Latest Natural Disasters Headlines

All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.

RMS Parametric Model for Japan Typhoon Risk Securitization

May 23 2007 // Risk Management Solutions has designed the trigger mechanism and performed the risk analysis for a parametric securitization of typhoon risk in Japan. Issued by Akibare Ltd., a Cayman Islands special purpose vehicle (SPV),...

Ga. Gov. Releases $7 Million to Fight Southeast Georgia Wildfires

May 22 2007 // Gov. Sonny Perdue issued an executive order that allocates $7 million in unspent state funds to fight the wildfires in southeast Georgia. The fires have burned over 130,000 acres in Georgia. “These additional funds...

Officials Plan for Fewer Hurricane Hunter Flights this Season

May 22 2007 // Although forecasters predict an active hurricane season, federal officials said crews will fly fewer hurricane hunter flights from the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.. Officials hope that reducing flights will make...

Fla. Agents Send Response Vehicle to Tornado-ravaged Kan. Town

May 22 2007 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents’ state-of-the-art catastrophe response vehicle (CRV) arrived in Greensburg, Kan. earlier this week to assist insurance agents whose offices were demolished by the tornado...

Forecasters to Test 3-D Radar Hurricane Tracking Technique

May 21 2007 // Forecasters will test a new technique this summer that provides a detailed 3-D view of an approaching hurricane every six minutes and allows them to determine whether the storm is gathering strength as it nears land. The...

Fire outlook: 2007 wildfire season looks wicked

May 21 2007 // Fire scientists are predicting an above-average wildfire season from May through August 2007, according to the National Interagency Fire Center Predictive Services Group based in Boise, Idaho. In its “National...

Wildfires take major toll in Georgia, Florida

May 21 2007 // Officials closed a 35-mile stretch of Interstate 75 from the Georgia-Florida state line to Lake City, Fla., as well as a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 10, from U.S. 90 to U.S. 129, as a gigantic wildfire approached them...

Spring wildfires, floods wreak havoc from coast to coast

May 21 2007 // Nature’s fury made life miserable from one end of the United States to the other, with people forced out of their homes by wildfires near both coasts and the Canadian border and by major flooding in the Midwest. And...

Wildfires take major toll

May 21 2007 // Officials closed a 35-mile stretch of Interstate 75 from the Georgia-Florida state line to Lake City, Fla., as well as a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 10, from U.S. 90 to U.S. 129, as a gigantic wildfire approached them...

EMC Insurance reports tornado losses at $21 million

May 21 2007 // EMC Insurance Cos. said it expects to see losses of up to $21 million from storms in May, including devastating tornadoes that killed at least 11 people in Kansas. Des Moines-based EMC insures several businesses and homes...

Hurricane Chief: Millions Wasted on NOAA Publicity Campaign

May 21 2007 // The federal government is spending millions of dollars on a publicity campaign while its hurricane forecasters are struggling with budget cuts, according to the National Hurricane Center’s director. The National...

State Farm Claims at $12 Million After Deadly Kansas Tornado

May 21 2007 // State Farm Insurance Co. has paid out about $12 million in claims with more still coming in after a Kansas tornado that destroyed a town two weeks ago and killed at least a dozen people, the company said. Home and auto...

Insurers Try to Prevent Losses in Wildfire Hotspots

May 21 2007 // Spooked by devastating wildfire seasons, the nation’s top insurers are inspecting homes in high-risk areas throughout the West and threatening to cancel coverage if owners don’t clear brush or take other...

Director: FEMA More Prepared than Ever for Hurricane Season

May 18 2007 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency is more prepared than ever for the 2007 hurricane season, having at the ready helicopters, generators, disaster medical teams and road clearing crews to react within hours, according...

Insurance Group Praises Industry for Timely Response to Kan. Tornado

May 18 2007 // Gov. Marc Racicot, president of the American Insurance Association (AIA), praised the insurance industry for its quick response in assessing the damage and paying policyholder claims in the aftermath of the devastating...

Many Florida Families Still Struggling as New Hurricane Season Nears

May 18 2007 // Terri Rose was living comfortably with her four children when 2004’s Hurricane Frances ripped a hole in the family’s roof. A few weeks later, Hurricane Jeanne soaked everything. Their home was condemned, then...

RMS Withdraws Five-Year Hurricane Model from Florida

May 18 2007 // Risk Management Solutions has withdrawn a short-term, five-year hurricane forecasting model submitted for approval to Florida officials after being told the model did not meet required standards. Mitch Sattler, RMS vice...

On Eve of Hurricane Season, U.S. Mandates Safety Labels on Generators

May 17 2007 // Nine words could save lives this hurricane season: “Using a generator indoors can kill you in minutes.” That might seem obvious, but it’s not — each year dozens of Americans die because they don’t...

Hundreds of Florida Wildfire Evacuees Still Waiting to Go Home

May 16 2007 // Higher winds were expected to fan the flames of the large fire burning in southeast Georgia and Florida on Monday. The wildfire that raced through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into Florida was started by...

Fire Outlook: 2007 Wildfire Season Looks Wicked

May 15 2007 // Fire scientists are predicting an above-average wildfire season from May through August 2007, according to the National Interagency Fire Center Predictive Services Group based in Boise, Idaho. In its “National...