Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Tornadoes Hit Homes, Mall
Jan 23 2012 // Forecasters say two tornados hit the Houston area during early January thunderstorms that flooded roads and knocked out power. The National Weather Service said a tornado with 95 mph winds touched down on Jan. 9 in Mission...
Indiana City Getting New Earthquake Risk Maps
Jan 19 2012 // Government officials and Evansville residents soon will have access to a new set of maps detailing areas at greatest risk of damage from strong earthquakes that periodically shake southwestern Indiana. The maps will be...
Report: Joplin Might Not Have Debt From Tornado
Jan 18 2012 // A new report says the city of Joplin, Mo., might not end up with any debt related to the May 22, 2011, tornado. The report from the city finance director estimated that costs to the city, including damage to city property,...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Names New Controller and VP of Claims
Jan 18 2012 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) recently named Pete Gise as controller and David Williams as vice president of claims. As controller, Gise manages financial reporting, accounts receivable processing and...
Swiss Re Report Examines Insurance Role in Earthquake Disasters
Jan 17 2012 // Swiss Re’s new report – “Lessons from recent major earthquakes,” focuses on the most recent series of devastating quakes, which have caused extensive loss of life and injuries, along with widespread...
Report Suggests Arizona Wildfire Was Accident
Jan 17 2012 // A government report suggests that someone working for a proposed silver mine accidentally started a wildfire last year in the Patagonia Mountains. The Arizona Daily Star reports that the report by the U.S. Forest Service...
National Hurricane Center Chief Reed to Retire
Jan 17 2012 // National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read, who took over the forecasting agency during a time of turmoil and leaves it much calmer, announced Saturday he will retire effective June 1. Read, 62, said he never intended to...
Alabama Man Tracks Earthquakes from Basement
Jan 16 2012 // Down in the basement of Steve Jones’ southeast Huntsville home, just past the electrical workshop, is a door into an unfinished sub-basement. Here, on a concrete base on a rock outcropping, sits Jones’ latest...
North Carolina Farmers Hurt by Hurricane Irene Eligible for Federal Help
Jan 13 2012 // North Carolina farmers hurt by Hurricane Irene last August and by tornadoes in April can now get more help from the federal government with more loan options and payments to recover from crop losses. State officials...
2 Tornados Confirmed in Houston Area From Storms
Jan 12 2012 // Forecasters say two tornados hit the Houston area during recent thunderstorms that flooded roads and knocked out power. The National Weather Service said a tornado with 95 mph winds touched down on Jan. 9 in Mission Bend,...
Property Damage Prompts Search for Signs of Houston-Area Tornadoes
Jan 11 2012 // National Weather Service teams are surveying parts of the Houston area to determine if tornadoes are responsible for damage to homes and a suburban shopping mall. Some roads flooded and nearly 20,000 Houston-area residents...
RiskMeter.com Adds Texas Wildfire Report to Service
Jan 11 2012 // RiskMeter.com, a provider of real-time natural hazard risk reports, has added a Texas wildfire report to its service. This report will return a property’s proximity to wildfire risk by simply entering an address or...
2012 Brings Operational Changes for Texas Windstorm Insurer
Jan 10 2012 // The New Year ushered in changes to the operation of Texas’s insurance company of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast. Many of the operational changes will affect insurance agents who handle Texas...
Earthquake Rumbles North Of Anchorage
Jan 9 2012 // A small earthquake rumbled in Alaska that was felt in several small communities north of Anchorage. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 4.0 temblor struck shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday and was centered about...
Windstorm Andrea, First of 2012, Causes Damage in Europe: AIR Report
Jan 9 2012 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Windstorm Andrea passed through the U.K. earlier this week, fast on the heels of Windstorm Ulli, which brought widespread travel and power disruptions to Scotland. The...
Crews Gaining Ground on Blackfeet Reservation Wildfires in Montana
Jan 6 2012 // A pair of wildfires fueled by strong wind gusts that burned buildings and forced the evacuation of hundreds on Montana’s Blackfeet Indian Reservation were helped by milder weather conditions on Thursday as...
Windstorm Ulli is Latest to Batter Northwest Europe; AIR Analysis
Jan 5 2012 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide’s report on Windstorm Ulli notes that it is “passing through Scandinavia and is expected to dissipate as it moves over the Baltic Sea today. “A class 2 weather...
Earthquakes Prompt Record Insurance Claims in 2011
Jan 4 2012 // Insurance industry damage claims from natural disasters like the earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand reached a record $105 billion in 2011, Munich Re , the world’s biggest reinsurer, said on Wednesday. The cost to...
Kansas County Looking into Earthquake Insurance
Jan 3 2012 // Shawnee County, Kan., commissioners have authorized the county’s insurance broker to look into the cost of earthquake insurance. The topic came up at a recent commission briefing on new quotes for property,...
Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake Strikes off Japan Coast
Jan 3 2012 // A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 struck under the sea several hundred miles (kilometers) south of Japan on Sunday, shaking buildings in the capital, but officials said there was no danger of a...
