Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West-Central, Southern Minnesota Hit with Tornado, Large Hail
Jun 5 2020 // At least one tornado moved through west-central and southern Minnesota, but there are no reports of injuries or widespread damage, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado was reported near Garden City about...
Magnitude 5.5 Earthquake Confirmed in California Desert Region
Jun 5 2020 // A magnitude 5.5 earthquake has jolted the region of California desert where a powerful quake last summer was followed by thousands of aftershocks, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The USGS says Wednesday’s quake...
Homes Burned, Evacuations Ordered in California Wildfire
Jun 5 2020 // A grass fire burning northeast of San Francisco destroyed or damaged about a dozen homes Wednesday and prompted evacuations of several streets, fire officials said. The fire erupted at around 3:30 p.m. near a wildlife...
Florida Rethinks Hurricane Plans in Midst of Coronavirus
Jun 4 2020 // Florida’s emergency manager is expressing complete confidence that the state is prepared for a hurricane during the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, but some local directors aren’t sharing the same level of...
Amid Pandemic, Oil Refineries, Offshore Drillers Face Hurricane Challenges
Jun 4 2020 // As oil and gas companies began shutting offshore production before the first tropical storm of the season in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, experts said restarting wells and refineries will take longer and prove more costly this...
Some Gulf of Mexico Oil Rigs Evacuate Workers as Tropical Storm Cristobal Threatens
Jun 3 2020 // BP Plc began turning off production at three platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico and evacuating workers because of the threat from Tropical Storm Cristobal, forecast to make landfall in Louisiana over the weekend, the...
NHC: Tropical Storm Cristobal Expected to Enter Gulf on Friday
Jun 3 2020 // A tropical disturbance currently moving inland over eastern Mexico is expected to re-enter the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, according to information from the National Hurricane Center. The NHC said Tropical Storm Cristobal...
Grounded Airplanes at Risk from Asia’s Tropical Storm Season, Industry Experts Warn
Jun 3 2020 // Airlines, airports and insurers across Asia are bracing for the prospect of unusually high damage as the region’s tropical storm season begins, as hundreds of aircraft grounded by the coronavirus pandemic can’t...
How Florida’s Strained Insurance Market is Facing COVID-19, Hurricane Season
Jun 3 2020 // From the threat of insurer ratings downgrades to mounting carrier losses because of excessive litigation to increasing insurance rates, Florida’s insurance market got off to a rocky start in 2020. Then came the...
1st Tropical Storm of Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season Floods Part of Central America
Jun 2 2020 // The first tropical storm of the Eastern Pacific season drenched parts of Central America Sunday and officials in El Salvador said at least seven people had died in flooding. President Nayib Bukele decreed a 15-day state of...
Florida Cat Fund Foregoes Private Reinsurance for 2020 Hurricane Season
Jun 2 2020 // Reinsurance coverage for the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund will not be purchased for the upcoming hurricane season after overseers of the fund evaluated the market and found a lack of private capital availability. In...
Lexington Insurance Wins Texas Battle of Hurricane Harvey Deductibles
Jun 1 2020 // In a case of competing deductibles, a federal appeals court has sided with an insurer and against the owner of two Houston office buildings, holding that a larger windstorm deductible applied to flood damage caused by...
Pandemic-Hit Re/insurers Expect a Costly Hurricane Season – and Rates Are Rising
Jun 1 2020 // The official start of the Atlantic hurricane season on Monday could signal more steep losses for insurers and reinsurers, already battered by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their underwriting and investment...
Coronavirus Could Complicate Hurricane Response, Warns Catastrophe Modeler
Jun 1 2020 // “Hurricanes and COVID-19 are not a good mix,” says catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Co., warning in a report that the pandemic will make what forecasters already predict to be an above-average...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Lays Out Funding Plan for 2020 Hurricane Season
Jun 1 2020 // The board of directors of Texas’ property insurer of last resort for wind and hail in the state’s coastal counties in February set a goal of $4.2 billion in catastrophe funding for 2020. At a meeting of the...
Survey: Florida Residents More Concerned for Hurricane Season Amid Pandemic
May 29 2020 // As Florida gets ready to officially start hurricane season, a new survey shows a majority of residents are more concerned for this year’s potential storms than in previous years, given the simultaneous continuing...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Outlines Funding for 2020 Hurricane Season
May 29 2020 // The board of directors of Texas’ property insurer of last resort for wind and hail in the state’s coastal counties in February set a goal of $4.2 billion in catastrophe funding for 2020. At a meeting of the...
Tornadoes Rake Parts of Iowa in 2 Days of Severe Weather
May 28 2020 // At least four tornadoes raked parts of Iowa on May 26, the National Weather Service confirmed, to give the state a second day of severe weather. All of the tornadoes appeared to be weak and in mostly uninhabited areas that...
Australia’s 4 Summer Natural Disasters Cost Insurers More Than US$3.44 Billion
May 28 2020 // The cost of insurance claims from four natural catastrophes during Australia’s 2019-2020 summer has passed A$5.19 billion (US$3.44 billion), said the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA). Thousands of new claims and...
Tropical Storm Bertha to Bring Heavy Rain to South Carolina
May 27 2020 // A tropical storm that quickly formed off the coast of South Carolina on Wednesday threatened to unleash heavy rainfall that could produce life-threatening flash flooding after making landfall near Charleston, the National...
