US emergency crews struggle as climate crisis fuels ‘unprecedented’ competing disasters. Future planning, especially at the community level, will be essential to prepare for and adapt to the present threats that are only expected to worsen as the world warms.

It’s been a brutal week in weather-related disasters across the US. Large parts of the south-east are still grappling with the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, and another potentially catastrophic storm is barreling towards Florida. At the same time, much of the west has been sweltering amid scorching temperatures, which have elevated fire risks and fueled extreme fire behavior.

Hurricanes and fires aren’t abnormal in early autumn. But the climate crisis has turned up the dial and created more opportunities for catastrophes to overlap, ultimately adding strain on relief resources, emergency response, and those who have been impacted by the dangerous and destructive events.

While federal officials have been clear that emergency response agencies have been able to lead on recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene, strongly disputing rampant misinformation about misuse or politicization of the funds in areas devastated by the storm, the competing disasters nonetheless have severely strained the agencies.