Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Could Hurricane Florence Cost Insurers $20 Billion?
Sep 11 2018 // Here’s some grim back-of-the-envelope math for insurers: Hurricane Florence may wreak $15 billion to $20 billion in covered losses from wind and coastal storm-surge, if the past is any guide, according to catastrophe...
Hurricane Florence a Reminder of Flood Insurance Reforms Stalled in Congress
Sep 11 2018 // U.S. taxpayers who spent billions of dollars after a trifecta of hurricanes last year are poised to do so again after a fix to the nation’s troubled flood insurance program remains stalled in Congress — and as...
Update: ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Hurricane Florence Prompts Evacuations in Carolinas
Sep 10 2018 // Tuesday, Sep 11, 2018, 5:47 am— Florence continued to roll toward the U.S. East Coast, poised to become the strongest hurricane in almost 30 years to hit the Carolinas as more than 1 million people began fleeing a...
ILS Market Could Bear 20% of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Marie Loss: A.M. Best
Sep 10 2018 // The insurance-linked securities (ILS) market potentially could bear up 20 percent of the insured losses generated by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Marie, according to an A.M. Best report. These three hurricanes during a...
Insured Losses from Typhoon Jebi Estimated at $2.3-$4.5 Billion: AIR
Sep 9 2018 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that industry insured losses from Typhoo Jebi, which made landfall in Japan on Tuesday, Sept. 4, will be between $2.3 billion (JPY 257 billion) and $4.5 billion (JPY...
Update: Hurricane Florence Poses Threat to Carolinas, Virginia Later This Week
Sep 9 2018 // Updated Monday, Sept 10, 8:17 am —Top winds for Hurricane Florence grew to 105 miles (169 kilometers) per hour as it pushed westward toward the U.S. East Coast, a major threat to homes, agriculture and the waning tourist...
Northern California Wildfire Rages, Abandoned Trucks Litter Highway
Sep 7 2018 // An explosive wildfire closed down dozens of miles of a major California freeway only weeks after a nearby blaze that left neighborhoods in ruins and killed eight people. The Delta Fire erupted Wednesday afternoon and...
East Coast Warned Hurricane Florence May Visit Next Week
Sep 6 2018 // As the remains of Tropical Storm Gordon soak the Mississippi Valley, forecasters are tracking a major hurricane deep in the Atlantic Ocean that could threaten the U.S. East Coast next week. Hurricane Florence, a Category 4...
Update: Weakened Gordon Dumps Heavy Rains; Hurricane Florence Heads Toward Bermuda
Sep 5 2018 // Tues., Sept 6, 1:16 am— Tropical Depression Gordon was expected on Thursday to dump more heavy rains that could cause flooding in central U.S. states as Hurricane Florence, a monster Category 3 storm, churned toward...
California Bridge Under Construction Gets Sensors to Gather Earthquake Data
Sep 5 2018 // A replacement bridge under construction at the second-busiest port in the U.S. isn’t just a crucial route for cargo trucks and Southern California commuters – it’s a concrete-and-steel science experiment for...
Typhoon Jebi Hits Osaka in Japan, Leaving a Trail of Damage, Airport Closed
Sep 5 2018 // Regions around Osaka, Japan’s second biggest population center, struggled to recover from damage left by Typhoon Jebi, which left 10 people dead, hundreds of thousands of buildings without power and the area’s...
Update: Tropical Storm Gordon Weakens as It Makes Landfall
Sep 4 2018 // Tropical Storm Gordon weakened after making landfall just west of the Alabama-Mississippi border and lashing the U.S. Gulf Coast with high winds and heavy rain early on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC)...
California Lawmakers OK Bill to Help PG&E Pay for Wildfire Costs
Sep 4 2018 // California lawmakers passed legislation to help utility giant PG&E Corp. pay for billions of dollars in potential liabilities from wildfires that ravaged Northern California wine country last year. The state Assembly...
Record Numbers of Named Hurricanes Form in Pacific, with Much Quieter Atlantic
Sep 4 2018 // Hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans follow a see-saw pattern — when one region is down, the other is usually up. And with the Atlantic quiet this year, the Pacific is setting records. There’s been a...
Typhoon Jebi Makes Landfall in Japan as Strongest Storm to Hit Country in 25 Years
Sep 4 2018 // Typhoon Jebi made landfall in western Japan on Tuesday, the strongest tropical cyclone to come ashore in Japan in 25 years, and has picked up speed as it bears down on one of Japan’s most densely populated areas. The...
Tropical Storm Gordon to Become Hurricane, Strike Gulf Coast Tuesday; Flood Damage Expected
Sep 3 2018 // Tropical Storm Gordon will grow into a hurricane as it grazes offshore natural gas and oil fields, where it has already sparked evacuations, before coming ashore over the lower Mississippi Valley later on Tuesday or early...
A Tale of Two Floridas: Hurricane Irma’s Belated Impact on Reinsurers
Sep 3 2018 // Reinsurers expressed different views of loss developments related to Hurricane Irma, when executives reviewed the impact of the Florida event on second-quarter earnings reports last month. Everest Re was among those...
Calm August No Guarantee of Hurricane-Free September
Aug 31 2018 // Where are all the big Atlantic storms? A year ago, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, kicking off a parade of destructive storms that made 2017 the costliest Atlantic season ever. So far in 2018, the region has been...
Virginia Reminds Homeowners to Review Property Coverage Before a Hurricane
Aug 30 2018 // Although hurricane activity in the Atlantic has been relatively quiet so far for 2018 with only five named storms to date, the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) Bureau of Insurance is reminding Virginians...
Judge Says FEMA Can End Motel Payments for Hurricane Maria Evacuees
Aug 30 2018 // A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request to block the U.S. government from cutting off aid to hundreds of Puerto Rican families who fled the hurricane-ravaged island in 2017 and are living in hotels and motels across...
