Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
NOAA to Retire Hurricane Names Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate
Apr 16 2018 // The names of four deadly hurricanes that slammed parts of the United States, Central America and the Caribbean last year are being retired. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that hurricane names...
2 Tornadoes Knock Out Power in Florida City, Delay Flights
Apr 13 2018 // Weather officials say two tornadoes hit a Florida city on Tuesday, causing mostly minor damage. The National Weather Service confirmed that one tornado touched down shortly after 3:30 p.m. in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Fort...
Oklahoma Orders More Cuts in Water Injection Amounts After Earthquakes
Apr 12 2018 // The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has directed a wastewater disposal well to reduce its volume of injection after more than a dozen earthquakes rattled part of northwest Oklahoma since Friday. The U.S. Geological Survey...
Everest Re Expects Q1 Catastrophe Losses of $100M on Rising California Wildfire Claims
Apr 12 2018 // Everest Re Group Ltd. estimates it will incur $100 million of catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance recoverables and reinstatement premiums, in the first quarter of 2018, largely arising from the California wildfires and...
FEMA Criticized for Suppliers Not Delivering Hurricane Aid as Promised
Apr 11 2018 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded contracts for hurricane supplies without adequately researching whether winning bidders could deliver what they promised, according to a new investigation by Democrats on a...
National Weather Service: Storms Spawned 8 Tornadoes in Mississippi
Apr 11 2018 // The National Weather Service confirms eight tornadoes hit Mississippi last week. Nobody was injured by the twisters, which damaged trees, power lines and some buildings on Friday. Tornadoes were reported in Rankin, Warren,...
Natural Disasters Cost Insurers a Record $144 Billion in 2017: Swiss Re’s sigma
Apr 10 2018 // Global insured losses from natural catastrophes were US$144 billion in 2017, the highest-ever recorded in a single year, according to the latest sigma study from the Swiss Re Institute. The biggest losses came from...
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas Facing Dual Threats: Tornadoes, Wildfires
Apr 9 2018 // Emergency officials in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas are bracing for two types of disasters as spring gets into full swing: The start of what’s historically the most active time of year for tornadoes plus wildfire...
Weather Service Confirms Tornadoes Slammed Illinois, Ohio
Apr 6 2018 // National Weather Service survey teams have confirmed at least four tornadoes slammed through parts of Ohio. The NWS also confirmed that four tornadoes touched down in southern Illinois after a round a storms Tuesday. In...
This Just In: Early Forecasts for 2018 Hurricane Season
Apr 6 2018 // An early forecast for the 2018 hurricane season calls for a slightly above-average season with 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes. Dr. Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University (CSU), a...
Research on Coastal Housing Shows Gaps in Natural Disaster Recovery Policies
Apr 5 2018 // A team including an Iowa State University researcher studied Galveston, Texas, homes following Hurricane Ike, finding that the types of housing and homeowners – and how U.S. recovery policy handles each – played a...
Hurricanes Have Minor Effect as April Reinsurance Prices Stay Flat but Demand Grows
Apr 4 2018 // Reinsurance buyers were able to renew loss-free programs at broadly flat pricing levels during the April 1 renewals – continuing the trend seen at the January renewals, according to a Willis Re report. Pricing was...
Chubb $380M Q1 Cat Loss Estimate Includes California Wildfires, East Coast Storms
Apr 4 2018 // Chubb Limited released preliminary net loss estimates for the first quarter of 2018 attributable to natural catastrophes, including the California mudslides, of $380 million pre-tax, or $305 million after tax. Losses from...
Weather Service: Recent Storms in Mississippi Spawned 4 Tornadoes
Apr 4 2018 // The National Weather Service confirms three more tornadoes hit Mississippi last week. No one was injured in the twisters, which mainly caused tree damage on Wednesday. The longest was in Choctaw County, striking near...
Report: Orange County Agency Delayed Response to Destructive Wildfire
Apr 2 2018 // A Southern California fire agency is overhauling its procedures after a report found that missteps delayed response to a wildfire last fall that burned 15 homes. The Orange County Fire Authority announced on March 30 that...
National Hurricane Center Updates Hurricane Irma Death Toll
Apr 2 2018 // The death toll from Hurricane Irma’s catastrophic rampage across the Caribbean and the southeastern U.S. has risen to 44 fatalities directly caused by its strong winds and heavy rains, plus 85 fatalities indirectly...
Non-Catastrophe Losses, Natural Disasters Take Toll on Lloyd’s Market in 2017
Apr 2 2018 // The Lloyd’s market’s pre-tax loss of £2 billion (US$2.8 billion) in 2017 was partly due to hurricanes and wildfires in the third and fourth quarters. But these losses were exacerbated by the continued...
Some Tornado Victims in Pennsylvania Struggle with Uninhabitable Homes
Mar 29 2018 // God put Brian Cross’s home in a bubble. That’s his explanation for why the tornado that blasted through Uniontown and North Union Township, Penn., last month didn’t inflict as much damage on his Millview...
Wildfires Cost Montana $240M In Visitor Spending, New Research Shows
Mar 28 2018 // University of Montana researchers say the 2017 fire season likely cost Montana about $240 million in visitor spending. The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research said Tuesday that 12.5 million out-of-staters visited...
National Hurricane Center Gets New Leader
Mar 27 2018 // A meteorologist who aided emergency response efforts along the Gulf Coast after the 2010 oil spill has been tapped to lead the U.S. government’s hurricane forecasting hub in Miami. The National Oceanic and...
