David Sherfinski

The devastation across the southeastern United States wrought by Hurricane Helene has brought the federal government's emergency response apparatus into focus ahead of the November election as authorities work to pick up the pieces.

With rebuilding in North Carolina, Georgia and elsewhere likely to take months, if not years, the responsibility will eventually fall to either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump, one of whom will replace President Joe Biden in January.

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina is one of several area refuges receiving cash from President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which contains billions for clean energy and climate resilience.

Rebekah Martin, with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, said one shoreline area "changes a little bit" every time she visits, underscoring how vulnerable the region is to climate change.

Fearing that Donald Trump could kill off green initiatives if he wins the U.S. election, President Joe Biden's administration is racing to spend the tens of billions of dollars it had earmarked for climate action.

Trump, who is running against Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed Biden, has put the president's climate and energy agenda in the crosshairs on the campaign trail.

Filiberto Lares spends his days in a truck with no air conditioning restocking airplanes with food and drinks at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where temperatures inside his cab can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius).

Lares struggles to protect his soles from the scorching metal in the trucks, but is still often left with a painful burning sensation in his feet.

The rights of millions of independent workers in the United States may hinge on the presidential election, with supporters of the candidates pushing widely divergent views of how federal policy should regulate the gig economy.

In the United States, workers who find jobs via apps are mostly treated as independent contractors and have far fewer legal protections than traditional employees.

Dulce Suarez-Resnick, an insurance agent in Florida, hears plenty from people complaining how flood maps can trigger new insurance costs for them yet leave their neighbours unscathed. 

As climate risk data becomes ever more prevalent, U.S. homeowners now have new know-how to future-proof their main asset but may also end up paying more to guard against the possible fallout of a fast-changing climate.

When Eric Wiersma moved to working in a dispatch centre coordinating often-complex firefighting field operations after working on an engine for about 20 years, he swiftly learned the job was much more than simply answering radio calls.

"We're kind of running it and in command of that incident until someone gets there on the ground," said Wiersma. "At the end of the day ... we make sure that everybody else gets home safe before we close up shop and go home. 

A growing number of U.S. states are seeking to close what critics call a loophole in the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery but still effectively legalises involuntary servitude as punishment for convicts.

The constitutional amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery except as punishment for crimes.

President Joe Biden's administration is advancing a first-of-its-kind proposal to safeguard indoor and outdoor workers from the perils of extreme heat as the United States swelters under record-breaking temperatures this summer.

But it will still likely take years to enact a federal rule that could be undone with the stroke of a pen should Donald Trump win the White House – or by a U.S. Supreme Court that just dealt a major blow to the federal government's regulatory authorities.

U.S. President Joe Biden's seismic announcement this week that he will not seek re-election has left political parties scrambling with less than four months until November's election.

It has also poised Vice President Kamala Harris to supplant Biden as the Democratic party's candidate to take on former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.