The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "natural disasters" ...
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Anatomy of an Investigation
Use these tips when investigating safety issues involving construction sites and buildings that are already in use.
Tags: construction; school safety; oversight; public records; mismanagement; documents
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Covering the big disaster (and quick-hit story ideas)
Dowdell offers step by step instruction on how to cover big disasters and quick-hit stories. She also includes many helpful database links such as OSHA, EPA, and FAA.
Tags: natural disasters; OSHA; EPA; FAA; IRE; lotteries; taxes
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Your Data is Dirty
Armendariz's PowerPoint gives you instructions on how to use data to report on disasters when they strike and how to make connections.
Tags: data; natural disasters; OpenLayers; Geodjango
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Investigating Unlikely Disasters: Post-Disaster Approaches
Many natural disasters happen so rarely that we forget what to do when one strikes. Donn gives great tips on what and how to investigate the post-disaster story.
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Be Prepared, Before the Storm Hits (PowerPoint)
Start planning before the storm hits. Stock and Armendariz provide this useful PowerPoint on what to do before it's too late.
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Investigating After Weather Disaster
Finley, winner of Breaking News Investigation category-IRE 2011, describes in detail what to do before, during, and after the weather strikes.
Tags: natural disaster; flooding; tornado; hurricane; disaster planing
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Measuring risk: From earthquakes to nuclear plants, how to investigate community preparedness
Get tips on how to investigate community preparedness. Johnson offers lessons learned from "On Shaky Ground," a 19-month investigation of the seismic safety of California's schools.
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Covering Natural Disasters
Covering natural disasters can be an overwhelming task, use these tips from McClure, Chief Environmental Correspondent at InvestigateWest. He provides advice for before the weather starts.
Tags: tornadoes; hurricanes; floods; post-disaster coverage
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Databases in Disaster
Kucharski details how to report on natural disasters with the assistance of databases. He covered the June 2008 flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Databases played an important role in our coverage as the community went from a state of shock to rebuilding. We used databases in three main ways: simple searchable databases providing basic community information, as a tool to assist our ongoing reporting and as a stand-alone storytelling tool."
Tags: natural disasters; disasters; flooding; databases; computer-assisted reporting; CAR; assessor
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Data Before and After a Disaster
Heath lists and describes different federal programs that provide financial assistance after a natural disaster. He discusses where to get records of each program's spending, and how to best incorporate that information into a CAR story. Heath also describes the programs used by federal agencies to run simulations and assess potential damage; most of those programs are available for free and could be useful for reporters covering a recent disaster.
Tags: natural disaster; FEMA; forest service; demographics; geophysical data; SBA loans; flood insurance; housing assistance