Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Damages Mount, Again, in Storm-battered South Central States
May 13 2008 // As the town of Picher, Okla., begins to climb out of the wreckage of the deadly tornado that swept across Southeastern Oklahoma and into Missouri and beyond over the May 10 weekend, some are predicting that the town may...
Tornados in Southwestern Missouri Kill 15; Governor Calls in National Guard
May 12 2008 // Category K-4 tornadoes that cut across three states on Saturday (May 10) night killed 15 people in southwestern Missouri. The hardest areas hit were in rural southwestern Missouri about eight miles north of Senaca and 10...
North Carolina Teams Assess Tornado-affected Counties
May 12 2008 // North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley dispatched damage assessment teams comprised of state and local officials to Jones and Bertie counties to begin the process of assessing damage from the storm that swept through the area on...
Argo Group Offers Hurricane Insurance in Hawaii
May 12 2008 // Hawaii Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt announced the formation of a partnership between Argo Group US and First Insurance Company of Hawai’i (FICOH). The new joint venture will offer hurricane insurance to First...
Virginia to Hold First Tax Holiday for Hurricane Preparedness
May 12 2008 // Virginians looking to prepare for hurricane season can thank the state for an upcoming tax holiday on items to keep their families ready in case of a storm. Virginia is holding its first hurricane preparedness tax holiday...
U.S. Tornadoes Take at Least 21 Lives, Destroy Homes, Power Lines
May 12 2008 // Tornadoes killed at least 21 people and injured hundreds as they ripped through the central and southeastern United States over the weekend, destroying homes, overturning cars and downing trees and power lines. Authorities...
Mississippi Emergency Agency Reports Damage in Latest Round of Tornadoes
May 9 2008 // Severe weather and tornadoes moved through several North Mississippi counties on May 8 causing damage to property and infrastructure. The state emergency operations center in Pearl, Miss. posted initial damage reports in...
One Year after Tornado, Greensburg Still Struggling to Survive
May 9 2008 // Unlike Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, one year after a devastating tornado destroyed their town, many in Greensburg, Kan. are still not able to go home. Some 700 residents remain in the town that once had a population of...
AIR Analyzes Tokyo Earthquake
May 9 2008 // AIR Worldwide has released an analysis of a strong earthquake that struck just off the Japanese island of Honshu on Wednesday. The trembler rattled buildings in downtown Tokyo and briefly cut power to thousands of...
University Research Aims to Improve Tornado Predictions
May 8 2008 // Three hot-air balloons dropped asphalt shingles, lumber, sticks, leaves and pine needles onto a north Alabama landfill, so scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville could gather data needed to improve tornado...
Florida Authorities Work to Contain Wildfire at Lake Okeechobee
May 7 2008 // Florida officials are working to contain a wildfire at Lake Okeechobee. The state Division of Forestry says about 4,000 acres of muck and grass are burning on the dry lake bed near Moore Haven, about 80 miles west of West...
Tornadoes Hit Tennessee, Demolish Mobile Homes, Injure 4
May 6 2008 // The National Weather Service said four weak tornadoes were spawned by a storm system that moved through Tennessee’s Montgomery County in the early morning hours of May 4. One struck Clarksville’s fairgrounds...
Illinois Creates Seismic Safety Task Force to Prepare for Earthquakes
May 6 2008 // Illinois has decided to create a panel aimed at improving earthquake preparedness. The Illinois Seismic Safety Task Force will assess how high-risk portions of the state have prepared to minimize earthquake damage. The...
Small Earthquake Hits St. Louis County
May 6 2008 // There are no reports of damage after a small earthquake shook parts of the St. Louis, Mo., area on Monday, May 5th in the morning. The magnitude 2.7 quake at 6:25 a.m. was centered in Fenton in southwest St. Louis County....
Insurers not Impressed with Florida’s Revamped Insurance Package
May 5 2008 // While many Florida lawmakers claim to be opposed to gambling, they don’t mind taking a chance on Mother Nature. They rolled the dice again on May 1, signing off on a new insurance bill that does little to alleviate...
Illinois School Damaged by Earthquake
May 5 2008 // The 5.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the Midwest last month has caused damage to a gym at an elementary school in East Alton,. Ill. Officials at Eastwood elementary School have roped off the gym with yellow caution...
California Earthquake: Damage Predictions of ‘Big One’ Get Bigger
May 5 2008 // A new report is predicting that a repeat of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake would damage more than 90,000 buildings and cost $150 billion to repair. According to the report, “When the Big One Strikes...
On Shaky Ground
May 5 2008 // There have been a lot of rumblings lately — with scientists recording earthquakes in Nevada, Oregon and throughout the Midwest ranging from magnitudes 4.7 to 5.4. The U.S. Geological survey recently noted that...
Survey: Majority of October’s California Wildfire Claims Settled
May 5 2008 // A new survey of insurance companies estimated that nearly 90 percent of claims stemming from the devastating October 2007 fire and wind storms in California have been settled. A poll by the Insurance Information Network of...
Earthquakes Raise Questions of Future Shocks, Public Readiness
May 5 2008 // Just weeks after earthquakes rattled Nevada, the Midwest and the coast of Oregon, and on the heels of the 102nd anniversary of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake, the public, government officials and insurance industry...
