Latest Natural Disasters Headlines

All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.

North Carolina Estimates $1.5B in Hurricane Damage to Buildings

Oct 17 2016 // North Carolina emergency officials have estimated that the destructive and deadly Hurricane Matthew caused $1.5 billion worth of damage to more than 100,000 homes, businesses and government buildings in the state. The...

Study: Kansas’ Largest Earthquake Likely Caused by Wastewater Injection

Oct 17 2016 // The largest recorded earthquake in Kansas history was likely the result of wastewater injected into the ground by one or two nearby wells, according to a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey found. The 4.9 magnitude...

Weather Service: Tornado, Rain Walloped Pacific Northwest

Oct 17 2016 // A tornado struck an Oregon beach town, sending debris flying and toppling power lines and trees as strong winds and heavy rain walloped the Pacific Northwest over the weekend, according to the National Weather...

Virginia Police Urge Caution When Making Post Hurricane Matthew Repairs

Oct 17 2016 // Virginia State Police are urging residents to be cautious as they repair their homes and vehicles that suffered damage during Hurricane Matthew. Officials with the State Police Insurance Fraud say residents should check...

Typhoon Sarika Hits Philippines, Killing at Least 2 People, Displacing Thousands

Oct 17 2016 // Typhoon Sarika made landfall in eastern Philippines on Sunday after leaving at least two people dead a day earlier, thousands of villagers displaced and hundreds of planes grounded. Locally named Karen, the typhoon...

Take1 Insurance Launches Terrorism, Crisis Coverage for Special Events

Oct 17 2016 // Take1 Insurance has introduced Take1 Combined Crisis Cover insurance protection for the live and special event industry. The coverage provides immediate coverage of up to $1 million annually in the event of, or threat of,...

Hurricane Matthew Devastates Georgia Pecan, Cotton Crops

Oct 17 2016 // Georgia’s top agriculture official says Hurricane Matthew hit the state’s pecan and cotton farmers hard. Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black says he toured farms in three counties this week following...

FEMA Questions Mississippi City’s Spending of 2014 Tornado Recovery Grant

Oct 17 2016 // A division of the federal government says the city of Louisville, Miss., should repay a $25.4 million grant awarded for recovery from a 2014 tornado. However, state Auditor Stacey Pickering said he is working with federal...

Wildfires Threaten Alabama; Governor Signs No Burn Order

Oct 14 2016 // Gov. Robert Bentley on Wednesday signed an order banning outside fires across most of Alabama because dry conditions have led to fast-spreading wildfires. The governor signed the drought emergency declaration, putting 46...

Hurricane Matthew May Be Gone, But Insurance Industry’s Work is Just Starting

Oct 14 2016 // It’s been nearly a week since Hurricane Matthew ravaged the Southeast coast but the insurance industry’s job of responding to the devastation and assessing the total cost of damage from the storm is just...

Hurricane Nicole Weakens After Direct Bermuda Hit; Storm Trackers Comment

Oct 14 2016 // Hurricane Nicole made a direct hit on Bermuda Thursday as the strongest hurricane to affect the Atlantic archipelago in 13 years, according to a report issued by Weather Underground. The storm’s impact on Bermuda has...

AIR Estimates Hurricane Matthew Insured Losses at $8.8 Billion

Oct 13 2016 // Hurricane Matthew, which devastated parts of the Caribbean before battering the U.S. East Coast, may cost insurers as much as $8.8 billion, according to AIR Worldwide. The catastrophe-modeling firm estimates insured losses...

Experts Warn of Long Waits for Post-Hurricane Home Repairs

Oct 13 2016 // There will be plenty of large-scale reconstruction to do in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, which has been blamed for dozens of deaths since it made its first U.S. landfall Friday and is still causing catastrophic flooding...

Using Big Data to Predict Terrorist Acts Amid Privacy Concerns

Oct 13 2016 // Before Ahmad Khan Rahami planted bombs in New York and New Jersey, he bought bomb-making materials on eBay, linked to jihad-related videos from his public social-media account and was looked into by law enforcement agents,...

Caribbean Cat Facility, CCRIF, to Pay $29.2M to Nations Hit by Hurricane Matthew

Oct 13 2016 // CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) will make payouts of US$29.2 million to CCRIF member countries as a result of damages incurred from Hurricane Matthew. The payouts, which will be made...

Category 4 Hurricane Nicole Lashes Bermuda with Winds & Flooding Rain

Oct 13 2016 // Hurricane Nicole, which has become a Category 4 hurricane, will continue to lash Bermuda with winds and flooding rain through Thursday, according to a report issued by AccuWeather. As a Category 4 hurricane with sustained...

LIU Launches War and Terrorism Coverage for U.S. Businesses

Oct 13 2016 // Liberty International Underwriters (LIU), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance, has launched stand-alone war and terrorism coverage to protect U.S. businesses at home and their assets abroad. In 2014, the cost of global...

Kennedy Space Center Reopens After Suffering Significant Hurricane Damage

Oct 13 2016 // NASA’s Kennedy Space Center reopened for business Tuesday, relying on industrial air conditioners rushed in from around the country in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Director Robert Cabana said the damage – mostly...

Study Finds Climate Change Could Lead to More Hurricanes on NYC Coast

Oct 12 2016 // Hurricanes could start flooding New York City’s coastline as often as every 20 years due to the effects of climate change on sea-level rise and hurricane activity, scientists said on Monday. Water could surge some 9...

North Carolina Flooding from Hurricane Matthew Worsens, Death Toll Rises

Oct 11 2016 // Flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew has displaced several thousand people in North Carolina, and authorities were helping more evacuate on Tuesday as swollen rivers threatened a wide swath of the state. Governor...