From CNN: Earth just experienced one of the warmest years on record

New CRS Report: The Disaster Relief Fund, an Overview. It is 34 pages.

From Vox, this update on Trump Border Wall Animals.

‘Unprecedented’ Floods in Australia Force Hundreds to Evacuate

Between Jan. 26 and the morning of Feb. 4, there was close to four feet of rain in Townsville, a coastal city in the state of Queensland, eclipsing records set in 1998 during a flood known as the “Night of Noah.”

“In seven days, we’ve received our annual total rainfall,” said Jenny Hill, the mayor of Townsville. “We’ve never seen weather like this.”

After a natural disaster, courier services such as USPS and UPS help communities return to a sense of normalcy.

USPS has sophisticated contingency plans for natural disasters. Across the country, 285 emergency-management teams are devoted to crisis control; * * * these teams are trained annually using a framework known as the three p’s: people, property, product. After a weather-necessitated service outage, the agency’s top priority is ensuring that employees are safe, after which it evaluates the health of infrastructure, such as the roads that mail carriers drive on. Finally, it decides when and how to reopen operations.

From the WashPost: Near site of Fukushima nuclear disaster, a shattered town and scattered lives

‘Just get moving.’ Trump admin sits on $16B for disasters

Texas is one of nearly a dozen states and territories waiting for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to unlock $16 billion in disaster mitigation funds that were allocated nearly a year ago by Congress to help vulnerable communities get ready for the next Hurricanes Harvey, Irma or Maria.

Two major hurricanes made landfall since the money was approved. Still, states and territories like Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Puerto Rico are unable to tap the largest well of disaster mitigation funds ever appropriated by Congress.

Nobody seems to know why.

HUD officials — back from a 35-day furlough — aren’t saying when the administrative logjam will clear. “We hope to publish the program rules shortly. Precisely when, I can’t say,” agency spokesman Brian Sullivan said in an email early this week. He provided no additional details.

Officials in coastal states, and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, say that every day of delay is one day closer to the 2019 hurricane season, and the prospect of billions of dollars in additional property losses.