Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Minor Earthquake Confirmed in Northern Utah’s Box Elder County
Sep 26 2019 // A minor earthquake shook was confirmed in parts of Box Elder County in northern Utah. County spokesman Mitch Zundel said there were many reports of people feeling the quake of magnitude 3.9 at 10:15 a.m. MDT on Tuesday,...
RCV, ACV Policy Changes Are Coming, Texas Windstorm Insurer Says
Sep 26 2019 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association is alerting agents about an important, upcoming change to the policy conditions that determine how covered losses are settled. Current law says the type of loss settlement —...
Texas Windstorm Insurer: New Laws Bring Organizational Changes
Sep 25 2019 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) reports that working to implement new laws that change how TWIA does business and serves policyholders. The association recently issued the following update on a few...
PG&E Cuts Power to 48K California Customers to Avert Wildfire Risk
Sep 25 2019 // Pacific Gas & Electric cut power to 48,200 customers in seven counties in California’s Sierra Foothills and North Bay overnight because of high fire danger. The majority of those affected by the power outage,...
Tropical Storm Jerry Takes Aim at Bermuda, Just Days After Humberto’s Battering
Sep 25 2019 // Bermudians secured homes and businesses on Tuesday as they prepared for the arrival of Tropical Storm Jerry just a few days after Hurricane Humberto battered the archipelago and briefly knocked out power for most...
Insurers Continue to Cover Beach Resorts Despite Spate of Caribbean Hurricanes
Sep 25 2019 // Frenchman’s Reef, the largest resort on St. Thomas, was smashed by Hurricane Irma, which breached roofs, caved in walls and felled trees across the oceanfront property. Two years later, the hotel remains closed as...
Men and Women Respond Differently When Natural Disasters Strike, Researchers Say
Sep 25 2019 // Women are quicker to take cover or prepare to evacuate during an emergency, but often have trouble convincing the men in their life to do so, suggests a new University of Colorado Boulder study of how gender influences...
How U.S. Is Attempting to Manage Risk from ‘Insider’ Terrorist Threat in Aviation
Sep 25 2019 // The arrest of an airline mechanic suspected of being sympathetic with terrorists and charged with sabotaging a jetliner has renewed fear about the “insider threat” to aviation security. Despite security...
Hurricane Florence, A Year Later: Many North Carolinian’s Lack Resources to Recover
Sep 25 2019 // Tanika Outlaw was working as the food and beverage manager at the Doubletree Hotel in New Bern last September when Hurricane Florence began shoving feet of water into the city’s downtown area. Ultimately, the storm...
Thousands of Californians Face Power Shutoffs Due to Wildfire Risk
Sep 24 2019 // California utilities are warning that they may shut off electricity to thousands of customers across the state as hot, dry and windy weather raises the risk of another catastrophic wildfire sparked by a power...
Alaska Has This Year’s Most Expensive Wildfire in U.S.
Sep 24 2019 // The nation’s most expensive wildfire this year is one that has been burning for months on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The Swan Lake Fire has so far cost about $46 million to fight, according to the National...
PG&E Attacks Plan for Paying California Wildfire Victims Before Insurers
Sep 23 2019 // PG&E Corp. and a group of insurers urged a judge to reject a competing reorganization plan for the bankrupt utility because the proposal would pay fire victims who lost their homes ahead of insurance companies and...
Typhoon Tapah Disrupts Hundreds of Domestic Flights in Japan and South Korea
Sep 23 2019 // Hundreds of domestic flights in Japan were canceled because of Typhoon Tapah, and the storm caused similar disruptions in South Korea as it moved to make landfall later Sunday. Airlines operating in Japan called off more...
How Forested Communities Are Trying to Adapt to Growing Wildfire Threat
Sep 23 2019 // Unless it’s Sunday, Kelly Loew is steering her rusty red Jeep down the same mail route in Shingletown, as she has six days a week for the last seven years. But she delivers less mail these days as California’s...
Re/insurers Rethink Climate Change Risks as Losses Grow from Wildfires, Floods, Hail
Sep 20 2019 // By the time David Kaisel got back from selling his flour at a farmers’ market, a wildfire in California’s Capay Valley had burnt both his tractor and the shipping container where he kept some tools. His insurer...
Hurricane Humberto Grazes Bermuda, Causing Little Damage
Sep 20 2019 // Cleanup crews in Bermuda were busy at work on Thursday after Hurricane Humberto grazed the island, which escaped major harm despite winds that reached around 100 miles per hour (161 kph) snapping power poles and lifting...
Federal Settlements in South Dakota Wildfire Total More Than $700K
Sep 19 2019 // Landowners in South Dakota have received over $700,000 in a lawsuit accusing a federal agency of burning their properties in an April 2013 prescribed fire that blazed out of control, destroying more than 10,000 acres. The...
Hurricane Humberto Knocks Out Power Lines, Plunging Bermuda into Darkness
Sep 19 2019 // Hurricane Humberto knocked out power lines in Bermuda on Wednesday night, plunging nearly the whole Atlantic archipelago into darkness, as the storm whipped the British territory with powerful winds and heavy rain. Even as...
Humberto Becomes Major Hurricane but Bermuda Could Be Spared Direct Hit
Sep 18 2019 // Bermuda residents boarded up windows of homes and businesses on Wednesday as Hurricane Humberto became a major storm on route the Atlantic archipelago, although forecasts showed they could be spared a direct hit. Hurricane...
Update: Tropical Storm Imelda Makes Landfall on Texas Coast
Sep 17 2019 // A tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico that quickly upgraded into Tropical Storm Imelda has made landfall on the Texas coast near Freeport. The National Hurricane Center said the storm likely will produce...
