Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Deadly South Pacific Tsunami Kills at Least 100 People after 8.3 Quake
Sep 30 2009 // A huge magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the South Pacific created a series of tsunami waves that struck the islands of Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga and Pago Pago, causing the deaths of at least 100 people, and leaving a swath...
California Wildfires Smolder in Low Wind
Sep 28 2009 // https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2009/09/01/103448.htm All but the most remote sections of a pair of major Southern California wildfires were contained Saturday, but officials warned that dangerous fire weather...
Oregon Mulls Plan for Tsunami Buildings
Sep 28 2009 // Should an earthquake generate a tsunami on the Oregon coast, there might be only 20 minutes to get to high ground. But regional leaders, engineers and scientists plan to gather next week in Cannon Beach and Portland to...
California Wildfire Evacuees Urged to File Living Expenses
Sep 25 2009 // California Department of Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner reminded residents who have been evacuated due to the Guiberson Fire (Ventura County) that they may be eligible for reimbursement for additional living expenses...
Is Economic Terrorism a Threat to Southeast Asia?
Sep 24 2009 // If the suicide bombers who targeted two luxury hotels in Jakarta this year hoped their attacks would strike a significant long-term blow against Indonesia’s economy, the reaction of financial markets suggests they...
10 Years Ago, Hurricane Floyd Brought Flooding, Evacuations to Carolinas
Sep 22 2009 // In the dark of night on Sept. 15, 1999, Kelly Andreucci stood on the front porch of his childhood home along Godfrey Avenue and worried about the rain drenching his neighborhood. That night, Hurricane Floyd skirted the...
Hurricane Hugo Today Would Cause $20 Billion in Damage in South Carolina
Sep 22 2009 // Hurricane Hugo was the most costly hurricane ever to hit the United States when it made landfall in South Carolina in 1989, causing $4.2 billion in insured damage. Since then, the total insured property along South...
California Regulators Nix San Diego Utility’s Wildfire Plan
Sep 21 2009 // California regulators soundly rejected a utility company’s plan to cut electricity to a vast swath of San Diego bedroom communities when the weather is ripe for major wildfires. The California Public Utilities...
Lawmakers Eye Tornado Shelters for Trailer Parks in Oklahoma
Sep 17 2009 // Prompted by a deadly February tornado in southern Oklahoma, a state House panel on Tuesday examined ways to increase the number of tornado shelters at mobile home parks. Reps. Pat Ownbey, R-Ardmore, and Samson Buck,...
Potential Hurricane Insurance Losses Added to Florida’s Long-Range Deficit Projections
Sep 17 2009 // A House-Senate budget panel has added the state’s risk of incurring billions of dollars in possible hurricane insurance losses to Florida’s long-range financial outlook. The new changes could dwarf potential...
AIR Tracking ‘Super Typhoon’ Choi-Wan, a Category 5 Storm
Sep 17 2009 // According to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, tropical cyclone Choi-Wan, currently raging in the Pacific Ocean, is a Category 5 storm, or “super typhoon,” with wind speeds reaching 200 mph, 320...
Ike Anniversary a Reminder That Ohio Is Not Immune to Natural Disasters
Sep 15 2009 // A year after Hurricane Ike swept across Ohio on Sept. 14, 2008, packing winds up to 74 mph, the state’s insured losses are now estimated at $1.255 billion, the Ohio Insurance Institute reports. Additionally, the Ohio...
L.A. Detectives Ask for Help in Wildfire Probe
Sep 14 2009 // Los Angeles homicide detectives investigating the deadly arson fire burning in the Angeles National Forest want to talk to anyone who made the initial efforts to report the blaze, authorities said Friday. The investigators...
Ike Study: Hurricane Storm Surge a Threat to More Coastal Properties
Sep 14 2009 // Government minimum flood elevation requirements for properties vulnerable to storm surge throughout the Gulf Coast region are woefully inadequate, according to a new study of property damage caused by Hurricane Ike, which...
RMS Warns Tropical Storm Koppu Threatens Southern China
Sep 14 2009 // Risk Management Solutions is currently tracking the progress of tropical storm Koppu. As of this morning, the storm was located over the South China Sea, approximately 130 miles (210 kms) south southeast of Hong...
Hawaii Group Buys Hurricane Insurer Zephyr from Kingsway
Sep 11 2009 // Toronto-based Kingsway Financial Services Inc. has agreed to sell Zephyr Insurance Co., Inc. to Zephyr Acquisition Co., an acquisition vehicle of Ocean Harbor Holding Inc. and MP Holdings LLC, a Hawaiian based investor...
Los Angeles Wildfire Has Destroyed 82 Homes, New Estimate Finds
Sep 11 2009 // Fire officials say a new damage survey shows 82 homes have been destroyed from the blaze burning north of Los Angeles, up four from the previous report. The U.S. Forest Service also increased containment of the fire to 71...
Hurricane Fred Weakens in Atlantic
Sep 10 2009 // Hurricane Fred weakened on Wednesday after briefly flaring into a powerful Category 3 storm in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and was forecast to fizzle as it churned far away from land. Fred’s sustained winds dropped to...
Fred Now a Category 2 Hurricane
Sep 9 2009 // According to the most recent bulletin (5:00 a.m. AST) from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fred has intensified to a Category 2 hurricane on the Safer-Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds of around 105 mph,...
AIR Worldwide Updates Mediterranean Region Earthquake Model
Sep 9 2009 // AIR Worldwide Corporation has updated its probabilistic earthquake risk model for the Mediterranean region. The Boston-based catastrophe risk modeling firm, noted that the model is “used by European insurers,...
