Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Atlantic Hurricane Season Awakens After Sleepy Start
Sep 25 2025 // This year’s Atlantic hurricane season has so far lagged behind long-term trends, generated oddities and left seasoned forecasters scratching their heads. But now it’s finally shaking off the doldrums and...
Xcel to Pay About $640 Million Over 2021 Colorado Wildfire
Sep 25 2025 // Utility Xcel Energy Inc. agreed to pay about $640 million to resolve claims that its power lines contributed to the 2021 ignition of the costliest wildfire in Colorado history. The company said in a filing Tuesday that it...
Hong Kong’s Airlines Evacuate Planes as They Wait Out Typhoon Ragasa
Sep 24 2025 // As Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, approached Hong Kong this week, mass flight cancellations and lost revenue were not the only headache for airlines based at one of the...
Typhoon Ragasa Eclipses Mangkhut in Hong Kong’s Wild Weather Run
Sep 24 2025 // Super Typhoon Ragasa’s fierce winds have kept Hong Kong’s most severe storm warning in place for the second-longest ever duration, eclipsing storm Mangkhut but falling short of an all-out record. The...
Guillermo del Toro Almost Lost His Movie Memorabilia in California Wildfire
Sep 24 2025 // Many fled when wildfires devastated Los Angeles earlier this year, but Guillermo del Toro rushed back in, determined to save his lifelong collection of horror memorabilia. It’s the same loyalty that finds him making...
Hong Kong Braces for Fierce Winds as Super Typhoon Nears
Sep 23 2025 // Hong Kong is facing a night of destructive winds and drenching rain as Super Typhoon Ragasa tracks toward the financial hub, potentially becoming the most damaging storm since Mangkhut in 2018. The typhoon weakened...
Wildfire Smoke Set to Cause Mounting Deaths and Economic Losses
Sep 22 2025 // Increased wildfire smoke could lead to 1.4 million premature deaths globally each year by the end of this century, according to a new study. Scientists at China’s Tsinghua University found that early deaths linked to...
Super Typhoon Lashes Philippines on Track Toward Hong Kong
Sep 22 2025 // Hong Kong is bracing for widespread damage and disruption from the approaching Super Typhoon Ragasa, which is currently churning off the northern coast of the Philippines with tree-snapping winds. The powerful storm is...
Forecasters Give Tropical Storm in Atlantic a Name, Say it Should Strengthen Soon
Sep 19 2025 // Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean but was far from land, forecasters said. The center of Gabrielle re-formed from its morning position and was located about 990 miles (1,600 kilometers) east...
Southern California Edison, Others Settle to Recover $2B Tied to Wildfires
Sep 19 2025 // Southern California Edison has reached a settlement agreement with several intervenors to allow the utility to recover about $2 billion of $5.6 billion in losses tied to the 2017–2018 wildfire and mudslide events. Out of...
Hong Kong Braces for Twin Storms as Forecasters Predict Super Typhoon
Sep 19 2025 // Hong Kong is facing a period of heavy rain and strong winds as two storms brew in warm tropical waters, with one system forecast to intensify into a super typhoon next week. A tropical depression is currently spinning in...
Where Are the Hurricanes This Season as the Atlantic Remains Quiet?
Sep 18 2025 // Not a single named storm has formed in the Atlantic Ocean in nearly three weeks, even though it’s the peak of hurricane season. “Where the heck are the Atlantic #hurricanes?” Philip Klotzbach, a...
Stein Wants $13.5B From Congress for NC Hurricane Helene Recovery
Sep 18 2025 // Stein in 2024 (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File) North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Monday requested $13.5 billion more from Congress in recovery aid for Hurricane Helene almost a year after the historic storm, saying additional...
Insurance Industry Reps Back Reauthorization of Federal Terrorism Backstop
Sep 17 2025 // Marsh McLennan lost 358 employees in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and in Washington today Michelle Sartain, who has worked at Marsh for more than 28 years, encouraged lawmakers to...
Tornadoes Destroyed Several Homes in Southeastern Utah
Sep 16 2025 // Tornadoes destroyed several homes in southeastern Utah over the weekend, but authorities said there were no reports of people injured. A storm produced two tornadoes in San Juan County in southeastern Utah over the span of...
California Commissioner Pushes for Wildfire Recovery Bill, Other Legislation
Sep 15 2025 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign several wildfire and health-related bills that have passed the Legislature and are now awaiting the governor’s approval. “They...
Hurricane Forecasts Are Missing the Mark as the Atlantic Stays Calm — So Far
Sep 12 2025 // It’s the statistical peak of Atlantic hurricane season, and there isn’t a storm in sight — for now. September’s second week is usually when the season gets into full swing, as warm ocean waters fuel...
California’s Paradise Still Recovering From Wildfire 7 Years Ago
Sep 12 2025 // Nearly seven years after Paradise was ravaged by wildfire, the foothill town smells like pine trees again. New homes are sprouting up on once-scorched lots. Construction trucks rumble through neighborhoods. An ice cream...
How Europe Lost an Area the Size of Cyprus to Wildfires This Year
Sep 12 2025 // Patricia Lamela was driving back to the Galician town of Larouco in northwest Spain when she got the call. It was Aug. 13, just before 7 p.m., and a neighbor told her there was a fire in the forest. Lamela, the mayor of...
When Is Your Home Safe After Wildfire Smoke? LA Researchers Have Some Answers
Sep 11 2025 // At a church parking lot near Los Angeles, two hazmat-suit-clad workers vacuumed and wiped most of the contents of Elle Schneider’s house. Surrounded by stacked plastic bins of books and clothes, they opened up the...
