Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
$41M Recovered for Louisiana Consumers After Hurricane Claims Complaints
May 24 2021 // Complaints over insurance claims arising out of the three hurricanes that struck Louisiana last year have resulted in a recovery of $41 million for consumers as of the end of April, Louisiana insurance regulators say. The...
Tropical Storm Ana Begins Expected Above-Normal 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season
May 23 2021 // Just days after weather forecasters predicted another above-normal Atlantic hurricane season in 2021, Ana launched the season by forming off of Bermuda. Ana reached Tropical Storm status early on Sunday northeast of...
Hawaii Can Expect 2 to 5 Storms During Hurricane Season
May 21 2021 // The central Pacific basin including Hawaii can expect between two and five tropical depressions, tropical storms or hurricanes this year, federal forecasters said Wednesday. The annual National Weather Service prediction...
Canada Faces Mega-Hurricanes if Climate Change Pushes Storms North: Swiss Re Warns
May 21 2021 // Climate change is making hurricanes bigger and stronger, and it may soon push them farther north. Yet Canada’s homeowners, businesses and insurers underestimate that escalating risk, according to one of the...
Climate Change Caused $8 Billion of Hurricane Sandy’s Economic Losses: Study
May 20 2021 // When Hurricane Sandy barreled over New York City and the East Coast in 2012, it caused $63 billion in damage, making it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history. Now, scientists have estimated that climate change pushed...
Crews Make Progress Against Los Angeles Wildfire
May 19 2021 // Firefighters increased containment of a Los Angeles wildfire and officials identified the man suspected of starting the blaze that prompted evacuations in canyon neighborhoods. Ramon Rodriguez Flores was detained Sunday...
1K Los Angeles Residents Ordered to Evacuate in Wildfire
May 17 2021 // About 1,000 Los Angeles residents were evacuation orders on Monday as firefighters protected canyon homes from a smoky wildfire that churned through vegetation that hasn’t burned in half a century. The cause of the...
Oregon Landowner Suit Seeks $103M from Public Utilities for Wildfire
May 17 2021 // A lawsuit filed on behalf of 70 landowners in Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley seeks $103 million from Lane Electric Cooperative and Eugene Water and Electric Board for damages linked to one of the Labor Day fires that...
Private Firefighting Firms Add to Tension While Saving Vineyards, Mansions From Wildfires
May 17 2021 // Last October, firefighter Ryan Bellanca and his crew battled to keep the raging Glass Fire in California from devastating an upmarket Napa Valley vineyard. But Bellanca wasn’t working for any fire department. He owns...
Tornado in New Orleans Rips Off Roofs, Knocks Out Power
May 13 2021 // A tornado ripped off roofs, knocked down utility poles and cut off power to thousands in New Orleans early on May 12, but no serious injuries were reported in what one city official called an unexpected “dry...
California Commissioner Calls on Insurers to Do More to Boost Wildfire Prep
May 13 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara called for property insurers in the state to step up and do more to help residents and businesses deal with wildfires. Lara on Thursday gave an update on the actions and...
2020’s Hurricane Zeta Upgraded from Cat 2 to Cat 3
May 13 2021 // Hurricane Zeta, which swept through southeast Louisiana at the tail end of the 2020 hurricane season, has been upgraded to a major, Category 3 storm at Louisiana landfall, according to a federal report released on May 11...
U.S. Hailstorms that Cost Insurers Billions – and Other April Natural Disasters: Aon
May 12 2021 // Insurers face multi-billion-dollar losses from U.S. hailstorms during April, according to Aon’s Global Catastrophe Recap report, which each month analyzes the impact of natural disaster events worldwide. The report...
California Wildfire Victims See Little Payout from PG&E Settlement
May 11 2021 // A trust approved by a federal judge to help compensate victims of deadly California wildfires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment paid survivors just $7 million while racking up $51 million in overhead in its...
Tornado That Struck Chesapeake Bay’s Western Shore Damaged Houses
May 10 2021 // A tornado that struck Virginia’s Northumberland County near the Chesapeake Bay destroyed one home and severely damaged a few others. But no one was injured, according to weather service officials. National Weather...
Ahead of Biden Visit, Louisiana Seeks More Hurricane Disaster Aid
May 6 2021 // U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy has asked President Joe Biden, ahead of his May 6 visit to Louisiana, to back disaster aid to help the state with recovery from the 2020 hurricanes. Louisiana’s Republican senior senator and...
3 Killed by Tornadoes from Southeast Storms; 12 Twisters Confirmed in Mississippi
May 5 2021 // Much of the South faced more severe weather Tuesday that has killed at least three people, spawned tornadoes Sunday night and Monday and damaged homes and uprooted trees from Mississippi to West Virginia. Parts of Texas,...
North, Central Texas Pummeled by Tornadoes, Hail
May 4 2021 // The National Weather Service in Fort Worth reported that its preliminary storm results survey from the severe weather that swept north and central Texas on May 3 showed two EF-2 tornadoes and three EF-0 tornadoes. The...
Storms Spawn Tornadoes Across Southeast, Damage Reported in Mississippi
May 4 2021 // Multiple tornadoes were reported across Mississippi on Sunday, destroying homes and uprooting trees before the storm system moved into Atlanta, prompting residents Monday to seek shelter in Georgia’s largest city....
Louisiana State Roadways Finally Cleared of 2020 Hurricane Debris
May 4 2021 // Eight months after Hurricane Laura devastated southwest Louisiana, the state transportation department has finished removing storm debris from state roadways. The Department of Transportation and Development said it...
