Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Searchers, Dogs Scour Missouri Tornado Wreckage
May 25 2011 // First they found his dark blue teddy bear. Then frantic relatives searching for toddler Skyular Logsdon spotted his red T-shirt and pants, torn, rain-soaked and wrapped around a telephone pole. The little boy hasn’t...
2011 on Pace to Be Deadliest U.S. Tornado Year
May 25 2011 // The tornado that raked Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday 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...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Legislation Advances
May 25 2011 // The Texas Senate unanimously approved its version of a bill to revamp the state’s windstorm fund that insures coastal properties against hurricane damage. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association reform measure,...
Florida Undertakes Hurricane Readiness Exercises
May 25 2011 // Florida began its sometimes annual hurricane exercise Monday after skipping the practice storm last year because officials were busy with a real emergency — the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The hurricane taking aim at...
Tornado Touched Down in Montana
May 24 2011 // The National Weather Service says a tornado touched down south of Terry, Montana snapping a tree and damaging two small barns. No one was injured in the twister, reported shortly before 8:30 p.m. Friday about eight miles...
Joplin, Missouri Tornado Insured Loss Estimate: $3 Billion
May 24 2011 // The tornado that devastated Joplin, Missouri could cost the insurance industry between $1 billion and $3 billion, according to catastrophe modeling firm Eqecat. The tornado is the deadliest to hit the U.S. since 1947 and...
Missouri Tornado: 116 Dead; Thousands of Homes, Businesses Destroyed
May 24 2011 // A monster tornado killed at least 116 people in Joplin, Missouri, when it tore through the heart of the small Midwestern city, ripping the roof off a hospital and destroying thousands of homes and businesses. Weather...
Tornado Kills Man, Destroys 20 Homes in Kansas
May 23 2011 // A tornado swept through a small eastern Kansas town, killing one person and destroying at least 20 homes, as severe thunderstorms pelted the region with hail that some residents said was the size of baseballs, authorities...
Late April Tornadoes Likely to Affect P/C Insurers’ Earnings, Not Capital
May 23 2011 // The deadly outbreak of tornadoes in late April, which generated insured losses estimated at as much as $6 billion, is unlikely to have an immediate impact on property/casualty insurers’ Best’s ratings. The...
Tornadoes Hit Missouri Town; At Least 89 Killed
May 23 2011 // At least 89 people have died in Joplin, Missouri, and the toll is expected to climb as one of the deadliest tornadoes in state history roared through the small Midwestern city Sunday, local officials said Monday. Rescue...
Europe on Alert for Icelandic Volcano Ash Cloud
May 23 2011 // An eruption by Iceland’s most active volcano put Europe on high alert on Monday as a billowing ash cloud drifted towards Scotland and threatened to shut down airports across the northern edge of the...
Tornado Damages Philly Business
May 20 2011 // A weak tornado spawned by strong thunderstorms descended on a northeast Philadelphia block Wednesday, tearing part of the roof off a beer distributor and a bar and restaurant and demolishing a car repair shop. The fire...
Disaster Plan Should Include Social Media, Says Hurricane Center
May 20 2011 // Nobody is going to push the “like” button for a hurricane, but the National Hurricane Center hopes to get some Facebook fans for its storm advisories. The hurricane center joined the online social network in...
NOAA Forecasts ‘Above Normal’ Atlantic Hurricane Season
May 20 2011 // The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season will be “above normal”, spawning six to 10 hurricanes of which around half could become major, the U.S. government’s weather agency forecast Thursday. However, as the...
April’s Tornadoes Destroyed, Damaged 14,000 Alabama Homes
May 19 2011 // The swarm of tornadoes that killed more than 230 people across Alabama last month destroyed or heavily damaged more than 13,000 homes statewide and will smash the record set by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 to become the...
Florida Hurricane Fund Gets More Time on Claims
May 19 2011 // The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund has been given more time to respond to an influx of claims from 2005 storms. A state panel chaired by Gov. Rick Scott approved an emergency rule waiving a 60-day deadline for acting...
Verisk Catastrophe Index Now Covers U.S. Earthquake Risk
May 17 2011 // The Verisk Catastrophe Index has been expanded beyond the hurricane peril to also cover U.S. earthquake risk, including fire following earthquake. The index provides industry-wide insured property loss estimates by county...
P/C Insurers Take Hit in Q1 as Hurricane Season Approaches
May 16 2011 // The U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry took a beating from record first quarter 2011 catastrophe losses, and recent earnings announcements from global reinsurers illustrate the damage those losses did to earnings and...
Report: Hurricanes Pose Risk to 1.8M Coastal Homes
May 16 2011 // More than 1.8 million homes along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts are at great risk of being damaged by a hurricane, three times the number located in federally defined flood zones, according to a recently released...
Report: Hurricanes Pose Risk to 1.8M Costal Homes
May 16 2011 // More than 1.8 million homes along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts are at great risk of being damaged by a hurricane, three times the number located in federally defined flood zones, according to a report released Tuesday. The...
