Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas House Committee OKs Changes to Windstorm Insurance Bill
Jun 9 2011 // A Texas House of Representatives committee has approved big changes to the insurance authority that covers coastal properties for wind and hail. The House Insurance Committee passed a bill overhauling the Texas Windstorm...
Homeowners Seek $90M for Massachusetts Tornado Damage
Jun 9 2011 // Homeowners in western Massachusetts have filed $90 million in insurance claims for damage caused by deadly tornadoes that ravaged Springfield and several smaller communities last week, state officials said Tuesday. The...
Active Hurricane Season Ups Risk for Mid-Atlantic
Jun 9 2011 // As weather forecasters predict an above-normal number of hurricanes this season, chances also increase that one of the storms will hit the mid-Atlantic states. The News Journal of Wilmington (Delaware) reports that the...
Adrian is First Hurricane of 2011 Pacific Season
Jun 9 2011 // Tropical Storm Adrian strengthened to a hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast, becoming the first hurricane of the 2011 Pacific season, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Mexico’s government issued a storm...
Missouri: 17,000 Insurance Claims Filed So Far From Joplin Tornado
Jun 8 2011 // The major insurance companies serving consumers in the Joplin area have received nearly 17,000 claims so far from residents and business owners with damage from the EF-5 tornado that struck the area on May 22, insurance...
New Aon Terrorist Risk Map Includes Mideast, No. Africa Unrest
Jun 8 2011 // Aon’s annual publication of its Terrorist Risk Map has been expanded. Aon said this year’s version features areas where “political violence, strikes, riots, civil war and war threaten the sustainable...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Issue Added to Special Session
Jun 7 2011 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry has added legislation relating to the operation of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association as an issue to be addressed during the special session of the Legislature that began on May 31. “It...
Marsh Launches Index-Based Insurance Option for Earthquake, Windstorm Risks
Jun 7 2011 // Marsh now offers an option for organizations with significant earthquake and/or windstorm exposures that are unable to purchase enough insurance to adequately protect their assets. The new program is called Country...
Florida Commission Approves RMS Hurricane Model
Jun 7 2011 // Florida’s residential property insurance market is bracing for even more volatility after the state’s modeling commission approved the use of the new Risk Management Services (RMS) catastrophe model. The...
Missouri Capital City Looking to Upgrade Tornado Sirens
Jun 6 2011 // Officials in Missouri’s capital city have decided to look into improving its aging storm warning system, after a deadly tornado hit the state’s southwest. Two of Jefferson City’s 15 warning sirens...
3,500 People Evacuate as Volcano Erupts in Southern Chile
Jun 6 2011 // One of the volcanoes in the Caulle Cordon of southern Chile erupted violently Saturday, billowing smoke and ash high into the sky and prompting more than 3,500 people living nearby to evacuate. There were no reports of...
Hurricane Season Could Bring Rate Relief
Jun 6 2011 // Property and casualty insurers craving respite from a long-running drop in prices eyed the start of the U.S. hurricane season on June 1 in the hope that summer windstorms will finally turn the market. The June 1 to Nov. 30...
Demise of Windstorm Association Overhaul Leads to Special Session in Texas
Jun 6 2011 // Texas lawmakers were unable to come to terms on an overhaul of the state-backed insurer for property along the Texas coast, so they’ll return to Austin in July to try again. Their failure to deal with school finance,...
Tornado-Hit States Rank High in Uninsured
Jun 6 2011 // Many of the states hammered by what’s already the deadliest year for tornadoes in more than half a century have among the nation’s highest rates of homes without hazard insurance despite being among the most...
Tornado Damages Philly Business
Jun 6 2011 // Weather officials have confirmed that a tornado descended on a northeast Philadelphia block late last month – tearing part of the roof off a beer distributor and bar and restaurant and demolishing a car repair...
Hurricanes and Floods
Jun 6 2011 // In light of the hurricane season that began June 1 and ongoing Mississippi and Atchafalaya flooding, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is imploring consumers to protect themselves and their property against...
States Hit Hardest by Recent Tornadoes Among Least Insured
Jun 6 2011 // Many of the states hammered by what’s already the deadliest year for tornadoes in more than half a century have among the nation’s highest rates of homes without hazard insurance despite being among the most...
2011 on Pace to Be Deadliest U.S. Tornado Year
Jun 6 2011 // The tornado that raked Joplin, Mo., was the deadliest single twister in the United States since 1953, putting 2011 on pace for a possible record year for tornado fatalities, U.S. weather experts said. As of May 25, this is...
Obama Consoles Tornado-Ravaged Missouri City
Jun 6 2011 // Exactly a week after the Missouri city of Joplin was nearly leveled by the deadliest tornado to strike the United States in decades, President Barack Obama visited the area to offer hope to survivors and promises of...
Eight Wildfires Burn in Arizona, Evacuations Ordered
Jun 3 2011 // Arizona is currently ablaze with eight wildfires burning thousands of acres of land and property and causing evacuations from some areas, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center. While most of the fires...
