Useful Links

United States Geological Survey (USGS)
http://www.usgs.gov/
 
The USGS website provides a plethera of information about everything hazards. There is more information here than one could ever ask for. You can use this site to find out where hazard events are occurring. I especially like the hazard pages where you can find real-time data and monitoring because I like to stay on top of what is current. Some of the links I find most useful are:

     - Earthquake Hazards: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
          - Here you can find significant earthquake events from the past 30 days, as well as a real-time "Latest Earthquakes" map showing the most recent events. You can also learn about preparedness and earthquake monitoring from the links on the top of the page.

     - Volcano Hazards: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/
          - This page opens with a current volcanic activity and alerts map. You can also find a cool photoglossary (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/index.php) that gives information about everything volcano-related.

     - Floods: http://water.usgs.gov/floods/
          - Here you can find current water conditions, river forecasts, and a real-time food mapper (http://wim.usgs.gov/fimi/)

     - Landslides: http://landslides.usgs.gov/
          - Here you can find current landslide advisory information as well as links to some real-time monitoring sites (http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring/)

     - Emergency Management: http://www.usgs.gov/natural_hazards/emergencymanagement/
          - Here you can find information on the emergency management programs and resources the USGS provides to the National Response Framework. You can even find unusual information here, such as wildlife mortality events (http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/mortality_events/ongoing.jsp) and information on various diseases (http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/)

NASA Earth Observatory Hazards Page
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/

This is a nice site to use because it stays up to date with what is happening around the world, gives you images of hazard events, and pinpoints them on a world map. You can then search further for these events with a search engine and find news stories about them, as well as check their reference list with each story. With this site, you can also view hazard events by month, or by specific topic like fires or floods to find exactly what you are looking for. I like this page because it is straightforward and all of the information can be found easily in one place.

The Weather Channel
www.weather.com

A great website that not only provides good information on weather disasters, but also news relevant to the environment, nature, science and space. For a blog on hazards like mine, this was a natural starting point. I like this site because I know I can almost always find a useful story and that it will be straight to the point and factual, and usually include as nice map or slideshow of related photos. My favorite sub-page is the environmental news page at http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment

News Sources (below)
In general, these links are all alike in some ways. After finding an interesting hazard event from one of my sources above, I can hop over to one of these news outlets and almost always find a news story about it. I like to use these sources to get information to use in my posts, which I then incorporate into my summary of the event.

NBC News
www.nbcnews.com

NBC's website provides news on just about everything going on in the U.S. as well as the rest of the world. You can almost always find something hazard-related in their "World News" section at http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032507/ns/world_news/ or the "Weather" section at http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032128/ns/weather/

ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/

ABC's news website goes hand-in-hand with NBC, providing a ton of information about everything going on in the United States and the rest of the world. Again, I like their "World" page at http://abcnews.go.com/international the best.

CNN
http://www.cnn.com/?hpt=sitenav

Another good news source to use when searching for stories on hazards you find on more informational websites. As with the others, I usually like to start in the "World" section at http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/?hpt=sitenav