Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Pacific Hurricane Marie Grows to Category 5 Storm
Aug 26 2014 // Hurricane Marie grew into a large and powerful Category 5 storm and moved west-northwestward far off the Pacific coast of Mexico, threatening dangerous surf conditions from Baja California Peninsula up through Southern...
Vermont Enticing Disaster Preparedness With Money
Aug 25 2014 // Vermont is preparing to implement new rules that encourage communities to take steps to reduce future flood damage in exchange for more money to help them recover from the next big flood. Communities across Vermont have...
M6.0 Earthquake is California Bay Area’s Strongest Since Loma Prieta
Aug 24 2014 // A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Napa, Calif. early Sunday morning is the strongest earthquake to hit the San Francisco Bay area since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which registered a magnitude 6.9, according to...
Hurricane Forecasters Keeping Eye on Storm Building in Atlantic
Aug 22 2014 // A potential tropical system became a bit ragged with poor definition late yesterday as it neared the Leeward Islands at the eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea. A U.S. Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter found a small area of...
Eight Homes, 10 Buildings Destroyed by California Wildfire
Aug 21 2014 // A wildfire northeast of Bakersfield, Calif. has destroyed eight homes and 10 other structures, authorities said, but residents of some 200 homes under evacuation orders were allowed to return home Wednesday evening. The...
High Earthquake Probability for Yellowstone Region
Aug 20 2014 // A new U.S. Geological Survey report indicates a slightly greater earthquake hazard in the Greater Yellowstone region of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho than previously thought, a geophysicist says. “The new maps show how...
Wildfire Near Yosemite In California Threatens 500 Structures
Aug 19 2014 // Firefighters from throughout California have been dispatched today to protect homes threatened by a wildfire near Yosemite National Park. The nearly 2-square-mile blaze in Madera County had destroyed eight structures and...
Earthquake Gap: Insurance Sales Falling As Risk Rises
Aug 19 2014 // While earthquake risks are rising in the U.S., fewer homeowners nationally say they have earthquake insurance, creating a potentially huge gap in coverage, according to the Insurance Information Institute. That’s a...
Heart of Atlantic Hurricane Season Starts as Storms Seem Dubious
Aug 19 2014 // The official start of the most active part of the Atlantic hurricane season arrives tomorrow with more of a whimper than a bang. If tradition holds, William Gray, who pioneered seasonal hurricane forecasting more than...
Iceland Raises Alert Level for Volcano Eruption to Second-Highest
Aug 19 2014 // Iceland’s Met Office on Monday raised its risk level to the aviation industry for an eruption at its Bardarbunga volcano to orange, which is the fourth level on a five-grade scale. Ash from the eruption of...
Chance of Below-Normal Hurricane Season Now Up to 70%
Aug 18 2014 // Forecasters with the National Weather Service raised the likelihood for a below-normal season in their most recent Atlantic hurricane season outlook. The Aug. 7 update predicts a 70 percent chance of a below-normal season,...
Mass. DOI Providing Claims Assistance to Revere Tornado Victims
Aug 14 2014 // The Massachusetts Division of Insurance (DOI) announced this week its staff will be providing ongoing assistance for Revere residents and business owners who have open claims or other concerns related to the July 28th...
Weak Tornado Confirmed in South Dakota
Aug 14 2014 // The National Weather Service says a weak tornado caused minor damage at Lake Cochrane in South Dakota’s Deuel County over the weekend. The afternoon twister had estimated peak winds of 75 mph and was rated an EF-0,...
10 Years After Hurricane Charley: A Lesson in Strong Building Codes
Aug 13 2014 // It has been 10 years since the record-breaking 2004 Atlantic hurricane season when four major hurricanes – Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne – all made landfall in Florida within the space of six weeks, damaging one in...
As Mid-August Approaches, Where Are All the Atlantic Hurricanes?
Aug 13 2014 // It’s almost the middle of August, and the Pacific has been cranking out hurricanes and typhoons all over the place. So, what’s with the Atlantic? After just about two and half months, hurricanes Arthur and...
PERILS Issues 3rd Insured Loss Estimate for Windstorm Tini – $375 Million
Aug 12 2014 // PERILS AG said its revised loss estimate for windstorm Tini, also known as Darwin, which affected Ireland and the United Kingdom on February 12 and 13, is €281 million [$375 million]. The third estimate of the property...
Typhoon Halong Inundates Japan: AIR Analysis
Aug 12 2014 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide’s report on former Typhoon Halong notes that it was downgraded to a tropical storm before making its first landfall in Japan on Shikoku Island at approximately 6 a.m. Japan...
Hurricane Julio Downgraded To Category 1 Storm As It Struck Hawaii
Aug 11 2014 // Hurricane Julio weakened Sunday night as it neared Hawaii, where a rural swath of the Big Island was still coping with power outages and downed trees in the wake of Tropical Storm Iselle. On the island of Kauai, rescuers...
Feds Offer Low-Interest Loans to Fix Mass. Tornado Damage
Aug 11 2014 // The federal Small Business Administration is offering low-interest loans to Massachusetts residents and businesses to repair property damage from the tornado that hit Revere on July 28. The tornado brought winds of up to...
Weakened Typhoon Halong Lashes Japan; 1 Dead, Dozens Hurt
Aug 11 2014 // A tropical storm was moving out into the Sea of Japan on Sunday after lashing the country with rain and winds, leaving one person dead, more than 50 injured and prompting evacuation alerts for about 1.2 million residents...
