Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
California Legislature Passes Bill Aimed Collecting Data and Helping Wildfire Victims
Aug 29 2018 // The California Legislature has passed Senate Bill 824, a bill aimed at provided information to the California Department of Insurance related to fire risk information on the residential property policies issued by...
A.M. Best: Insurers Equipped to Handle Hurricane Lane Losses
Aug 29 2018 // A.M. Best is expecting Hurricane Lane to be considered more of a flood event than a wind event. As a result, the storm that buffeted Hawaii should bring a potential triggering of the National Flood Insurance...
Small Earthquake Shakes North Alabama
Aug 29 2018 // No damage is being reported after a minor earthquake rattled northern Alabama. The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 2.1 earthquake happened around 7:22 a.m. Monday about 15 miles north of Huntsville near the...
Wildfire Insurance Bill Signed by California Governor
Aug 28 2018 // California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed into law a bill that is intended to combat what are believed underinsurance issues revealed by 2017 wildfires. AB 1797 by Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-Marin County, is expected to...
Radar Coverage in North Dakota to Be Improved After Deadly Tornado
Aug 28 2018 // The National Weather Service is taking steps to improve weather radar coverage for western North Dakota after a deadly tornado in the area raised awareness of gaps in coverage. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric...
Report Shows California Wildfires, Climate Change Altering Insurance Landscape
Aug 27 2018 // Insurers may be non-renewing more in wildfire-prone areas of California, sending an increasing number of people to the residual market or to surplus lines insurers. A report released on Monday shows that market shares of...
Germany Wildfire Southwest of Berlin Detonates Buried WWII Ammunition
Aug 27 2018 // Firefighters struggled Friday to tame a wildfire southwest of Berlin but had to maneuver carefully as the blaze set off old World War II ammunition that is still buried in the forests around the German capital. Flames...
M6.3 Earthquake Confirmed on Remote Alaskan Island
Aug 24 2018 // A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Wednesday night in Alaska, the Alaska Earthquake Center confirmed. The center reported the quake occurred in the remote Andreanof Islands region of Alaska, but was felt almost 70 miles...
Rains from Hurricane Pummel Hawaii, Causing Floods and Landslides
Aug 24 2018 // Hurricane Lane has brought record rainfall to Hawaii, where flooding threatens $8 billion of homes and few can remember such torrential downpours. In 12 hours, 16.48 inches of rain fell on the Big Island of Hawaii and...
As Hurricane Lane Neared Hawaii FEMA Promises to Do Better
Aug 24 2018 // As a Category 4 hurricane roared toward Hawaii, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it’s learned the lessons of last year’s devastation of Puerto Rico and is vowing a better response. Calling 2017...
Sixth Tornado of the Year Confirmed in Pennsylvania
Aug 24 2018 // Weather officials say a tornado touched down in western Pennsylvania, but no injuries were reported. The National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh says Tuesday’s EF-1 tornado was confirmed in Jefferson County...
South Korea Braces for Typhoon Soulik, While Typhoon Cimarron Aims at Japan
Aug 24 2018 // An approaching typhoon has whipped up strong winds, waves and heavy rain in southern South Korea, leaving one person missing and one injured, while another typhoon headed for western Japan on Thursday. Typhoon Soulik is...
Hawaii’s Big Island Feels Effects of Approaching Hurricane Lane
Aug 23 2018 // As emergency shelters opened, rain began to pour and cellphone alerts went out, the approaching hurricane started to feel real for Hawaii residents. Hurricane Lane was forecast to continue i Hurricane Lane was forecast to...
Hurricane Lane Threatens 48K Hawaii Homes with Reconstruction Value of $8B
Aug 22 2018 // A new analysis shows 48,617 homes in Hawaii with a total reconstruction cost value of roughly $8 billion are at extreme-to-very high risk of hurricane-driven flood damage from Hurricane Lane. The CoreLogic analysis issued...
