Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas, Louisiana Enact Emergency Rules for Hurricane Relief
Sep 22 2008 // Insurance regulators in both Texas and Louisiana have enacted emergency rules aimed at providing relief for insurance consumers in the wake of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The Louisiana Department of Insurance issued...
Hurricane Gustav Disaster Declaration Extended for Louisiana
Sep 19 2008 // Twenty-five Louisiana parishes are now able to get federal aid to rebuild their buildings and facilities damaged by Hurricane Gustav. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has extended its Gustav disaster declaration in...
Storm Surge Not Covered in Texas Windstorm Association Policies
Sep 19 2008 // A Texas consumer group took issue with the state-chartered windstorm insurance association over its refusal to pay coastal residents for storm surge damage in Hurricane Ike. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association says...
Hurricane Ike Tests Texas Windstorm Association’s Ability to Pay Claims
Sep 18 2008 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) on Sept. 17 announced that anticipated claims from Hurricane Ike will force it to use the entire $370 million remainder of its Catastrophe Reserve Trust Fund, according to...
Hurricane Ike to Cost Insurers $7B to $12B, RMS Says in Revised Tally
Sep 18 2008 // Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the catastrophe risk modeling firm, has refined its estimate for U.S. onshore and offshore insured losses from Hurricane Ike to $7 to $12 billion from its original estimate of $6 to $16...
Best Comments on Potential Impact of Hurricane Ike on P/C Industry
Sep 17 2008 // A.M. Best’s preliminary assessment of the potential financial impact from Hurricane Ike concludes that, even though its passage was a “sizeable catastrophic event, the overall financial impact to both the...
S&P’s Analysis of Hurricane Season Finds Mounting Losses
Sep 16 2008 // Following Ike’s march through Texas, S&P noted that the preliminary estimates of insured losses “vary from $6 billion to $18 billion. (These figures include onshore and offshore exposure.)” Before...
Woman Who Started Wildfire Says It Was Symbolic
Sep 15 2008 // The former U.S. Forest Service employee who started the worst wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history testified she burned the letter blamed for igniting the blaze as a “symbolic gesture” of her failing...
Houston’s Corporate Giants Idled by Hurricane Ike
Sep 15 2008 // It’s not quite business as usual in Houston Monday after Hurricane Ike knocked out power to millions, shattered skyscraper windows and wiped out water pressure in the nation’s energy hub. In the midst of an oil...
Experts Meet in South Carolina, Discuss Making Homes Hurricane Ready
Sep 12 2008 // Getting people back in their homes quickly is vital to hurricane recovery, the head of a national program to build more storm-resistant homes said at a conference in South Carolina. “The faster you get the people...
Okla. Gov. Declares Emergency Ahead of Hurricane Ike
Sep 12 2008 // Gov. Brad Henry has declared a state of emergency for Oklahoma in case hurricane evacuees from Texas are brought to the state. Hurricane Ike is expected to hit Texas Saturday and Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management...
Hurricane Ike Idles Texas Oil Industry, Threatens Floods
Sep 12 2008 // Powerful Hurricane Ike bore down on the heart of the U.S. energy sector in Texas Friday, leaving most production idled and threatening a fifth of the nation’s refining capacity with howling winds and a possible...
Ferocious Hurricane Ike in Gulf of Mexico, Headed for Texas
Sep 11 2008 // Hurricane Ike gathered strength as it churned through the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters Thursday on a track that would skirt the heart of the U.S. offshore oil patch before slamming into the Texas coast late Friday or...
Thousands Flee Texas Coast as Hurricane Ike Shifts Northward
Sep 11 2008 // On Sept. 10, it looked like Hurricane Ike was going to make landfall along the middle Texas coast, with Corpus Christi being the largest city with the most to lose from the storm, which is expected to make landfall...
Texas Bracing for Possible Strike by Hurricane Ike
Sep 9 2008 // As Hurricane Ike barrels over Cuba and heads toward the Gulf of Mexico, it has the potential to become the storm that insurance companies in Texas have feared most, according to the Insurance Council of Texas. As of Sept....
Florida Closes Last Hurricane Gustav Shelter
Sep 8 2008 // The last American Red Cross shelter in Florida for Hurricane Gustav evacuees closed Sept. 6. As Hurricane Ike moves in from the west, Florida evacuees from Hurricane Gustav are finally able to return home. Craig Fugate,...
Weather, Fuel, Chief Factors in ’07 Idaho Wildfire
Sep 8 2008 // A state and federal report concluded that last summer’s lightning- and cheatgrass-stoked Murphy Complex fire that torched 1,000 square miles of Idaho and Nevada backcountry would have overwhelmed efforts by ranchers...
4.1-Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Northern Nevada
Sep 8 2008 // An earthquake has shaken the area around Swedes Place in northern Nevada. The U.S. Geological Survey’s preliminary report put the quake at a 4.1-magnitude. The temblor hit just before 4:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 6,...
Army Corp of Engineers Wins Flood Fight During Hurricane Gustav
Sep 8 2008 // No breaches. Limited brash talk. No “no word” from the Army Corps of Engineers. Few foul ups. Clear risk analysis. And the flood fight got done during Hurricane Gustav. Under a microscope since the catastrophic...
Hurricane Ike over Cuba, Heading for US Gulf Coast
Sep 8 2008 // Hurricane Ike is not yet weakening over Cuba and will likely reach the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane before taking aim at the oil-rich Texas-Louisiana coast later in the week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center...
