Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tornado Causes Minor Damage Near Tennessee-Alabama State Line
May 14 2019 // Officials say a tornado caused minor damage when it touched down near the Tennessee-Alabama state line. The National Weather Service in Huntsville, Alabama, says a tornado with wind speeds of 85 mph (135 kph) touched down...
X Prize Developing Wildfire-Fighting Contest
May 14 2019 // The X Prize Foundation is developing a contest for technology that can detect and extinguish wildfires before they grow too large. X Prize Foundation chairman Peter Diamandis made the announcement at the Near Future Summit...
Some of April’s Costly Storms: U.S. Tornadoes, Canada Floods, Mozambique Cyclone
May 14 2019 // Some of April’s natural catastrophes included an elevated number of tornadoes in the United States, the strongest cyclone to hit Mozambique on record and costly seasonal flooding Eastern Canada that inundated nearly...
House-Passed Hurricane, Farm Disaster Aid Bill Includes Flood Insurance Extension
May 13 2019 // The House on Friday passed a $19 billion disaster aid bill that would deliver long-sought relief to farmers, victims of hurricanes and floods, and rebuild southern military bases, as Democrats try to dislodge the...
Warning: Cyber Will Soon Cost Insurers More Than Natural Disasters
May 12 2019 // Cyber risks will soon become bigger risks than natural catastrophes for the insurance sector, Scor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Denis Kessler said, recommending the industry build a comprehensive, common global...
Possible Tornado Tears Roof from Arkansas Apartment Complex
May 10 2019 // Several people were injured when a possible tornado tore the roof off an Arkansas apartment building, part of a powerful line of thunderstorms that was dumping more rain Thursday on already drenched areas throughout the...
Insurance Department: Claims from Deadly California Wildfires Top $12B
May 9 2019 // Insurance claims have topped $12 billion for the November wildfires in California, making them the most expensive in state history. The figure released on May 8 by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara covers the fire that...
Project Owl Wi-Fi Network for Natural Disaster Connections Wins IBM-Backed Contest
May 9 2019 // From a cramped living room in Brooklyn, New York, a handful of young computer nerds has developed a new way to use technology to help save lives in natural disasters. They have designed tiny electronic nodes inside...
Florida Passes Bill Seeking to Ease Post-Hurricane Outages
May 9 2019 // Florida utilities would have to come up with a 10-year plan to strengthen and bury power lines in an effort to ease post-hurricane power outages under a bill waiting to be signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Senate...
Judge Tells PG&E’s Board to Tour Wildfire-Ravaged California Town
May 8 2019 // A federal judge has ordered board members of Pacific Gas & Electric to tour the Northern California town of Paradise, which was leveled by a wildfire that may have been caused by the utility’s equipment. The...
Insured Losses from November 2018 California Wildfires Top $12B
May 8 2019 // Insured losses from the most destructive wildfire month in California’s history climbed $614 million in the first three months of the year, pushing total claims over $12 billion as of April, the California Department...
USGS: 2 Small Earthquakes Hit Southwest Alaska
May 7 2019 // Two small earthquakes have hit southwest Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. At 1:43 p.m. Sunday, a magnitude 3.4 earthquake hit a spot in the Gulf of Alaska. The agency says the earthquake had an epicenter 147.4...
NHC: Hurricane Florence 9th Most Destructive Storm, Caused $24B in Damage
May 7 2019 // Hurricane Florence killed 22 people across three Southeastern states, was the ninth most destructive storm in terms of property damage in U.S. history and spawned 44 tornadoes, a report from the National Hurricane Center...
Busy Wildfire Season Along West Coast: Forecast
May 3 2019 // Most of the country can expect a normal wildfire season but residents along the West Coast of the United States should be ready for another busy season, the National Interagency Fire Center said this week. California...
Twisters Swirl Through Tornado Alley in South Central States
May 2 2019 // Severe thunderstorms spawned numerous tornadoes across northern Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, downing trees and utility lines and damaging roofs. No injuries have been reported. The National Weather Service issued numerous...
PG&E Seeks Court Approval for $105M Fund to Aid California Wildfire Victims
May 2 2019 // PG&E Corp. is seeking court approval for a $105 million fund to help house victims of the wildfires blamed on the bankrupt California power provider. PG&E in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco on...
April 18 Mississippi Tornado Outbreak Ties State’s One-Day Record
May 2 2019 // The National Weather Service is now confirming 44 tornadoes in Mississippi from the April 18 outbreak, tying the record for a single event. Forecasters say they also confirmed that many tornadoes in Mississippi during...
PG&E Still Has No Estimate on Compensating California Wildfire Victims
May 1 2019 // Pacific Gas & Electric Corp.’s top financial executives said during a bankruptcy meeting Monday they still haven’t determined when the utility can start compensating victims of recent wildfires started by...
9: The Number of Tornadoes that Hit East Texas, Louisiana Last Week
Apr 29 2019 // The National Weather Service says at least nine tornadoes were formed during a two-day period of severe weather in eastern Texas and Louisiana. Meteorologist Davyon Hill says seven tornadoes were part of the same parent...
L.A. County Sues Southern California Edison for Wildfire Damage
Apr 29 2019 // Los Angeles County sued Southern California Edison and parent company Edison International on Thursday to recover more than $100 million in costs and damages from a wind-driven wildfire that may have been sparked by one of...
