Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tornadoes Damage 25 Homes in 2 Alabama Counties
Mar 19 2008 // Weather officials in Alabama confirmed that storm damages in Blount and Cherokee counties were caused by two tornadoes. The March 15 tornadoes packing 115 mph winds, caused no injuries or deaths, the National Weather...
68 Homes Destroyed after 15 Weekend Tornadoes Pummel South Carolina
Mar 19 2008 // It took just three seconds for John Simmons and his family to lose their home in one of at least 15 tornadoes that swept across South Carolina last weekend. On March 15, as winds downed trees and ripped the roof off the...
Final Tsunami Detection Buoys Installed Off Solomon Islands
Mar 18 2008 // The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the last two tsunami detection buoys have been placed, completing the U.S. tsunami warning network. The two sensors were deployed off the Solomon Islands and will...
California Earthquake Authority Names Pomeroy CEO
Mar 18 2008 // The Governing Board of the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) announced the hiring of Glenn A. Pomeroy as the CEA’s CEO. He will assume the position on April 1. Pomeroy has extensive experience in public service...
Officials Assess Impact of Tornado Damage to Downtown Atlanta
Mar 18 2008 // Many Atlanta streets were closed and some traffic lights were still out Monday morning because of a tornado that ripped a path of destruction through the city’s core. Commuters to downtown were encouraged to stay...
Weather Service Confirms Tornado Hit Northwest Georgia
Mar 18 2008 // The National Weather has confirmed that a tornado caused the turbulent weather in northwest Georgia that left two people dead. Meteorologist Frank Taylor says the tornado touched down at 12:25 p.m. on March 15, at the...
USGS Offers Earthquake Research Grants
Mar 18 2008 // The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will award up to $3.4 million in grants and cooperative agreements for earthquake research in 2009. Interested researchers can apply online at www.grants.gov under the funding opportunity...
Tornado, Storms Slam Atlanta, Gov. Declares State of Emergency
Mar 17 2008 // A severe weather system moved into Georgia March 14 resulting in numerous injuries and major destruction and damage to areas of Atlanta and Fulton County, Ga. The system produced one tornado, injuring at least 20 people...
Some in Connecticut Shook by Small Earthquake
Mar 13 2008 // Scientists say it was a small earthquake that shook houses in Chester, Connecticut and surrounding towns earlier this week. The U.S. Geological Survey says it recorded a 2.0 magnitude earthquake early Tuesday morning three...
Texas FAIR Plan, Windstorm Association Elect Officers for 2008-2009
Mar 12 2008 // Both the Texas FAIR Plan Association and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) have elected new officers for 2008-2009. For the Texas FAIR Plan, James Langford, vice president, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance...
Conflicts Arising in Federal Rulings in Louisiana Hurricane Cases
Mar 11 2008 // Conflicting rulings by federal judges in New Orleans and in Lake Charles, La., are having major effects on how much money homeowners can collect on damage from the 2005 hurricanes, and there is no quick end to the conflict...
Windstorm Liability Limits Increased for Certain Property in Texas
Mar 11 2008 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin recently signed an order increasing the maximum limits of liability from $3,390,000 to $4 million for a commercial or government building insured for wind and hail by the Texas...
AIG Expands Hurricane Service for High Net Worth Clients
Mar 11 2008 // AIG Private Client Group said it will begin offering its Hurricane Protection Unit service to some of it high net worth policyholders in New York, New Jersey and Florida. The service provides a hurricane mitigation...
Study Reports on Costly 2007 Wildfire Season
Mar 10 2008 // With a potential $2.5 billion in insured losses in California alone, last year ranks as one of the costliest wildfire seasons in recent history, according to Risk Management Solutions’ (RMS) and ImageCat Inc.’s...
Storms’ Intensity Remains Tough to Predict, Says U.S. Hurricane Chief
Mar 6 2008 // The new head of the National Hurricane Center says the big challenge for forecasters is predicting the intensity of hurricanes. Bill Read says there’s been a lot of improvement in track models in recent years. But he...
AIR Assesses Damages from European Windstorm Emma
Mar 4 2008 // Boston-based AIR Worldwide is assessing the damages caused by windstorm Emma, which swept across Western and Southern Germany, as well as Austria and the Czech Republic on Saturday, March 1. No damage estimates have yet...
Feds Open Center in Southern Ky. to Help Tornado Victims
Feb 29 2008 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened a center in southern Kentucky about a mile from where a winter storms tore apart homes and killed four people earlier this month. FEMA workers are at a Mobile Disaster...
Ga. Official Says Tornadoes, Storms Caused $15 Million Damage
Feb 29 2008 // Thunderstorms and tornadoes that raced into Georgia from the west Tuesday morning caused about $15 million damage to some 1,300 homes, a state official said Wednesday. Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine earlier estimated...
Earthquake Strikes England; No Deaths Reported, Initial Damages $20 Million
Feb 28 2008 // The British Geological Survey (BGS – http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/) recorded an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 (ML) on the Richter scale near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire at 00:56 GMT, yesterday, Feb. 27. While...
Willis on Middle East Terrorism Insurance
Feb 27 2008 // Willis Group Holdings has released a summation of its presentation on terrorism insurance at the General Arab Insurance Federation (GAIF) conference in Bahrain. The global broker notes: “Despite a number of recent...
