The first one, less strong, started Tuesday and the second one, more intense, will continue through early November.

Disasters in the Headlines

From Recovery to Resilience: NYC's Innovative Response to Hurricane Sandy

The Epicenter

Jamaica’s cat bond 'doing what it was designed to do'

Artemis

How to Help Those Impacted by Hurricane Melissa

Time

How will the dismantling of USAID affect U.S. relief efforts in Jamaica

NPR

Firefighters Raised Alarms About Smoldering Ground Days Before Deadly Palisades Fire, Texts Show

Westside Current

PRO PERSPECTIVE

Smarter Alerts, Safer Communities: Inside the Warning Lexicon

Disaster researcher Dr. Jeannette Sutton has spent years studying how people interpret alerts, and why so many fail. Her FEMA-funded Warning Lexicon project tackles a simple but costly problem: most emergency alerts are incomplete and confusing.

The Warning Lexicon gives message senders a framework to write faster, clearer, and more actionable alerts. Sutton’s research found that more than 90% of Wireless Emergency Alerts lacked critical information, leaving the public uncertain about what to do next.

Key Takeaways

1. Every alert should include who is sending it, what the hazard is, where it’s happening, when to act, and how to stay safe.

2. The Lexicon can be used across channels: text, email, social media, even internal company communications.

3. A new Post-Alert Lexicon is coming soon to help agencies close the loop once events end.

Sutton’s bottom line: effective warnings save lives, but only when they’re complete and clear.

Read our full interview here to learn how her team is changing the life-saving messages get written, or explore her work further at www.thewarnroom.com.

Active Federal Major Disasters

There is usually a 60 day window to apply for help after a disaster is declared.  The following disasters are still actively taking applications from survivors for financial support.

The following disasters are actively taking applications from survivors for financial support. To apply, survivors can visit DisasterAssistance.gov or call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800‑621‑3362.

Sign up for This Week in Disasters here.

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