Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Drought Conditions Match Devastating 1998 Wildfire Season
Jun 17 2011 // Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said drought conditions are the same as in 1998 when wildfires devastated Florida. Putnam told Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Cabinet colleagues Thursday that drought covers 93 percent of...
Texas House Approves Windstorm Insurance Changes
Jun 17 2011 // The Texas House approved widespread changes on June 15 to the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the organization that insures people who live along the coast. The House passed the bill on a 99-41 vote. The bill must...
FEMA Tallies Hawaii Damage from Japan Tsunami at $6.2 Million
Jun 14 2011 // Federal aid has been approved for those in Hawaii affected by tsunami waves from the March earthquake in Japan. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that so far the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved 14...
Record Wildfire Season Affecting Arizona, Rest of U.S.
Jun 14 2011 // As Arizona continues to battle several wildfires, every state in the country now has the potential for a wildfire, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The Center said nearly every state in the U.S. has...
FEMA Awards $1.2M Tsunami Grant to Oregon County
Jun 13 2011 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced a disaster relief grant of nearly $1.2 million to Oregon’s Curry County to help repair and replace public infrastructure damaged by the tsunami waves from the...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Purchases Reinsurance
Jun 10 2011 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) announced it has purchased $636 million in reinsurance protection. The policy will cover losses that exceed the $1.6 billion in funds estimated to be available from the...
Oklahoma Contractor Charged With Fraud After Tornadoes
Jun 9 2011 // An Oklahoma construction contractor has been charged with taking payments to repair roofs damaged by recent tornadoes and strong storms, then failing to perform the work. Six felony counts of violating the Oklahoma...
Texas House Committee OKs Changes to Windstorm Insurance Bill
Jun 9 2011 // A Texas House of Representatives committee has approved big changes to the insurance authority that covers coastal properties for wind and hail. The House Insurance Committee passed a bill overhauling the Texas Windstorm...
Homeowners Seek $90M for Massachusetts Tornado Damage
Jun 9 2011 // Homeowners in western Massachusetts have filed $90 million in insurance claims for damage caused by deadly tornadoes that ravaged Springfield and several smaller communities last week, state officials said Tuesday. The...
Active Hurricane Season Ups Risk for Mid-Atlantic
Jun 9 2011 // As weather forecasters predict an above-normal number of hurricanes this season, chances also increase that one of the storms will hit the mid-Atlantic states. The News Journal of Wilmington (Delaware) reports that the...
Adrian is First Hurricane of 2011 Pacific Season
Jun 9 2011 // Tropical Storm Adrian strengthened to a hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast, becoming the first hurricane of the 2011 Pacific season, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Mexico’s government issued a storm...
Missouri: 17,000 Insurance Claims Filed So Far From Joplin Tornado
Jun 8 2011 // The major insurance companies serving consumers in the Joplin area have received nearly 17,000 claims so far from residents and business owners with damage from the EF-5 tornado that struck the area on May 22, insurance...
New Aon Terrorist Risk Map Includes Mideast, No. Africa Unrest
Jun 8 2011 // Aon’s annual publication of its Terrorist Risk Map has been expanded. Aon said this year’s version features areas where “political violence, strikes, riots, civil war and war threaten the sustainable...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Issue Added to Special Session
Jun 7 2011 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry has added legislation relating to the operation of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association as an issue to be addressed during the special session of the Legislature that began on May 31. “It...
Marsh Launches Index-Based Insurance Option for Earthquake, Windstorm Risks
Jun 7 2011 // Marsh now offers an option for organizations with significant earthquake and/or windstorm exposures that are unable to purchase enough insurance to adequately protect their assets. The new program is called Country...
Florida Commission Approves RMS Hurricane Model
Jun 7 2011 // Florida’s residential property insurance market is bracing for even more volatility after the state’s modeling commission approved the use of the new Risk Management Services (RMS) catastrophe model. The...
Missouri Capital City Looking to Upgrade Tornado Sirens
Jun 6 2011 // Officials in Missouri’s capital city have decided to look into improving its aging storm warning system, after a deadly tornado hit the state’s southwest. Two of Jefferson City’s 15 warning sirens...
3,500 People Evacuate as Volcano Erupts in Southern Chile
Jun 6 2011 // One of the volcanoes in the Caulle Cordon of southern Chile erupted violently Saturday, billowing smoke and ash high into the sky and prompting more than 3,500 people living nearby to evacuate. There were no reports of...
Hurricane Season Could Bring Rate Relief
Jun 6 2011 // Property and casualty insurers craving respite from a long-running drop in prices eyed the start of the U.S. hurricane season on June 1 in the hope that summer windstorms will finally turn the market. The June 1 to Nov. 30...
Demise of Windstorm Association Overhaul Leads to Special Session in Texas
Jun 6 2011 // Texas lawmakers were unable to come to terms on an overhaul of the state-backed insurer for property along the Texas coast, so they’ll return to Austin in July to try again. Their failure to deal with school finance,...
