Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to Hurricane Disaster Assistance Fraud
Mar 19 2020 // A Florida woman has pleaded guilty to lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma. Bernita Willette Carswell, 36, pleaded guilty in Jacksonville federal court last week to one count of disaster assistance fraud, according...
Colorado Man And His Insurer to Pay $500K Over 2017 Wildfire
Mar 19 2020 // A Colorado man and his insurance company paid $500,000 to the U.S. government over a wildfire that burned federal land in the state. Dale Owns and Grange Insurance Association made the payment to resolve liability for the...
Tennessee Regulator Places Moratorium on Policy Cancellation of Tornado Victims
Mar 18 2020 // The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) has issued a directive to all licensed Tennessee insurance carriers that cancellations/non-renewals for non-payment of insurance premiums on all lines are to be...
Difficult Choices Ahead for Historic Buildings in Tennessee Ravaged by Tornadoes
Mar 17 2020 // Property owners affected by the tornadoes earlier this month now face two options: rebuild or bulldoze. The storms damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses throughout Middle Tennessee. And historic buildings...
Tornado Death Toll Rises to 25 in Tennessee
Mar 16 2020 // The death toll from storms that unleashed powerful tornadoes in Tennessee early this month has risen to 25, authorities said Thursday as they announced that a man had died of his injuries. The death raised the number of...
FEMA Opens Intake Center in Nashville for Tornado Victims
Mar 12 2020 // As residents continued to dig out from a series of deadly tornadoes that hit Tennessee last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it was opening an intake center in Nashville on Tuesday. The center is...
PG&E Has Settled One Battle Involving California Wildfire Fund
Mar 11 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric told a federal bankruptcy judge that it has settled a dispute with disaster-relief agencies that threatened to siphon money away from a $13.5 billion fund earmarked for victims of catastrophic...
Large Earthquake off Coast of Northern California Confirmed
Mar 10 2020 // A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck a spot off the coast of Northern California on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The earthquake hit at 6:59 p.m. and was centered in a spot 55.5 miles west of Ferndale, a town...
Program: 10K-Plus Homes in California Retrofitted to Reduce Earthquake Damage
Mar 9 2020 // The California Earthquake Authority’s Earthquake Brace + Bolt program has reached the milestone of aiding more than 10,000 California homeowners to seismically retrofit their homes. The EBB grant program provides...
Tornado Warning System Worked for Tennessee Twisters, But Effectiveness Unknown
Mar 9 2020 // Sirens screamed. Emergency weather alerts buzzed cellphones. News crews pleaded with people to seek cover. In the aftermath of the massive tornadoes that ripped through Tennessee early Tuesday morning, emergency officials...
Weather Service: At Least 6 Tornadoes Hit Tennessee During Severe Storms
Mar 9 2020 // At least six tornadoes hit middle Tennessee during a series of storms last week that killed 24 people and caused massive damage, the National Weather Service in Nashville confirmed Friday. The strongest tornado overnight...
Small Earthquake Confirmed in Southcentral Alaska
Mar 9 2020 // Residents of Homer, Anchorage and Eagle River reported feeling a small earthquake that hit south-central Alaska Saturday. The Alaska Earthquake Center confirmed a magnitude 3.6 earthquake hit at 7:15 a.m. in the Cook Inlet...
4 State Senators Named to Funding Oversight Board of Texas Windstorm Insurer
Mar 9 2020 // Texas state Sen. Kelly Hancock (Richland Hills), Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (McAllen), Charles Schwertner (Georgetown) and Larry Taylor, (Friendswood) have been appointed to the Windstorm Insurance Legislative...
California Public Utilities Commission Fines PG&E $2.1B over Wildfires
Mar 9 2020 // The California Public Utilities Commission issued an administrative law judge decision imposing $2.137 billion in penalties against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the utility’s role in the catastrophic 2017 and...
Amid Tennessee Tornado Devastation, Surviving Homes Become Beacons of Hope
Mar 6 2020 // Moments after a tornado tore through his quiet Tennessee neighborhood, Darrell Jennings walked out his front door and heard screaming. The house next door – and many others – had been leveled to its...
Tennessee Sets Up Mobile Units for Tornado Victims Without ID
Mar 6 2020 // Two mobile units have been deployed to help residents who lost state driver’s licenses or photo identification in severe storms that ravaged Tennessee counties this week. Tennessee’s Department of Safety and...
Death Toll from Tennessee Tornadoes Climbs to At Least 24
Mar 5 2020 // Rescuers searched through shattered Tennessee neighborhoods for bodies Tuesday, less than a day after tornadoes ripped across Nashville and other parts of the state as families slept. At least 24 people were killed, some...
USDA Adds New Hurricane Insurance Endorsement for 2020 Crop Year
Mar 5 2020 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) has implemented a new crop insurance endorsement, Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI), the agency announced. HIP-WI covers a...
Report Shows Underestimated Weather Led to Colorado Wildfire
Mar 5 2020 // A controlled burn that became a wildfire in Colorado was the result of weather conditions that were underestimated by fire personnel, state officials said. The Colorado Department of Public Safety Compliance and...
Climate Change Heightens Risk of Fierce Australia Wildfires: Study
Mar 5 2020 // Climate change is adding to the risk of fierce wildfires in Australia, according to a scientific study of this season’s blazes that razed an area the size of England and killed dozens of people and more than a...
