Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Issues Moratorium on Insurers Non-Renewing or Cancelling Following Wildfires
Nov 5 2020 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Thursday announced a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies non-renewing or cancelling residential property insurance policies, a move he says is aimed at...
Another Severe Storm Threatens Philippines Just Days After Super Typhoon Goni
Nov 5 2020 // The Philippines is bracing for a severe tropical storm that’s expected to hit its northern tip days after Super Typhoon Goni left. Storm Atsani will likely strengthen into a typhoon with peak intensity of 120...
Category 4 Hurricane Eta Makes Landfall in Nicaragua, with Dangerous Floods Expected
Nov 4 2020 // Hurricane Eta has made landfall in northern Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm, with life-threatening flood from rainfall predicted for much of Central America, according to a report from Weather Underground. Eta’s eye...
Hurricane Zeta Insured Loss Estimates Range from $1.5B to More than $4B
Nov 3 2020 // Insured losses from Hurricane Zeta — the fifth named storm to make landfall in Louisiana and the third hurricane to hit the state in the span of two months — will likely come in somewhere between $1.5 billion and $4.4...
Landslide from Tropical Storm Zeta Causes 90-Mile Detour in North Carolina
Nov 2 2020 // A landslide caused by Tropical Storm Zeta has blocked a North Carolina road, severing access between mountain counties and forcing motorists to take a 90-mile detour, officials said Friday. McDowell County Emergency...
Update: Insurance Price Tag from Hurricane Zeta Estimated at $4.3B in U.S.
Nov 2 2020 // Insurers are bracing for a hit of about $4.3 billion from Hurricane Zeta in the United States, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Monday. At least six people were killed in the southeast of the...
Rescue Efforts Continue After Earthquake Strikes Turkey, Greece with at Least 57 Dead
Nov 2 2020 // IZMIR, Turkey – Rescue workers extricated a 70-year-old man from a collapsed building in western Turkey on Sunday, some 34 hours after a strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea struck Turkey and Greece, killing at least 57...
Tropical Storm Eta Ties 2005 Record for Most Named Atlantic Storms in One Year
Nov 2 2020 // Tropical Storm Eta formed overnight [on Sunday, Nov. 1] in the Caribbean, becoming the Atlantic’s 28th storm of 2020 and tying a 2005 record for the most named systems in a single year in records going back to...
California Pledges to Protect Homeowners from Insurer Withdrawals Due to Wildfires
Nov 2 2020 // California’s insurance commissioner in late October pledged to step up efforts to protect the state’s residents from wildfires and address a pullback of private insurers from the state’s riskiest...
Louisiana Issues Insurer Data Call for Hurricane Delta Damage Claims
Oct 30 2020 // Property/casualty insurance companies in Louisiana, including those that write private and/or excess flood coverage, as well as surplus lines insurers, have been directed to report claims data arising from Hurricane Delta...
Scientists Want New Framework for Understanding California Wildfire Costs, Risks
Oct 29 2020 // A new report out shows challenges current fire management policies in California, proposes a new framework for understanding the total cost of wildfire in the state and suggests that health impacts from smoke my represent...
Utility in California Slow to Pull Plug Before Wildfire Erupted
Oct 29 2020 // Correction: In an earlier version of this story, the Associated Press misspelled the last name of Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy. Facing extreme wildfire conditions this week that included...
New Storm Takes Aim at Philippines, Just Days After Devastation of Typhoon Molave
Oct 29 2020 // The Philippines is bracing for a new storm that will hit the Southeast Asian nation this weekend, days after Typhoon Molave left at least 16 people dead and thousands in evacuation sites. Goni, which developed into a...
Typhoon Molave Slams Vietnam, Killing at Least 16: News Report
Oct 29 2020 // Typhoon Molave hit Vietnam’s central coastline and northern Central Highlands with winds of up to 133 kilometers per hour on Wednesday, triggering landslides in Quang Nam province, VnExpress news website reported,...
Hurricane Zeta Slams Louisiana With High Winds, Storm Surge
Oct 28 2020 // Oct 28 06:10 PM. Hurricane Zeta smashed into Louisiana on Wednesday with 110-mile-per-hour (175 kph) winds and what government trackers called “a life-threatening storm surge,” the third hurricane to hit the...
Correction: Southern California Edison Says Equipment May Have Sparked Wildfire
Oct 28 2020 // Southern California Edison said its equipment may have sparked a fast-moving wildfire that forced evacuation orders for some 100,000 people and seriously injured two firefighters on Monday as powerful winds across the...
Typhoon Molave Heads to Vietnam After Killing at Least 9 People in Philippines
Oct 27 2020 // Typhoon Molave killed at least nine people and left 13 others missing in the Philippines, according to disaster-response officials, before heading over to the South China Sea on its way to Vietnam. The storm affected more...
UPDATE: Tropical Storm Zeta Makes Landfall in Mexico, Threatens U.S. Gulf Coast
Oct 27 2020 // Zeta will move into the Gulf of Mexico in the next few hours after making landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula, then regain strength as it heads north toward Louisiana and likely comes ashore Wednesday. Now a tropical storm...
Some Alaskans Beyond Danger Received Tsunami Warning
Oct 26 2020 // Some Alaska residents received tsunami warnings on their cellphones following an earthquake earlier this week, including customers in the Anchorage area who were outside the potential danger zone. There was no concern over...
BP Evacuates Staff from 4 Gulf of Mexico Oil Platforms as Tropical Storm Zeta Intensifies
Oct 26 2020 // BP on Sunday said it has begun to evacuate four offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil platforms and secure facilities as Tropical Storm Zeta sprang up in the Caribbean Sea. The 27th named storm of this year’s Atlantic...
