NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, September 2025 (Public Domain)

Plus six new Major Disaster Declarations, including two with Individual Assistance

Welcome to the first public edition of 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

NASA FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System), September 11, 2025

Forecasted Risks for Next Week

Extreme heat late in the week across the Lower Mississippi Valley, Tennessee Valley, Southeast, and eastern Southern Plains.

Heavy rain in the Southwest from tropical moisture and along the Florida/coastal Southeast later in the week.

High winds risk for northern California and southern Oregon coasts around Friday-Saturday

Elevated wildfire potential in parts of the Western U.S. due to ongoing dry conditions

Disasters in the Headlines

Trump announces millions in storm recovery funds for North Carolina, Wisconsin, Kansas

The Hill

AP finds major disaster declarations are taking longer under Trump

AP

PRO PERSPECTIVE

Themes from the Wildfire Leadership Summit

The Bright Harbor team was onsite in Sonoma at this year’s Wildfire Leadership Summit, connecting with survivors and the organizations that support them. We heard repeated themes:

• New programs emerging to drive community resilience before disasters

• Block captain programs bridging the communication gap between survivors and official support services

• The enduring emotional impact of survivorship, persisting sometimes years past formal recovery

We also had the opportunity to ask Justice Jones of the International Code Council for his perspective on the rebuild process in LA:

A recap of Bright Harbor President Pete Gaynor’s keynote—and all our takeaways from the summit—will be on our blog early next week.

Active Federal Major Disasters

Yesterday, President Trump approved six new Major Disaster Declarations: North Dakota, North Carolina, Kansas, Wisconsin, Crow Tribe of Montana, and Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribe. Of those, two (SWO and WI) requested and were approved for Individual Assistance. At publication time, the FEMA website was not yet fully updated to reflect the details, but we’ll share more next week.

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.

Need more support for your employees or constituents? Bright Harbor can help.