Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Washington Given $50,000 For Tsunami Debris Bags
Aug 31 2012 // The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has given the state of Washington $50,000 to help pay for trash bags and bins to collect debris washing ashore from the Japanese tsunami. The state Ecology Department...
Insurance Laws Hurting Colorado Wildfire Victims
Aug 31 2012 // Victims of wildfires that destroyed more than 600 homes this year say Colorado’s insurance laws need to be changed. State officials told victims attending a hearing in Fort Collins on Wednesday that they have heard...
Fat Tire Maker Says River Water Tainted By Colo. Wildfire
Aug 31 2012 // The maker of Fat Tire beer says it’s using a reserve water supply because the water in northern Colorado’s Poudre (POO’-der) River is tainted by a wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes in June. New...
Isaac Brings Relief to U.S. Drought Conditions
Aug 31 2012 // The remnants of Hurricane Isaac continue to cause headaches on Friday, bringing heavy rainfall and the threat of flash flooding to the lower Mississippi Valley as Gulf Coast residents get ready to start their cleanup...
Hurricane Kirk in Mid-Atlantic; TS Leslie May Hit Bermuda: NHC Reports
Aug 31 2012 // Two tropical cyclones – Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie – are currently active in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center in Miami is tracking both of them, as well as the remnants of...
Willis Research Sees Fewer, but Stronger, Hurricanes in Future Years
Aug 31 2012 // New research from the Willis Research Network (WRN) addresses scientific forecasts that “global warming is likely to lead to stronger tropical cyclones, but also that the overall global frequency of tropical storms...
Arkansas at Risk for Flash Floods, Tornadoes from Isaac
Aug 30 2012 // A flash flood watch covers much of Arkansas as what is now Tropical Storm Isaac lumbers toward the state. Forecasters also said Isaac’s storm cells have the potential to quickly spin off tornadoes that in some cases...
Isaac Heads North After Drenching U.S. Gulf, New Orleans
Aug 30 2012 // Tropical storm Isaac is expected to weaken further as it heads north on Thursday, after causing significant damage to the U.S. Gulf Coast but nothing on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in...
Citizens Advised to ‘Hunker Down’ as Isaac Pounds Louisiana
Aug 29 2012 // “Stay hunkered down.” That’s the message local, state and federal officials are telling the people of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana in response to a lingering Hurricane Isaac, now Tropical Storm...
U.S. P/C Insurers Expected to Withstand Isaac: Fitch
Aug 29 2012 // Fitch Ratings anticipates losses related to Hurricane Isaac will be largely borne by primary insurers, but estimates remain uncertain as the storm has yet to make landfall. Isaac is expected to be less powerful than the...
Hurricane Isaac Soaks Gulf Coast, Tests Levees
Aug 29 2012 // Hurricane Isaac drove water over the top of a levee on the outskirts of New Orleans on Wednesday, but the multibillion-dollar barriers built to protect the city itself after the 2005 Katrina disaster were not breached,...
Hurricane Isaac Hits Fortified New Orleans on Katrina’s Anniversary
Aug 29 2012 // Hurricane Isaac lashed southern Louisiana with high winds and heavy rains on Wednesday and was set for a late-morning arrival in New Orleans, seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. Isaac is the...
Tropical Storm Bolaven Makes Landfall in North Korea: AIR Analysis
Aug 29 2012 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, after weakening to borderline tropical storm/typhoon strength (120 km/h [75 mph] 10-minute sustained winds), Typhoon Bolaven made landfall in North Korea north of...
Isaac Now a Hurricane: Update
Aug 28 2012 // The National Hurricane Center says the center of what is now Hurricane Isaac may make landfall on the southeast Louisiana coastline as early as this evening. Not all forecasters share that timeline, however. Dr. Tim...
Isaac Becomes a Hurricane As It Churns Toward New Orleans
Aug 28 2012 // Tropical Storm Isaac strengthened into a hurricane just off the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday as it churned toward landfall in the New Orleans area seven years after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Isaac’s...
Arkansas in Forecast Zone for Tropical Storm Isaac
Aug 28 2012 // Arkansas is expected to see wind and rain from Tropical Storm Isaac, which is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Meteorologist Matthew Clay at the National Weather Service Office in North Little Rock...
Isaac Blows Past Florida Keys with Little Damage
Aug 28 2012 // Tropical Storm Isaac rolled over the open Gulf of Mexico on Monday, where it was expected to grow into a hurricane before hitting land somewhere between Louisiana and Florida and close to the seventh anniversary of...
Alabama Coast Evacuated for Isaac; Georgia Warned on Flooding, Tornadoes
Aug 28 2012 // Coastal Alabama is under a mandatory evacuation order as Isaac churns through the Gulf of Mexico. Gov. Robert Bentley ordered residents of southern Baldwin and Mobile counties to begin evacuating starting 8 a.m. Monday,...
Near-Hurricane Strength Isaac Takes Aim at New Orleans
Aug 28 2012 // Tropical Storm Isaac was near hurricane force as it bore down on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday and was expected to make landfall in the New Orleans area seven years after it was devastated by Hurricane...
Typhoon Bolaven Strikes Okinawa; Heads for South Korea: AIR Analysis
Aug 28 2012 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Typhoon Bolaven made landfall on northern Okinawa around 12:00 UTC on August 26, as a strong category 3 typhoon, as calculated by the Japan Meteorological Agency...
