Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Wildfire Update: Thousands Flee, More Than 50K Without Power
Nov 9 2018 // Fanned by hot, dry winds, wildfires north of San Francisco and near Los Angeles have forced the evacuation of more than 150,000 people in the state, including Malibu, the coastal enclave of the rich and famous. The fires...
California Wildfire Grows to More than 20K Acres, More Blazes Erupt
Nov 9 2018 // A wildfire raging in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada foothills quadrupled in size late Thursday and another day of dry winds threatens to make it spread even farther, faster. The blaze near the community of Chico...
AXIS Capital Estimates 4Q Losses from Hurricane Michael
Nov 9 2018 // AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. announced a preliminary pre-tax loss estimate for Hurricane Michael in the range of $100 million to $120 million, which will affect its fourth quarter financial results. The loss estimate figure...
Storm May Have Spawned Tornadoes in Deep South
Nov 8 2018 // Possible tornados touched down in Louisiana and Mississippi as a line of storms moved across the Deep South. Tree limbs and power lines were down from Louisiana to Alabama early Tuesday, prompting some schools to delay the...
4 Alabama Counties Declared Federal Disaster from Hurricane Michael
Nov 7 2018 // Four south Alabama counties have been declared a disaster area because of damage from Hurricane Michael last month. The governor’s office says President Donald Trump has issued a disaster declaration that includes...
Earthquake Prompts Shut Down of Well Completion Site in Oklahoma
Nov 6 2018 // State oil and gas regulators in Oklahoma have ordered the indefinite shutdown hydraulic fracturing operations at a well site after an earthquake struck nearby. The 3.3 magnitude quake was reported Sunday night near Bridge...
Georgia Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael Near $700M
Nov 6 2018 // Georgia’s insured losses from Hurricane Michael have climbed to more than $696 million, with insurers reporting approximately 68,000 claims filed as of the end of October, according to a press release from Insurance...
Georgia Estimates $250M in Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael
Nov 5 2018 // The Georgia Department of Insurance has estimated insured property losses from Hurricane Michael will reach $250 million, according to a statement by Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens. In figures released Oct....
Power Customers in California File Claims in Pre-Emptive Wildfire Outage
Nov 2 2018 // A Northern California utility received 146 demands for reimbursement from customers who say Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s controversial decision to cut power to prevent wildfires hurt them economically. The...
Hurricane Florence Damage in North Carolina Reaches $17B
Nov 2 2018 // Hurricane Florence in North Carolina is now estimated to have caused $17 billion in damage, according to a statement from Governor Roy Cooper’s office. An Oct. 31 updated damage estimate from the North Carolina...
Georgia Farmers Face Long Recovery From Hurricane Michael Crop Losses
Nov 2 2018 // Hurricane Michael left a snowy landscape of ruined white cotton on Georgia’s red clay, destroying a crop and likely bringing hard times to the region’s many small communities built on agriculture. When the...
Florida Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael Top $2B, And Growing
Nov 1 2018 // Total estimated insured losses from Hurricane Michael have reached more than $2.1 billion, according to the most recent data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. The current number of claims from Hurricane...
Court Limits Insurer’s Payout in Massive Wisconsin Wildfire
Oct 31 2018 // The state Supreme Court is limiting an insurance company’s payout in a massive northwestern Wisconsin wildfire. Logging equipment owned by Ray Duerr Logging LLC sparked the Germann Road Fire in Douglas County in May...
Weather, Wildfire Claims an Increasing Share of Home Insurance Losses
Oct 31 2018 // U.S homeowners insurers saw an increase in both the number of losses and the percentage of those losses that resulted from an extreme weather event during 2017. According to a LexisNexis Home Trends report, loss costs...
Willis Research Network Renews Partnership with Global Earthquake Model Foundation
Oct 31 2018 // The Willis Research Network (WRN) announced it has renewed its partnership with the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation. The agreement represents a continued commitment to working collaboratively in order to develop...
Update: Typhoon Yutu Pummels Philippines; Death Toll Rises from Landslides, Floods
Oct 31 2018 // At least 10 people were killed and about 20 are missing in a trail of landslides in the mountainous region of northern Philippines after the devastation caused by Typhoon Yutu, according to government authorities. Rescuers...
Typhoon Yutu Slams into Philippines, Traveling Path of Super Storm Mangkhut
Oct 30 2018 // Typhoon Yutu slammed into northern Philippines on Tuesday and is traveling a path similar to last month’s super storm Mangkhut that killed at least 82 people and damaged about $500 million of farm output in the...
Hurricane Michael Death Toll Now at 35 in Florida, 45 Total
Oct 30 2018 // Florida authorities have linked six more deaths to Hurricane Michael, raising the state’s death toll to 35. The storm’s overall death toll now stands at 45, with 10 deaths in other states. Florida Emergency...
PERILS Offers Windstorm Forecasting Platform in Australia, Updates Europe Service
Oct 29 2018 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has launched a windstorm forecasting platform in Australia and updated its existing service in Europe. The website,...
Philippine Authorities Move People to Safer Grounds as Typhoon Approaches
Oct 29 2018 // Philippine authorities started to move people to safer grounds as Typhoon Yutu approaches, tracking a path similar to last month’s storm that devastated rice-producing provinces in the main island of Luzon. Yutu,...
