Best Read Natural Disasters Headlines
Headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page with the most time spent reading.
#1 The New Approach to Hurricane-Strong Homes? Concrete Walls But Affordable
Jul 21 2025 // If wind mitigation and stronger homes are the paths to reducing insurance claims and bringing down insurance premiums in hurricane-prone areas, as a growing number of industry experts believe, then homeowners, builders and...
#2 Huge Quake Rocks Russia’s Far East, Triggering Tsunami Warnings Around Pacific
Jul 30 2025 // A very powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka coast on Wednesday triggered tsunami warnings as far away as French Polynesia and Chile, and was followed by an eruption of the most active...
#3 Volunteers Repair Appalachian Trail Damage Almost a Year After Hurricane Helene
Jul 29 2025 // UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. (AP) — In a rugged patch of the Appalachian Trail in eastern Tennessee, volunteers size up a massive, gnarled tree lying on its side. Its tangled web of roots and dark brown soil, known as a root...
#4 Panel Passes Bill to Curb Vacation Rentals, Boost Housing Supply After Lahaina Wildfire
Jul 29 2025 // Lawmakers on Maui passed legislation aimed at eliminating a large percentage of the Hawaiian island’s vacation rentals to address a housing shortage exacerbated by the wildfire that destroyed most of Lahaina two...
#5 Suspect in Michigan Walmart Stabbings Charged With Rarely Used Terrorism Count
Jul 31 2025 // A Michigan prosecutor filed a terrorism charge this wek against a man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart store. The charge has been rarely used in the state’s courts since it was adopted more than 20 years...
#6 Viewpoint: Smoke Damage from LA Wildfires Leaves Questions to Be Answered
Apr 2 2025 // The question has come up wondering if smoke damage is covered for those homes that were impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires but were not damaged by the actual fires. A cloud of smoke from a fire is larger than the actual...
#7 Californians Pay Billions for Power Companies’ Wildfire Prevention Efforts. Are They Cost-Effective?
Dec 5 2024 // Diane Moss lost her home in the Santa Monica Mountains after power lines ignited the apocalyptic Woolsey Fire in 2018. Since then, she’s pressed for a safer electric grid in California. “It’s so easy to...
#8 California Department of Insurance Completes Final Review of Wildfire Model
Jul 24 2025 // The California Department of Insurance completed a review of the state’s first wildfire catastrophe model, marking a dramatic change in the state’s property/casualty insurance ratemaking process. The new model...
#9 LA Neighbors See Different Post-Wildfire Rebuilding Options Due to Insurance Crisis
Feb 7 2025 // Before a wildfire ravaged their street in northwest Altadena, Louise Hamlin and Chris Wilson lived next door to each other in nearly identical houses. “I chose an old home in an old neighborhood because it has...
#10 Texas Panhandle Town Grapples with Recovery One Year After Devastating Wildfire
Feb 27 2025 // Past the terracotta canyons and sloping hills in the Texas Panhandle is a colorful, small town center. A vibrant mural of the town’s name greets visitors, the yellow and blue paint from a historic motel can be seen...
#11 Insured Losses From Natural Disasters Hit $140B as Climate Change ‘Shows Its Claws’
Jan 27 2025 // Insurers saw the third most expensive year for natural catastrophe losses in 2024 — reaching a total of $140 billion — as climate change “is showing its claws,” according to Munich Re. Overall...
#12 Volunteers Bring Solar Power to Hurricane Helene Disaster Zone
Oct 15 2024 // Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene downed power lines and washed out roads all over North Carolina’s mountains, the constant din of a gas-powered generator is getting to be too much for Bobby Renfro. It’s...
#13 H1 Natural Disasters Had Insured Price Tag of $80B – Driven by US Claims: Munich Re
Jul 29 2025 // Natural disasters across the globe cost insurers US$80 billion during the first half of 2025, up from $64 billion in H1 2024, according to Munich Re’s mid-year natural disaster report. On the other hand, overall...
#14 Toilet Paper and Flat Tires: The Strange Ways Californians Ignite Wildfires
Aug 2 2024 // Of all the insidious threats faced by wildland firefighters — extreme heat, desiccated forests, unpredictable fire behavior and a nearly year-round fire season — what might be the most fearsome? Humans. People do...
#15 Whitewater Rafting Businesses Face Uncertain Future After Hurricane Helene
Feb 12 2025 // ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — After 24 years of guiding whitewater trips on the Nolichucky River Gorge for other companies, Patrick Mannion finally received a permit last year to operate his own outfitter business. But following...
#16 An Insurance Journalist’s Perspective on Southern California’a Wildfires
Apr 7 2025 // PART ONE OF A TWO-PART SERIES It was pitch black in the house and the power was off. The Santa Ana winds were howling. As planned, my wife, Jenny, gathered our two dogs and cat and scurried them into her car as I shuttled...
#17 Progress Is Slow for Chimney Rock, NC Hit Hard by Hurricane Helene
May 27 2025 // The brightly colored sign along the S-curve mountain road beckons visitors to the Gemstone Mine, the “#1 ATTRACTION IN CHIMNEY ROCK VILLAGE!” But another sign, on the shop’s mud-splattered front door,...
#18 More Americans Breathe Unhealthy Air Due to Wildfires, Extreme Heat
Apr 25 2025 // Around 156 million Americans, nearly half of the US population, now live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, part of a trend toward declining air quality as climate change-related extreme weather events like...
#19 Los Angeles Pushes to Rebuild Homes Fast, Despite Wildfire Danger
Jan 17 2025 // California politicians are rushing to make it easier for residents to rebuild their homes incinerated in the Los Angeles firestorms. That means waiving green construction mandates designed to combat climate change —...
#20 Explaining Deductibles After Multiple Florida Hurricanes
Oct 16 2024 // Deductibles serve several purposes. They provide some premium relief for the insured. They make insureds less likely to file smaller claims because either damage falls within the deductible, or is so close to it that the...
