Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Major Hurricane Joaquin Could Hit East Coast
Oct 1 2015 // Joaquin became a major hurricane as it tears toward the Bahamas and government forecasters said they can’t rule out a strike on the U.S. East Coast as early as Sunday. The 10th storm of the Atlantic season had top...
UPDATE: Joaquin Now a Major Hurricane; Nearing Bahamas
Oct 1 2015 // Joaquin is now classified as a “major hurricane,” according to the most recent bulletin from the National Hurricane Center. The storm’s “maximum sustained winds are near 120 mph (195 km/h) with...
Oklahoma School District Looking to Repair Earthquake Damage
Sep 30 2015 // Structural engineers are assessing the damage caused by a July earthquake at Crescent Public Schools buildings in Oklahoma. The 4.5 magnitude earthquake hit Crescent on July 27. Superintendent Mickey Hart told the Enid...
California Draws $10M From Reserves to Remove Wildfire Debris
Sep 30 2015 // California Governor Jerry Brown last week directed $10 million from the state’s budget reserve to help pay for the removal of huge amounts of burned debris left in the wake of two massive wildfires, the...
Hurricane Joaquin Keeps Forecasters Guessing on Its Path
Sep 30 2015 // Tropical Storm Joaquin jumped in strength and is forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane by Wednesday, even as computer models disagree on where it will end up. Joaquin’s top winds reached 65 miles (105 kilometers)...
AIR Analyzes Taiwan, China Damages, Losses from Typhoon Dujuan
Sep 30 2015 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reports that Typhoon Dujuan made landfall on northeast coast of Taiwan with high winds and heavy rain near Nan’ao Township in Yilan County, late afternoon on Monday, September...
Hurricane Warnings Issued as Tropical Storm Joaquin Gains Strength
Sep 30 2015 // The National Hurricane Center’s latest bulletin, issued at 5:00 EDT, notes that the “government of the Bahamas has issued a Hurricane Warning for the central Bahamas, including Cat Island, the Exumas, Long...
Forecasters Watching Tropical Storm Joaquin as It Churns in Atlantic
Sep 29 2015 // Forecasters are watching Tropical Storm Joaquin as it churns in the Atlantic near the Bahamas to see if it will become a threat to the U.S. East Coast later this week. Joaquin was about 385 miles (620 kilometers) northeast...
PERILS Lowers Windstorm Niklas Insured Loss Estimate to $927 Million
Sep 29 2015 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has released its third loss estimate for windstorm Mike-Niklas, which, lowers the estimated property insurance...
Typhoon Dujuan Nears Taiwan with Rain, Wind; Airlines Cancel Flights
Sep 28 2015 // Typhoon Dujuan lashed Taiwan with rain and wind as it neared the island on Monday, forcing schools to shut and disrupting land and air traffic. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. canceled or delayed about 30 flights Monday and...
Tornado Damages 10 Homes in South Carolina Neighborhood
Sep 28 2015 // A tornado quickly blew through a neighborhood on the South Carolina coast early Friday and blew out windows, knocked down trees and heavily damaged ten homes. The tornado touched down around 1 a.m. with maximum winds of...
Earthquakes Knock Out Power in Oklahoma Town
Sep 27 2015 // Two earthquakes — including one of magnitude 4.0 — rattled Cushing, Okla., and caused power outages, but no injuries or significant damage is reported. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 4.0 magnitude quake struck at...
Southwest Louisiana Town Still Struggles a Decade after Hurricane Rita
Sep 24 2015 // Vacant slabs, weed-choked lots and solitary stairs to nowhere permeate Cameron, a tiny town in southwest Louisiana. All that remains of the Klean-N-Kruise car wash is a rusted white sign overlooking an empty, overgrown...
Treasury Names 9 to Panel on Private Insurance Market for Terrorism Risk
Sep 24 2015 // The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the appointment of nine people to serve as members of the Advisory Committee on Risk-Sharing Mechanisms (ACRSM) to spur the private market for terrorism insurance. The...
Obama Declares Major Disaster in California Wildfire
Sep 23 2015 // President Barack Obama declared a major disaster Tuesday in a Northern California wildfire that has destroyed at least 1,200 homes and killed at least three people. The declaration issued for the fire that broke out in...
AIR Estimates Insured Losses from Chile Earthquake at $600M to $900M
Sep 22 2015 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses from the Magnitude 8.3 earthquake that struck Chile’s central coast near Illapel on Sept. 16 will be between CLP 400 billion ($600 million) and...
Galveston Razing Hurricane Ike-Damaged Homes
Sep 22 2015 // Galveston is moving on from repairing and rebuilding homes damaged from Hurricane Ike to demolishing homes left dilapidated by the storm that devastated the Texas coastal island seven years ago this month. John Simsen, the...
Californians Pushed by Wildfires into High-risk Insurance Market
Sep 21 2015 // There are lots of reasons people live in California’s Modjeska Canyon. Nestled against the mountains and abutting the Cleveland National Forest, the area has abundant wildlife and access to nature, yet is just a 20...
Tornadoes Damage Homes Along Kansas/Missouri Border
Sep 21 2015 // A pair of tornadoes along the Kansas-Missouri border with speeds of up to about 110 mph damaged homes and caused minor injuries, officials said. The first twister touched down around 6:30 p.m. Friday about 40 miles south...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Assoc. Seeks Hike in Liability Limits
Sep 21 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance will hold a public hearing on a request by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to increase maximum policy liability limits. The hearing under Docket No. 2780 will be held at 10:30...
