Natural disasters

A report by Ceres found climate risk — and climate resilience — disclosure uneven after a review of offering documents from 60 recent municipal bond sales.

Tens of thousands of acres have burned in central Oregon and in the Spokane region of eastern Washington.

The scale of the evacuations and damage "underscore the growing credit risk that wildfires pose in the Pacific Northwest."

Illinois-based Bernardi Securities released an Environmental Risk Index that gauges relative environmental risk within municipal bond portfolios.

FEMA reform has stopped and started on Capitol Hill as local governments welcome a rule requiring the agency to build a dashboard to track the flow of disaster recovery funds.

Researchers examined more than 580,000 municipal bond issues and say the data shows communities with higher wildfire risk pay higher interest rates.

"This is the largest flood we have had in 20 years," said Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

FEMA must speed its very slow disbursement of aid, many observers say.

Los Angeles' weakening fiscal picture and the city utility's exposure to lawsuit liability from the 2025 Palisades fire were cited for the downgrades.

Lawsuits against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power over wildfire liability crystalize the need for state governments to take the lead, said MMA's Matt Fabian.

Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson formed a Senate subcommittee to investigate the Los Angeles fires at the request of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson unveiled a supplemental budget with GOP-opposed bond plans, as he preps a rain-soaked and flood-damaged state for more deluges.

The bill enjoys the support of local government and public utility groups.

Controller Chris Hollins warned the city lacks sufficient reserves to deal with weather-related disasters in the face of reduced federal financial assistance.

A Category 5 hurricane could lead to more than $200 billion in damage, Moody's Analytics said in a report released before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

A judge approved an injunction requested by 20 states to temporarily halt the Federal Emergency Management Agency from diverting money from a disaster preparedness program.

The legislature, which returns to respond to recent floods, could also take up bills to curb local property taxes, including bills aimed at bond issuance.

The St. Louis tornadoes came after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration mothballed its tracker of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters.

Lawsuits claiming the LADWP failed to keep a reservoir filled or maintain water equipment were cited in KBRA's downgrade of its water system's revenue bonds.

Pew Charitable Trust outlined how governments can better prepare for natural disasters to alleviate budget pressures as these incidents have grown in frequency and severity.