Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
$2.1M in Funding For Montana Town’s Tornado Recovery Efforts
Nov 3 2017 // Montana officials say they have secured $2.1 million in federal disaster aid for ongoing cleanup efforts in the town of Baker where a tornado tore up homes, leaving a lake covered in hundreds of tons of debris. The...
Texas Hurricane Czar: State Needs $61B from Feds for Harvey Recovery
Nov 2 2017 // Texas needs $61-plus billion in federal funding just to rebuild public infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Harvey, as well as to cover projects to prevent future flooding. John Sharp, Texas’ Harvey recovery...
California Wildfires Destroyed Part of Hewlett-Packard Archives
Nov 1 2017 // California’s deadliest wildfires have also destroyed an irreplaceable collection of Silicon Valley history. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that more than 100 boxes of letters and other materials from tech...
Insured Losses from California Wildfires Now at $3.3 Billion
Oct 31 2017 // The largest California insurers have so far reported more than $3.3 billion in insured losses from the October wildfire siege, now considered the most destructive fires in state history. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones...
California Wildfires: May Take Years for Full Recovery
Oct 30 2017 // It will take at least months and likely years to fully recover from devastating wildfires that ripped through Northern California earlier this month, destroying at least 8,900 structures and killing 42 people, Sonoma...
Not All Expect Hurricanes to Bring 2018 P/C Insurance Hard Market
Oct 30 2017 // The worst hurricane season in modern U.S. history is starting to look like a blip on the charts of insurance stocks, with investors banking on a quick restoration of capital as firms rediscover pricing power. It’s a...
Florida Hurricane Fund Irma Payouts Could Exceed $5B
Oct 30 2017 // Hurricane Irma’s damaging rampage through Florida may require the state fund that provides backing to private insurers to pay up to $5.1 billion in claims. Anne Bert, chief operating officer for the Florida Hurricane...
Insured Loss Estimates from California Wildfires Now up to $8 Billion
Oct 27 2017 // Insured losses from the siege of California wildfires could possibly reach $8 billion, according to new estimates released on Friday by catastrophe modeler RMS. The firm now estimates the insured loss for the wildfires...
Florida’s Hurricane Irma Recovery Tab Tops $650M
Oct 27 2017 // The tab for Hurricane Irma keeps rising, and Florida legislators are warning that it could require some tough budget choices for next year. Gov. Rick Scott’s budget director told a Senate panel on Wednesday that the...
Munich Re Expects Q3 Loss After Hurricane Claims of $3.2B
Oct 26 2017 // Munich Re expects claims of €2.7 billion ($3.2 billion) from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, which will lead to a third quarter loss of €1.4 billion. The group said it expects a small profit for the full year, as...
Best Areas in U.S. to Live to Avoid Natural Disasters
Oct 26 2017 // Tired of living with hurricanes, tornadoes or floods? Head to Portland, Salt Lake City or Providence. Or California. Yes, California. Portland, Oregon is the safest place to live to avoid hazardous weather; three of the...
Severe Weather in Carolinas Brings Tornadoes, Power Outages
Oct 26 2017 // A National Weather Service team confirmed Tuesday that two tornadoes touched down in South Carolina during an outbreak of severe weather that flipped tractor-trailers and small planes, washed out roads and left thousands...
Florida Insurance Agents Recount Hurricane Irma’s Personal Impact
Oct 26 2017 // It’s been just over a month since Hurricane Irma hit Florida, and it won’t be forgotten in Florida by anyone anytime soon, especially not by those in the insurance industry. The powerful storm made landfall...
Officials Confirm Oklahoma Casino Hit with EF1 Tornado
Oct 25 2017 // Emergency managers say an Oklahoma casino had part of its roof torn off by an EF1 tornado during a concert that the state’s governor was attending. The twister touched down in Cleveland County, one of several...
XL Group Q3 Reports Losses in Excess of $1B on Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria
Oct 25 2017 // XL Group reported losses exceeding $1 billion for the 2017 third quarter, blaming Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria for the results. The net loss of $1.04 billion for Q3 amounted to negative-$4.06 per fully diluted share,...
Oklahoma’s Tornado King Ordered to Return More than $100K in Embezzlement Scheme
Oct 24 2017 // Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter says William Stephens, the owner of Tornado King, a storm shelter manufacturing and installation company, pleaded no contest to six counts of embezzlement and one count of a pattern of...
Oklahoma Energy Companies Settle Suit over Earthquake Damage
Oct 24 2017 // A settlement has been reached between two Oklahoma oil and natural gas companies and a woman injured in a 2011 earthquake. Prague resident Sandra Ladra filed the lawsuit in 2014 against New Dominion LLC, Spess Oil Co. and...
California’s Wine Industry Taking Stock of Losses After Wildfires
Oct 23 2017 // Although still burning, the largest fires that have devastated California wine country are mostly contained, and winemakers, winery owners, and growers began taking stock this week of what they have—and...
CoreLogic: Hurricane Nate Property Damage Could Top $1B
Oct 23 2017 // Hurricane Nate preliminary loss estimates are estimated to be between $650 million and $1.35 billion, according to CoreLogic. The loss estimates were calculated based on data analysis, total insured and uninsured loss for...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Request to Raise Liability Limits Disapproved
Oct 20 2017 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan has declined to approve a request by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to raise the maximum limits of liability on windstorm and hail policies. TWIA in August filed a...
