Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
No Damage, Injuries from M4.6 Earthquake in Central California
Jun 24 2020 // An earthquake rattled Central California Monday evening but no damage or injuries were immediately reported, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. A magnitude-4.6 temblor struck at 5:25 p.m. southeast of the community of...
Tropical Storm Dolly Becomes 4th Named Storm with Early Start to Hurricane Season
Jun 24 2020 // Tropical Storm Dolly spun up southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, becoming the Atlantic’s fourth named storm of 2020, marking the third-fastest start to a storm season in more than a century. The system’s winds...
4.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Northern Oklahoma
Jun 23 2020 // A magnitude 4.2 earthquake shook northern Oklahoma on June 20 and was felt in parts of Tulsa as protesters filled the city’s downtown streets after President Donald Trump’s campaign rally. The U.S. Geological...
Crews Battling 4 Wildfires in Arizona
Jun 22 2020 // Hundreds of firefighters continued to battle three major wildfires burning in forested mountains and desert hills across Arizona. Crews were fighting fires in the Santa Catalina Mountains in the Coronado National Forest...
Second Lawsuit Filed Against Oregon Ranch Over Wildfire
Jun 22 2020 // A second lawsuit has been filed against an Oregon ranch accused of causing millions of dollars in damages by negligently igniting a 2018 wildfire. The federal government filed a complaint claiming that J-Spear Ranch of...
Magnitude 4.9 Earthquake Confirmed in Central Nevada
Jun 22 2020 // A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck central Nevada Friday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The temblor struck at 1:42 p.m. about 21 miles southeast of Mina, Nevada, in Esmeralda County’s Monte Cristo...
Florida Congresswoman Requests Longer Hurricane Season
Jun 22 2020 // Even though the six-month Atlantic hurricane season lasts as long as a typical Major League Baseball season, a Florida congresswoman thinks it needs to be longer. Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy sent a letter to the...
Colorado Wildfire Grows to 4.2 Square Miles
Jun 17 2020 // A lightning-caused wildfire in southwestern Colorado that has led to the evacuation of more than two dozen homes has grown to about 4.2 square miles. The fire started Saturday and was burning on private and U.S. Bureau of...
PG&E Will Plead Guilty to Deaths From California Wildfire
Jun 17 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric is expected to plead guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter during a court hearing in which the nation’s largest utility will be confronted with its history of neglect and...
Lexington Insurance Wins Texas Battle of Hurricane Harvey Deductibles
Jun 15 2020 // In a case of competing deductibles, a federal appeals court has sided with an insurer and against the owner of two Houston office buildings, holding that a larger windstorm deductible applied to flood damage caused by...
Survey: Florida Residents More Concerned for Hurricane Season Amid Pandemic
Jun 15 2020 // Florida has officially started hurricane season and a new survey shows a majority of residents are more concerned for this year’s potential storms than in previous years, given the simultaneous continuing issues...
Florida Cat Fund Foregoes Private Reinsurance for 2020 Hurricane Season
Jun 15 2020 // Reinsurance coverage for the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund was not purchased for this year’s hurricane season after overseers of the fund evaluated the market and found a lack of private capital availability. In...
Correction: 127 Oklahoma Tornadoes in First 5 Months of 2019, Not 186
Jun 12 2020 // Note: In a previous story about there being fewer tornadoes in Oklahoma thus far in 2020, The Associated Press erroneously reported the number of tornadoes through the first five months of 2019. There were 127, not 186...
Tornado Numbers Down in Oklahoma in 2020, So Far
Jun 11 2020 // Following a record-setting year for the number of tornadoes in Oklahoma, the state has seen fewer thus far in 2020, according to state climatologist Gary McManus. There were 33 twisters during the first five months of this...
Texas, Louisiana, Florida Most at Risk of Natural Disasters: ValuePenguin
Jun 10 2020 // That Texas, Louisiana and Florida top the list of states that are most vulnerable to natural disasters is probably a finding of a recent study that will come as no surprise to folks who live in those states. Another likely...
Updated Residential Earthquake Damage Guidelines for California Released
Jun 9 2020 // The California Earthquake Authority today released updated guidelines for identifying, evaluating and repairing residential earthquake damage were The guidelines were updated at CEA’s annual claim manager...
Tornado in Orlando Topples Trees, Damages Buildings
Jun 9 2020 // A tornado that struck the Orlando area toppled trees and damaged buildings but did not cause any deaths or injuries, authorities say. The National Weather Service said the twister had winds of at least 100 mph (160 kmh)....
Tropical Storm Cristobal Brings Rain, Flooding to South
Jun 8 2020 // Rain pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Cristobal, which had already spawned a tornado in Florida. Roads flooded in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, and thousands were without...
As Texas Grapples with Pandemic, Officials Prepare for Hurricane Season
Jun 8 2020 // More hurricanes and tropical storms than usual could make landfall in the United States this summer, forecasters predict. That is sending Texans and officials who are increasingly facing severe weather events scrambling to...
Alabama Alters Hurricane Shelter Plans Due to Coronavirus Concerns
Jun 8 2020 // Shelters that open during dangerous hurricanes may look and operate differently this storm season, state emergency officials said, as the new coronavirus complicate response plans. Across the coastal United States,...
