Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Largest Wildfire in Oregon Prompts New Evacuations
Jul 16 2021 // Firefighters are scrambling to control a raging wildfire in southeastern Oregon that’s spreading miles a day in windy conditions, one of numerous conflagrations across the U.S. West that are straining...
Western Wildfires Threatening Parched Tribal Lands
Jul 15 2021 // Fierce wildfires in the northwest are threatening American Indian tribal lands that already are struggling to conserve water and preserve traditional hunting grounds in the face of a Western drought. Blazes in Oregon and...
Pandemic Part of a Perfect Storm for Insurers, Homeowners Bracing for Bad Wildfire Season
Jul 14 2021 // A perfect storm appears to brewing for homeowners and property insurers in the drought-plagued, wildfire-riddled U.S. West – and as odd as it may sound, the trouble may have begun with the pandemic. Property insurance...
Hurricane Elsa Insured Loss Estimated To Be $290 Million
Jul 14 2021 // Total estimated insured losses on land from Hurricane Elsa will be around $290 million. About $240 million of that was from wind and storm surge in the U.S., while the Caribbean islands suffered about $50 million,...
Lake Charles Building Still Empty Months after Hurricane Laura
Jul 14 2021 // The Capital One Tower, a 22-story building that has stood tall over Lake Charles for nearly 40 years is still empty nearly a year after Hurricane Laura’s 150-mph winds knocked out windows up and down the building...
Cal/OSHA: Protect Workers from Unhealthy Air due to Wildfire Smoke
Jul 13 2021 // Cal/OSHA is cautioning California employers to be prepared to protect workers from unhealthy air due to wildfire smoke. When workers are at risk form unhealthy air from wildfires, California’s protection from...
Wildfires Burning Homes, Land Across 10 States in West
Jul 13 2021 // Wildfires that torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened a portion of California’s power supply. Nearly 60 wildfires tore through...
Report: Uptake of Earthquake Insurance in Missouri Drops to Historic Low
Jul 13 2021 // New report from Missouri insurance regulators shows earthquake coverage plummeting amid sharply escalating insurance premiums. The new Earthquake Insurance Market Report from the Missouri Department of Commerce and...
Canada Orders Rail Transport Restrictions in Areas with High Wildfire Risk
Jul 12 2021 // OTTAWA – Canada on Sunday ordered rail transport restrictions for areas where there is a high wildfire risk after a blaze wiped out the town of Lytton, British Columbia, and killed two people earlier this month. The...
Forecasters Raise Number of Expected Storms for Hurricane Season to 20
Jul 12 2021 // Researchers from Colorado State University boosted their prediction for named tropical storms in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season in a revised forecast issued last Thursday. Colorado State meteorologists predicted 20...
Aftershocks From M6 Earthquake Rattle California, Nevada
Jul 12 2021 // Aftershocks have hit the region between Northern California and Nevada Friday after a magnitude 6 earthquake sent large boulders rolling into highways and knocked smaller items off shelves. The quake shortly before 4 p.m....
Heat Wave Blankets West as Wildfires Rage in Several States
Jul 12 2021 // Firefighters struggled to contain an exploding Northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heat wave blanketed the West, prompting an excessive heat warning for inland and desert areas. Death Valley...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Begins Annual Rate Filing Process
Jul 9 2021 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has begun its annual rate filing process, which will kick off with a July 21 meeting. TWIA’s Actuarial & Underwriting Committee is set to review the rate adequacy...
Tropical Storm Elsa Leaves One Dead in Florida, Several Injured at Georgia Navy Base
Jul 9 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa was carving a destructive and soaking path up the East Coast after killing at least one person in Florida and spinning up a tornado at a Georgia Navy base that flipped recreational vehicles upside-down...
California Seeing More Wildfires So Far Than in Disastrous 2020
Jul 9 2021 // The number of wildfires and amount of land burned in parched California so far this year greatly exceed totals for the same period in the disastrous wildfire year of 2020. Between Jan. 1 and July 4, there were 4,599 fires...
How East States Are Preparing as Tropical Storm Elsa Makes Its Way Northeast
Jul 8 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Florida yesterday and is moving to the Northeast at 20 miles per hour, with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) calling for the storm to sweep over parts of the Northeast...
Weakened Tropical Storm Elsa Mostly Spares Southeast as It Moves Through Carolinas
Jul 8 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa was moving steadily through the Carolinas into the mid-Atlantic region by mid-Thursday, having mostly spared the southeastern states. The National Hurricane Center reported Elsa was about 80 miles...
Washington Governor Declares Wildfire State of Emergency, Burn Ban
Jul 8 2021 // Gov. Jay Inslee this week declared a state of emergency throughout Washington relating to the growing risk of wildfires, including a statewide prohibition on most outdoor and agricultural burning through Sept....
Tropical Storm Elsa to Head into Northeast and New England After Drenching Southeast
Jul 8 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa, which made landfall in Florida yesterday, is dousing the Carolinas and Georgia today and is on track to hit the northeast on Friday. The National Hurricane Center’s forecast calls for Elsa to...
Tropical Storm Elsa Weakens Over Northern Florida
Jul 7 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa was weakening as it traveled over northern Florida, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm was about 105 miles west of Jacksonville and moving toward the north near 14 mph, according to the...
