Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Another Bad Year For Arizona Wildfires Could Return
Mar 5 2012 // Conditions that pushed fire through a million acres of Arizona grassland and forest last year could return this spring to Southern Arizona. The warnings are out, and some early fires have already proved difficult to...
Small Towns in Southeast Hit Hard by Tornadoes
Mar 5 2012 // Residents of towns throughout the Southeast are recovering from the shock of last Friday’s severe storms and tornadoes. Along with pubic and insurance officials, they are beginning to assess the damage from the...
2011 an Exceptional Year for Tornadoes
Mar 5 2012 // While 2011 marked the fourth deadliest year on record for tornadoes in the United States, Texas was spared tornado-related fatalities and recorded fewer-than-average number of such storms. Not so in Alabama, which led all...
U.S. Should Expect Another Above-Normal Tornado Season
Mar 5 2012 // The U.S. should expect an active severe weather season with above-normal tornadoes in 2012. That’s after a near-record number of tornadoes in 2011, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.com in State College,...
California Earthquake Authority Kicks Off Second Marketing Program for Agents
Mar 5 2012 // The business of selling earthquake insurance to homeowners may have just gotten a bit easier. The California Earthquake Authority has launched its annual “Marketing Value Program,” in which the quasi-private...
Natural Catastrophe Insurance Payouts Accelerate
Mar 5 2012 // Natural catastrophe-related insurance claims payouts to U.S. P/C policyholders grew seven-fold as a share of total claims payouts between 1960 and 2010. The trend has accelerated over the past two decades, with hurricanes...
Tornado Season Begins. Now What?
Mar 5 2012 // Tornado season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months, but it got off to an early and deadly start in late January when two people were killed by separate twisters in Alabama. Preliminary...
4.0 Earthquake in Missouri Shakes 9 States
Mar 5 2012 // Just days after the 200th anniversary of a series of massive earthquakes in southeast Missouri, residents woke up on Feb. 21, 2012, to a rumbling reminder that they live in one of the continent’s most active seismic...
Insurers Face Huge Losses from Latest Deadly Tornadoes
Mar 3 2012 // Less than a year after a series of tornadoes caused some of the worse insured losses in U.S. history, the insurance industry is likely facing substantial costs again after storms killed at least 33 people on...
Death Toll, Damage Mount from Tornadoes in Midwest, South
Mar 3 2012 // Across the South and Midwest, survivors emerged Saturday to find blue sky and splinters where homes once stood, cars flung into buildings and communications crippled after dozens of tornadoes chainsawed through a region of...
North Carolina Resolves Hurricane Irene Claims
Mar 2 2012 // North Carolina regulators have recovered over $400,000 for policyholders stemming from claims filed in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. At the same time, the regulators are calling for a five year extension in the federal...
Tales of Chaos After Deadly Pre-Dawn Midwest Storms
Mar 2 2012 // Jeff Rann had ample warning that terrible weather was approaching before dawn. A frantic call to his wife from his mother-in-law alerted them to reports that a tornado was barreling down, and Rann heard the deafening wail...
Storm Damages Missouri Country Music Resort Town, Kills 9
Mar 2 2012 // AP Photo: The News-Leader, Dean Curtis A powerful storm system that produced multiple reports of tornadoes and lashed the Midwest early Wednesday roughed up the entertainment resort town of Branson and laid waste to small...
Storm That Hit Branson Was 22-Mile Tornado
Mar 2 2012 // The National Weather Service has confirmed that the heavy damage in the southwestern Missouri town of Branson was caused by a 22-mile-long tornado. The agency’s office in Springfield said an EF2 tornado with maximum...
Storms Blamed for 4 Deaths, Widespread Damage in Midwest
Mar 1 2012 // A powerful storm system that produced multiple reports of tornadoes lashed the Midwest early Wednesday, roughing up the country music resort city of Branson and laying waste to a small town in Kansas. At least four people...
1-5 Percent Of Tsunami Debris Could Reach West Coast
Feb 29 2012 // Tsunamis generated by the magnitude-9 earthquake in Japan last March dragged 3 million to 4 million tons of debris into the ocean after tearing up Japanese harbors and homes. Scientists believe ocean currents are carrying...
California Commissioner Jones Announces Settlement for Earthquake Policyholders
Feb 28 2012 // The California Department of Insurance has settled a noncompliance action against GeoVera Insurance Co. following a 2010 investigation into consumer complaints concerning GeoVera’s underwriting practices. GeoVera...
Light Earthquake Felt in Alaska Communities
Feb 28 2012 // Seismologists say a light earthquake struck Alaska’s east-central region and was felt in several communities. The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says the 4.3 magnitude quake occurred at 2:42 p.m. Sunday about 8...
Oklahoma Panel Rejects Earthquake Insurance Notification Bill
Feb 27 2012 // An Oklahoma state representative said he is disappointed that a legislative panel rejected a bill aimed at informing consumers about earthquake insurance. Oklahoma State Rep. Mike Shelton said the House Insurance Committee...
Forecasters Unsure What to Expect This Tornado Season
Feb 27 2012 // Tornado season is starting, but don’t ask meteorologists how bad it will be this spring and summer. They don’t know. They’re having a hard enough time getting a fix on the likely path of storms expected...
