Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tropical Storm Bill Makes Landfall in Texas with 60 MPH Winds
Jun 16 2015 // Tropical Storm Bill came ashore on the Texas mainland this morning near Seadrift, packing heavy rains that will drop as much as 10 inches along the coast. Bill’s winds were 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour, up from...
Another Alaska Wildfire Prompts More Evacuations
Jun 16 2015 // Firefighters are battling a second wildfire in Alaska and officials say hundreds of homes have been evacuated and six structures have burned. The fast-moving blaze erupted Monday on the Kenai Peninsula, roughly 100 miles...
Ground Gained Large Wildfire in Northern California
Jun 15 2015 // Firefighters made progress late Sunday in battling a lightning-sparked Northern California wildfire that has been burning in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest for five days, officials said. Light winds helped firefighters...
Windstorm Insurance Bill Stirs Lively Debate in Texas House
Jun 15 2015 // Differences of opinion on the never-ending problem of what to do about property insurance along the coast had lawmakers from coastal areas pitted against inland representatives in the waning days of the Texas legislative...
Geologists Studying Cause of Recent String of Alabama Earthquakes
Jun 15 2015 // Jim Sterling didn’t know what had hit his 156-year-old antebellum home when an earthquake struck Alabama’s old plantation region early one morning last November. Startled, he grabbed a gun and ran outdoors. In...
It’s Time for Congress to Prepare for Hurricane Season
Jun 15 2015 // Thousands of Americans have been working to prepare their homes and businesses for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season which began on June 1, so why isn’t Congress taking steps to get its own house in...
Effective Wildfire Prevention Hampered by Liability, Weather, Development
Jun 15 2015 // Forest managers would prefer to use prescribed burns every few years to help prevent costly wildfires and rebuild unhealthy ecosystems, but hurdles like staffing, budget, liability and new development hinder...
California Assembly Advances Earthquake Safety Bills
Jun 15 2015 // The California Assembly is advancing a pair of bills designed to help buildings withstand earthquakes. The legislation approved unanimously earlier this month would expand financial incentives for seismic...
Mayor: Many Will Leave Delmont Due to Tornado
Jun 12 2015 // Many residents of tornado-ravaged Delmont, S.D., don’t plan to come back, and the community is looking for ways to pull through. About 200 people live in the town, and “it looks like maybe half will...
CBO Confirms Private Insurers Could Take on Way More Terrorism Risk
Jun 11 2015 // I hate to say I told you so. Actually, scratch that. I love to say I told you so. I just wish it weren’t necessary in this case. Back in January, when Congress passed a six-year extension of the federal backstop for...
Wildfire Report Shows 2 Million California Homes at Risk as Drought Continues
Jun 10 2015 // A report issued today shows California has more than 2 million homes at “high” or “extreme” wildfire risk, as the multi-year drought continues stoke fears among some experts of a potentially...
Report: 4.5 Million Homes in 13 States at Extreme Wildfire Risk
Jun 10 2015 // A report issued today shows 4.5 million U.S. homes at high or extreme risk of wildfire as the multi-year drought continues. The report’s author said the worsening drought means 2015 has the potential to be one of the...
Miami Researchers Studying Hurricanes by Creating On-Demand Storms
Jun 10 2015 // Researchers trying to figure out what makes some hurricanes strengthen into catastrophic monsters have a new lab that allows them to generate tropical storm conditions with the flip of a switch. The lab is at the...
Nevada Tornado Damages Businesses and Homes
Jun 8 2015 // A tornado ripped through the Nevada town of Hawthorne on Friday afternoon, damaging homes and businesses, causing scattered power outages and temporarily shutting down a highway, authorities said. No injuries were...
2 Years After Tornado, Oklahoma’s Moore Rebuilding; View Video
Jun 5 2015 // Two years ago on May 20, an EF 5 tornado touched down in Moore, Oklahoma, 4.4 miles west of Newcastle. The powerful twister, with wind speeds reaching 210 miles per hour, cleared a path of destruction stretching 14 miles...
UPDATE: Hurricane Blanca Remains on Course for Baja California
Jun 5 2015 // The latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center in Miami describes Blanca as a “large hurricane,” with hurricane force winds extending “outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from the center and tropical...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Highlights Improvements Made Since 2011
Jun 5 2015 // Texas windstorm insurer of last resort for coastal counties has released its annual report, which it says shows the practices and procedures of the organization have improved greatly since 2011. That was the year the Texas...
UPDATE: Hurricane Blanca Weakens off Mexico Coast; Bound for Baja Resorts
Jun 4 2015 // Hurricane Blanca weakened slightly off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Thursday but could restrengthen as it continues moving toward tourist resorts at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, the U.S. National...
May U.S. Storm, Tornado Claims over $1Bn: Aon Benfield/Impact Forecasting
Jun 4 2015 // Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team, has released its latest Global Catastrophe Recap report for the month of May. The report highlights the “powerful thunderstorms” that...
Tornado Caused $18.6M in Damage at Wisconsin Campus
Jun 3 2015 // A final tally shows a tornado that struck the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus nearly a year ago caused $18.6 million in damage. The school released the final damage numbers on June 2. The tornado hit the campus...
