Takeaways: Climate change is expected to make atmospheric rivers like the ones that struck California even more destructive. A major atmospheric river event in the state could cost at least $200 billion, according to a model by USC Price School Professor Adam Rose. Potential solutions include banning construction in certain areas, buying out at-risk homes,…

Stream local breaking news and original programming, live 24/7, from ABC7 Bay Area. SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A group of California wildfire survivors and delegates lobbied at Capitol Hill this week to pass a bill that would make PG&E Fire Victim settlement payments federally tax-free. Right now, those payments are considered income by the federal government.…

You might say that Jennifer Gray Thompson, a Sonoma resident helping communities rebuild after life-changing wildfires and megafires, was destined for this line of work. But with her mission rooted in community disaster, she continues to suffer an inherent degree of unease. “I still get afraid, and I’ve learned to live with a certain degree…

North Bay congressional representative Mike Thompson was notably absent from this year’s State of the Union address. That’s because he was a designated survivor, meaning the congressman took in the speech from a secure location in case of a catastrophe at the U.S. capitol. KRCB spoke with Thompson’s guest attendee about her experience. “I love America,” Jennifer Gray…

Jennifer Gray Thompson, CEO of the Sonoma-based nonprofit After The Fire, is on Forbes ‘50 over 50: Impact’ list of national changemakers. The publication called Thompson a leader in the recent field of megafire disasters across the American West. Thompson’s path to leadership took several turns, Forbes noted. She was a high school dropout, a…

Jennifer Gray Thompson was recognized alongside Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson and bestselling author Brene Brown. Sonoma nonprofit leader Jennifer Gray Thompson was listed on Forbes’ 50 Over 50 2022: Women Stepping Into Their Power In Life’s Second Half, and she didn’t even know it. As she checked her phone with sleepy eyes on the…

It was 15 years ago, in May 2007, that an EF5 tornado barreled through the 1,300-person city of Greensburg, Kansas. In just 15 minutes, give or take, 12 people were killed and 95 percent of the town was obliterated, according to Stacy Barnes, who grew up in the town and is now its administrator. “We…

Amid the crumpled, twisted remains of the Plumas County town of Greenville, few people stirred, other than the constant caravans of disaster response teams driving through what had until recently been a picturesque Gold Rush town. Against the sprawling devastation, Jennifer Gray Thompson stood out, calmly snapping photos of a scene that seemed startling, yet…