Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Damage to Florida Crops from Hurricane Michael to Total $158M
Oct 29 2018 // A new study says Florida crops suffered $158 million in damages from Hurricane Michael. The report released Friday by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences says that almost all of the...
Super Typhoon Yutu Threatens Philippines’ Most Populous Island
Oct 28 2018 // Super Typhoon Yutu could rip into eastern Luzon in the Philippines on Tuesday, extending the toll of destruction it left in the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands earlier this week. Yutu was about 731 miles (1,176 kilometers)...
Army Corps, Texas Officials Propose Sweeping Hurricane Protection Plan
Oct 26 2018 // Following years of research, studies and public debate, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — in partnership with the state’s General Land Office — has recommended a multi-billion-dollar project that would protect...
Mexico Begins Digging Out from Destruction of Hurricane Willa
Oct 25 2018 // Residents on Mexico’s Pacific Coast on Wednesday began clearing up the wreckage left by Hurricane Willa, which ripped through towns overnight, tearing off rooftops, downing power lines and splitting trees...
Typhoon Yutu Hits Northern Mariana Islands as Strongest Storm in 68 Years
Oct 25 2018 // Super Typhoon Yutu battered the Pacific Ocean’s Northern Mariana Islands with 178 mile (286 kilometers) per hour winds, making it the strongest storm to hit the U.S. territory since 1950. The storm’s eye...
Mexican Insurers Will Absorb Losses from Hurricane Willa: A.M. Best
Oct 25 2018 // Mexico’s insurance industry overall remains well-capitalized and can absorb the financial impact generated from Hurricane Willa, according to an A.M. Best briefing. Hurricane Willa made landfall on Oct. 23 on...
Insurers Under Scrutiny in Puerto Rico with 13,600 Hurricane Maria Claims Still Open
Oct 25 2018 // Thousands of Puerto Ricans have been forced to drain their savings, close their businesses, or resign themselves to living with structural damage as they fight insurance companies over millions of dollars’ worth of...
Survey: Florida Keys Population Fell by Nearly 3K After Hurricane Irma
Oct 25 2018 // An annual population survey in the Florida Keys shows how many people left the island chain after Hurricane Irma last year. The Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida found that every Keys...
Georgia Gov. Calls Special Session to Address Hurricane Michael Recovery Costs
Oct 24 2018 // Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has called a special session of the state legislature to grapple with the recovery costs from Hurricane Michael. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the governor’s office expects...
Galveston Struggling to Rebuild Housing 10 Years After Hurricane Ike
Oct 24 2018 // Galveston hasn’t done enough to rebuild public housing that was destroyed by Hurricane Ike a decade ago, public housing advocates say. Fewer than half of the island city’s 569 public housing units have been...
Weakened Hurricane Willa Moves Inland from Mexico’s Pacific Coast
Oct 24 2018 // Willa’s fierce winds eased as the storm barreled inland over Mexico early on Wednesday, unleashing heavy rains after leaving power outages and toppled trees on the coast but causing no deaths, officials and...
Florida Death Toll From Hurricane Michael Climbs to 29
Oct 24 2018 // Authorities in Florida say Hurricane Michael has killed at least 29 people in the state, bringing the overall death toll to 39. Florida Emergency Management Division spokesman Alberto Moscoso says the state toll stood at...
Farmers in Hawaii Lost $28M Because of Volcano
Oct 23 2018 // A survey of Big Island farmers has found that they suffered nearly $28 million in damages because of the months-long eruption earlier this year of the Kilauea volcano, the Hawaii Tribune Herald reported. The survey of 46...
Dangerous Hurricane Willa Heads to Pacific Coast of Mexico
Oct 23 2018 // Hurricane Willa, an extremely dangerous a Category 4 storm, weakened slightly as it veered toward popular tourist resorts on Mexico’s Pacific coast on Monday, prompting government warnings for people to leave...
Georgia Estimates $250M in Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael
Oct 23 2018 // The Georgia Department of Insurance has estimated insured property losses from Hurricane Michael will reach $250 million, according to a statement Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens. In figures released Oct. 18,...
Timber Industry Suffers $1.3B in Losses from Hurricane Michael
Oct 22 2018 // Trees brought down by Hurricane Michael’s ferocious winds took a heavy toll on life, property and the timber industry in the heavily forested Florida Panhandle, where $1.3 billion in timber was lost, authorities said...
As Tornadoes Shift Eastward, Scientists Explore Why
Oct 22 2018 // Over the past few decades tornadoes have been shifting — decreasing in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas but spinning up more in states along the Mississippi River and farther east, a new study shows. Scientists aren’t...
Swiss Re to Post ‘Large’ Q3 Losses from Italy Bridge Collapse, Natural Disasters
Oct 18 2018 // Swiss Re AG said it will post relatively “large” losses from claims in the third quarter, as man-made disasters including the collapse of a bridge in Italy add to damage from storms. Natural disaster claims,...
Texas Windstorm Insurer’s Request to Hike Liability Limits Denied
Oct 18 2018 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan has declined to approve the request by the state’s property insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast to increase maximum limits of liability for...
Florida Red Tide Not Diminished by Hurricane Michael
Oct 17 2018 // Hurricane Michael failed to break up a patchy and toxic algae bloom that has lingered in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s shoreline for the last year, experts said Monday, meaning the red tide outbreak could continue...
