Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wyoming Man and His Insurers to Pay $2.9M for 2012 Wildfire
Oct 5 2015 // A man who accidentally started a 2012 wildfire that burned over a mountain and threatened the town of Jackson has agreed to a $2.9 million payment under a legal settlement. James G. Anderson Jr., 79, will be responsible...
Oregon Office Building Will Give Tenants Earthquake Warning
Oct 5 2015 // A Portland, Ore., office building will be able to warn tenants when an earthquake is about to strike. KGW-TV reported that the Radiator building is equipped with an earthquake early warning system. Sensors buried below the...
Southern California City Unveils Mapping Tool for Wildfire Hazards
Oct 2 2015 // As fire season ramps up, San Diego County, Calif. has unveiled a new online interactive map that allows residents to search out wildfire dangers in specific areas. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported he digital tool...
RMS: Slow-Moving Hurricane Joaquin Expected to Drive Coastal Flooding
Oct 2 2015 // Even though Hurricane Joaquin is likely to remain offshore in the Atlantic, it is battering parts of the Carribbean with Category 4 strength winds and will likely drive coastal flooding and heavy rainfall along the eastern...
Insurance Company Investors Assess Hurricane Joaquin Damage
Oct 2 2015 // The hurricane strengthening off the U.S. East Coast is buffeting insurance providers as investors assess the possible damages. Losses began to accelerate as Joaquin grew into a Category 4 hurricane, with top winds...
Eastern U.S. Soaked by Rain as Hurricane Joaquin Gains Force Near Bahamas
Oct 1 2015 // The weather outlook for the eastern U.S. is starting to resemble the plot of a 1970s disaster movie in which everything that could go wrong did. From the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, the coastal states have been soaked...
Major Hurricane Joaquin Could Hit East Coast
Oct 1 2015 // Joaquin became a major hurricane as it tears toward the Bahamas and government forecasters said they can’t rule out a strike on the U.S. East Coast as early as Sunday. The 10th storm of the Atlantic season had top...
UPDATE: Joaquin Now a Major Hurricane; Nearing Bahamas
Oct 1 2015 // Joaquin is now classified as a “major hurricane,” according to the most recent bulletin from the National Hurricane Center. The storm’s “maximum sustained winds are near 120 mph (195 km/h) with...
Oklahoma School District Looking to Repair Earthquake Damage
Sep 30 2015 // Structural engineers are assessing the damage caused by a July earthquake at Crescent Public Schools buildings in Oklahoma. The 4.5 magnitude earthquake hit Crescent on July 27. Superintendent Mickey Hart told the Enid...
California Draws $10M From Reserves to Remove Wildfire Debris
Sep 30 2015 // California Governor Jerry Brown last week directed $10 million from the state’s budget reserve to help pay for the removal of huge amounts of burned debris left in the wake of two massive wildfires, the...
Hurricane Joaquin Keeps Forecasters Guessing on Its Path
Sep 30 2015 // Tropical Storm Joaquin jumped in strength and is forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane by Wednesday, even as computer models disagree on where it will end up. Joaquin’s top winds reached 65 miles (105 kilometers)...
AIR Analyzes Taiwan, China Damages, Losses from Typhoon Dujuan
Sep 30 2015 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reports that Typhoon Dujuan made landfall on northeast coast of Taiwan with high winds and heavy rain near Nan’ao Township in Yilan County, late afternoon on Monday, September...
Hurricane Warnings Issued as Tropical Storm Joaquin Gains Strength
Sep 30 2015 // The National Hurricane Center’s latest bulletin, issued at 5:00 EDT, notes that the “government of the Bahamas has issued a Hurricane Warning for the central Bahamas, including Cat Island, the Exumas, Long...
Forecasters Watching Tropical Storm Joaquin as It Churns in Atlantic
Sep 29 2015 // Forecasters are watching Tropical Storm Joaquin as it churns in the Atlantic near the Bahamas to see if it will become a threat to the U.S. East Coast later this week. Joaquin was about 385 miles (620 kilometers) northeast...
PERILS Lowers Windstorm Niklas Insured Loss Estimate to $927 Million
Sep 29 2015 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has released its third loss estimate for windstorm Mike-Niklas, which, lowers the estimated property insurance...
Typhoon Dujuan Nears Taiwan with Rain, Wind; Airlines Cancel Flights
Sep 28 2015 // Typhoon Dujuan lashed Taiwan with rain and wind as it neared the island on Monday, forcing schools to shut and disrupting land and air traffic. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. canceled or delayed about 30 flights Monday and...
Tornado Damages 10 Homes in South Carolina Neighborhood
Sep 28 2015 // A tornado quickly blew through a neighborhood on the South Carolina coast early Friday and blew out windows, knocked down trees and heavily damaged ten homes. The tornado touched down around 1 a.m. with maximum winds of...
Earthquakes Knock Out Power in Oklahoma Town
Sep 27 2015 // Two earthquakes — including one of magnitude 4.0 — rattled Cushing, Okla., and caused power outages, but no injuries or significant damage is reported. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 4.0 magnitude quake struck at...
Southwest Louisiana Town Still Struggles a Decade after Hurricane Rita
Sep 24 2015 // Vacant slabs, weed-choked lots and solitary stairs to nowhere permeate Cameron, a tiny town in southwest Louisiana. All that remains of the Klean-N-Kruise car wash is a rusted white sign overlooking an empty, overgrown...
Treasury Names 9 to Panel on Private Insurance Market for Terrorism Risk
Sep 24 2015 // The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the appointment of nine people to serve as members of the Advisory Committee on Risk-Sharing Mechanisms (ACRSM) to spur the private market for terrorism insurance. The...
