Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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May 18 2007 // Risk Management Solutions has withdrawn a short-term, five-year hurricane forecasting model submitted for approval to Florida officials after being told the model did not meet required standards.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...
4.6-Magnitude Earthquake Causes Damage in Montana
May 15 2007 // An earthquake damaged an apartment building and knocked bricks off the facades of buildings in southwestern Montana , authorities said. The 4.6 magnitude quake, reported at 9:46 a.m. Tuesday, was centered about nine miles...
Iowa EMC Insurance Reports Midwest Tornado Losses at $21 Million
May 15 2007 // EMC Insurance Cos. said it expects to see losses of up to $21 million from storms last weekend, including devastating tornadoes that killed at least 11 people in Kansas. Des Moines-based EMC insures several businesses and...
Wildfires Burn More than 330,000 Acres in Georgia, Florida
May 14 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...
Crist Drops Fla. Hurricane Ad Campaign after Bids Questioned
May 14 2007 // A Florida public service campaign to heighten hurricane awareness has been scrapped by Gov. Charlie Crist just three weeks before the 2007 tropical storm season after two firms that lost out on the lucrative contract cried...
AIR, China Earthquake Administration Team up to Find Faults
May 14 2007 // Boston-based AIR Worldwide Corporation announced a collaboration agreeement with the China Earthquake Administration’s (CEA) Institute of Geology to research active faults and conduct “paleoseismic...
Coastal Texas Officials Question State’s Ability to Help in Hurricane
May 11 2007 // Texas emergency officials are struggling to assure their local counterparts that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won’t damage the state’s ability to respond to a major hurricane striking the Gulf Coast. Local...
Fla. Recertifies Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology
May 11 2007 // The Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology (FCHLPM) has recertified EQECAT Inc.’s hurricane model for use in Florida according to EQECAT. The EQECAT North Atlantic Hurricane model, a...
Spring Wildfires, Floods Wreak Havoc from Coast to Coast
May 11 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...
Fla. Emergency Officials Practice for Hurricane Season
May 10 2007 // Florida emergency preparedness and response officials started a four-day practice exercise Monday to go through possible scenarios they may face this hurricane season. Officials were working at the emergency operations...
Fla. CFO Offers Advice for Floridians Affected by Wildfires
May 10 2007 // With wildfires threatening homes in Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay and Walton counties, Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Alex Sink advised Floridians who are being forced to evacuate to keep receipts...
Miss. Deals with Simulated Cat 3 Hurricane during Preparation
May 9 2007 // A simulated Category 3 hurricane hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Tuesday, and emergency operations officials said the drill could highlight the strengths – and weakness – in the state’s hurricane...
Fla. University and AIR Work toward Understanding of Hurricane Vulnerabilities
May 8 2007 // AIR Worldwide Corporation is collaborating with the International Hurricane Research Center and the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University and will fund the installation of the “AIR...
