Brady Dennis
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bradydennis.bsky.social
Brady Dennis
@bradydennis.bsky.social
National environmental reporter for The Washington Post, focused primarily on the Southeast. Tar Heel born and bred. brady.dennis@washpost.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/brady-dennis/
For the latest in a @washingtonpost series about places where extreme rainfall is hitting hardest around the globe, I spent time in one of the "hot spots" increasingly vulnerable to heavy rains and devastating floods: central Appalachia.
www.washingtonpost.com/weather/inte...
Where the sky keeps bursting
A Washington Post investigation shows why much of the eastern U.S. is increasingly vulnerable to extreme rain and floods.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:09 PM
N.C. counties that busted budgets after Helene still waiting for FEMA to pay them back

www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025...
N.C. counties that busted budgets after Helene still waiting for FEMA to pay them back
A year after Hurricane Helene, FEMA hasn’t reimbursed millions of dollars spent on cleanup and recovery, upending local budgets and hindering reconstruction.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:08 PM
5 more Outer Banks houses collapse into the ocean amid stormy seas

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
5 more Outer Banks houses collapse into the ocean amid stormy seas
Over the past five years, 17 homes have fallen along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Amid hurricane season, FEMA staffers reassigned to support deportations, via Brianna Sacks

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Amid hurricane season, FEMA staffers reassigned to support deportations
DHS said the moves won’t hinder disaster readiness, but current and former FEMA officials said losing that many people will hurt an already much reduced agency.
wapo.st
August 6, 2025 at 7:10 PM
“How do you plan for the worst thing you’ve never seen?”

A new era of floods has arrived. America isn’t prepared.
via @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social @kcrowebasspro.bsky.social @naemas.bsky.social @bennollweather.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
A new era of floods has arrived. America isn’t prepared.
A Washington Post investigation reveals why so few people evacuated in the state hit hardest by last year’s deadliest disaster.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 21, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Between broken tree limbs and muddied cabins, a father looks for his missing child
⁦‪@arelisrhdz‬⁩

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Between broken tree limbs and muddied cabins, a father looks for his missing child
Michael McCown drove to the Hill Country when he learned of the flood. His little girl had been at Camp Mystic, among the youngest girls in the Bubble Inn cabin.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 6, 2025 at 2:02 AM
More than a decade after water crisis, Flint, Mich., has finally replaced most of its lead pipes.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Flint finally replaced its lead pipes
The contamination in Flint, Michigan, sparked a national dialogue about the harms of lead pipes and the country’s aging water infrastructure.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 2, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Land deal ends controversial mining fight near Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp

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Land deal ends controversial mining fight near Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp
The landmark deal ends a years-long fight over a proposed mine next to one of the South’s last truly wild places.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I remember making my way to Chimney Rock just after Hurricane Helene hit, and struggling to grasp the scope of devastation. Almost 8 months later, I went back to see how a town that almost got wiped off the map is trying to resurrect itself:
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
This town was wiped out by Helene. How does it come back?
Chimney Rock, N.C., a popular tourist destination, is hoping to welcome back visitors this summer. But nearly eight months after Hurricane Helene destroyed it, an uncertain future remains.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 22, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Despite all the work, many private roads in western North Carolina remain in disrepair months after Helene. Here is the story of one:

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Months after Helene, it’s still hard to drive these North Carolina roads
North Carolina is strewn with private roads and bridges. More than 7,000 still need repairs in the aftermath of storm Helene.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 10, 2025 at 8:15 PM
From raging fires to record floods, more families across the U.S. are experiencing devastating impacts of the climate crisis. @bittersouth.bsky.social has a dispatch from Western North Carolina on how mothers are shouldering that burden after Helene:
bittersoutherner.com/2025/issue-1...
Mothering at the End of the World — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
After Helene, mothers held their infants tight as they swam to safety. Held their toddlers close as tree limbs crashed through their roofs. Held their teenagers fiercely after their kids witnessed dea...
bittersoutherner.com
April 30, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Brady Dennis
Heartbreaking reporting from @bradydennis.bsky.social on the few Helene victims who remain missing more than seven months after the storm -- and the N.C. law that prevents grieving families from moving on. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
After Helene, N.C. bill could make it easier to declare missing loved ones dead
Even if a person has been missing for years, he or she is not presumed dead in the state. Alena’s Law, named after a 31-year-old missing since Hurricane Helene, will make death declarations easier for...
www.washingtonpost.com
April 30, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Which cities have the most trees? See how yours stacks up. via @bananafish.bsky.social

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Which cities have the most trees? See how yours stacks up.
Why some U.S. cities are so much greener than others
www.washingtonpost.com
April 23, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Trump touts ‘clean coal’ — but cuts programs that protect miners, via @maxinejoselow.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Trump touts ‘clean coal’ — but cuts programs that protect miners
A federal program that screens coal miners for black lung disease has been shuttered because of layoffs and budget cuts.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 23, 2025 at 4:55 PM
My colleague Bri Sacks on a reality so many will face:
"Each major, once unfathomable disaster has been laying out the truth in clear, plain terms: In this era of climate change, there are fewer and fewer safe places. Great loss, for many of us, is inevitable."
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
I’m a disaster reporter. But I was not prepared to watch my city burn.
In the era of climate change, contending with loss has become inevitable.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 11, 2025 at 6:25 PM
DOGE cuts at a Florida manatee refuge have been reversed — for now
April 9, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Wildfires have always burned in the South. Here’s why they’re getting worse.

Latest w/@RubyMellen from a smoky, smoldering western North Carolina

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Wildfires have always burned in the South. Here’s why they’re getting worse.
Storm debris, population growth and dry conditions are all contributing to a viscious fire season in the South.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 26, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Brady Dennis
In the Australian outback, people survive surging heat waves by living underground -- or else take on mounting energy costs to keep cool. A fascinating dispatch on how climate change is exacerbating racial and economic divides, by Michael E. Miller:
In the Australian outback, climate change widens the racial divide
In the scorching Australian opal mining town of Coober Pedy, White people live in cool “dugouts” while their Aboriginal neighbors suffer above, often without AC.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM