Disasters

Al Gore told Democrats tonight that the 2008 election is close because defenders of the status quo "are desperately afraid of the change Barack Obama represents." And the former vice president said he knows something about close elections. He does...

Close to the shimmering disco balls, throbbing drums and the towering calla lilies of a Fortune 500 company extravaganza, a team dispatched on a late-night rescue mission rode silently up a freight elevator at the Field Museum. Armed with lightweight...

Tropical Storm Hanna emerged in the western Atlantic on Thursday and is forecast to approach the Florida coast as a hurricane. However, initial forecasts can contain large errors and computer models are in disagreement where the system might be in five...

With Gustav approaching hurricane strength and showing no signs of veering off a track to slam into the Gulf Coast, authorities across the region began laying the groundwork Thursday to get the sick, elderly and poor away from the shoreline. The first...

Tropical Storm Hanna is looking a bit ragged this evening, but the storm is still forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane moving in Florida's direction next week. At 5 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Hanna was located about...

"Disaster Movie," which opens Aug. 29, did not screen for critics. The Tribune will run a review when it becomes available.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Haitian officials are reporting 51 deaths from Gustav, raising the storm's overall toll to 59. Civil protection department director Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste says the death count increased fivefold on Thursday as news...

Morning commuter traffic was tied up for 31/2 hours in the Diamond Bar area because of a westbound Pomona Freeway crash involving three cars and a big-rig hauling animal fat. California Highway Patrol Officer Anthony Martin says three lanes of state...

Tourists and oil workers fled today as Gustav swamped eastern Jamaica on a path to hit the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force. Louisiana called a state of emergency and put the National Guard on standby, hoping to avoid the chaos of...

Drivers might want to top off their tanks early before hitting the road for Labor Day weekend. Consumers will likely face higher prices at the pump during the busy holiday period as Tropical Storm Gustav swirls toward the Gulf of Mexico on a path that...

As New Orleans residents warily track another threatening storm, a new report presents the clearest picture yet of deaths from Katrina in Louisiana. Of the nearly 1,000 who died, almost half were 75 or older, according to researchers. Most died on the...

Residents, tourists and oil workers fled as Gustav swamped Jamaica today, leaving 59 people dead in its wake. Louisiana and Texas put their national guards on standby, and New Orleans said a mandatory evacuation might be necessary. At least 51 people...