Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Churchill Downs Cleaning Up After Tornado
Jun 23 2011 // Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, Ky., said it will resume live horse racing the night of Friday, June 24, after a day off to survey tornado damage to barns and other structures. The racing facility was forced to...
Texas Senate Passes Windstorm Bill
Jun 23 2011 // The Texas Senate has passed a bill intended to improve the state’s coastal windstorm insurance agency, clarifying the claims process and increasing transparency at the agency. The measure to reform the Texas...
Florida Counties Ban Fireworks Due to Wildfire Risk
Jun 23 2011 // Drought conditions and rampant wildfires have forced 29 Florida counties to ban open fires. And for 22 of those counties, the ban covers fireworks. The Florida Division of Forestry said that more than 440 active wildfires...
Wildfires Continue to Plague Arizona, New Mexico
Jun 22 2011 // Fourteen homes have been destroyed in Arizona yesterday, after the Monument Fire burning near Sierra Vista went south into neighborhoods. All told, there are six fires burning in Arizona, and five in New Mexico. As of June...
Wildfires Burn 3 Dozen Homes Across Texas
Jun 21 2011 // Firefighters in Texas are attempting to contain more wildfires after several blazes broke out across the state and destroyed more than three dozen homes. Hundreds of people were told to evacuate June 19 after fires swept...
Hurricane Beatriz Hits Mexico’s Pacific Coast
Jun 21 2011 // Hurricane Beatriz bore down on Mexico’s Pacific coast Tuesday, putting tourist areas and major ports on alert for heavy rainfall and flash floods, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The eye of the hurricane was...
Some evacuees in AZ, NM Return Home From Wildfires
Jun 20 2011 // Some residents evacuated because of wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico were allowed to return to their homes as firefighters battled strong winds and hot weather to try to keep more houses, dry forests and stretches of...
Alabama Governor Tackles Tornado Recovery, Home Insurance Options
Jun 20 2011 // Anyone with a suggestion or complaint about Alabama’s recovery from the deadly tornadoes in April should know that the buck stops with the governor. Gov. Robert Bentley said he’s not looking to the Federal...
Ships Tossed Ashore by Japan Tsunami Rescued
Jun 20 2011 // More than a dozen ships heaved inland by Japan’s tsunami in March sit with red bellies and propellers exposed among the demolished houses of this once-bustling fishing town, a jarring daily reminder of the...
Hurricane Season Could Bring Rate Relief
Jun 20 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...
Florida Approves RMS Hurricane Model
Jun 20 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...
Massachusetts Digs out After Deadly Tornadoes
Jun 20 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 earlier this month. The state Division of...
Massachusetts Tornado Claims Now Up to $140 Million
Jun 17 2011 // The financial toll from tornadoes that ravaged Springfield and several smaller communities has risen dramatically. The state’s Division of Insurance estimated Thursday that residents have filed 8,200 insurance claims...
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...
