Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
2 New Mexico Counties Were Added to Wildfire Disaster Declaration
Aug 9 2022 // Two more New Mexico counties were added to a federal disaster declaration issued in response to the state’s historic wildfire season. State officials said that Los Alamos and Sandoval counties will now be eligible...
Climate Migration: California Wildfire Pushes Family to Vermont ‘Climate Haven’
Aug 9 2022 // PROCTOR, Vt. (AP) — Weeks after surviving one of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California history, the Holden family just wanted a new home. The family of seven couldn’t find anything nearby to...
U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado Cash
Aug 8 2022 // The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, accusing it of helping hackers, including from North Korea, to launder proceeds from their cyber crimes. A senior Treasury Department...
Oregon’s Wildfire Risk Map Emerges as Climate Flashpoint
Aug 8 2022 // A new map in Oregon that rated the wildfire risk of every tax lot in the state – labeling nearly 80,000 structures as high-risk – generated so much pushback from angry homeowners that officials abruptly retracted it,...
North Texas Wildfires Continue to Erupt
Aug 5 2022 // One firefighter was injured and two others were treated for heat exhaustion while fighting a wildfire in North Texas that burned almost half a square mile Wednesday, officials said. The fire near Tolar, about 40 miles (65...
CSU Team Slightly Lowers Forecast for Still Above-Average Hurricane Season
Aug 5 2022 // The hurricane research team at Colorado State University has slightly lowered its outlook for the Atlantic hurricane season but is still calling for above-average action. The CSU Tropical Meteorology Project team is now...
California’s Largest Wildfire Got Very Little Help from Rainfall
Aug 4 2022 // California’s largest wildfire so far this year has so far charred nearly 90 square miles, getting only a little help from rainfall in the area this week. The wildfire, which is now listed as 10% contained, broke out...
Utah Man Accused of Causing Wildfire by Burning Spider
Aug 4 2022 // A Utah man has been arrested on accusations he started a wildfire while trying to burn a spider with his lighter. Cory Allan Martin, 26, told deputies that he spotted the spider Monday while he was in a hiking area in the...
Slow Recovery From Bama Twister Could be Harbinger for Hurricane-Prone South
Aug 4 2022 // There’s not much in Greene County, a place that stands out even in impoverished west Alabama for its neediness. So the April tornado that settled down upon a housing community full of seniors and low-income families...
Western Nebraska Wildfire Forces Evacuations, Destroys Homes
Aug 3 2022 // A wildfire that has forced evacuations and destroyed some homes in the Nebraska Panhandle grew to about 25000 square miles (64749.77 square kilometers) Monday, but firefighters were managing to limit the spread of the...
California Commissioner Orders Cancellation Moratorium for Wildfires
Aug 2 2022 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara this week ordered insurers to preserve residential insurance coverage for the county of Mariposa following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s emergency declaration. Lara’s order...
2 Bodies Found Inside Vehicle in Path of Big California Wildfire
Aug 2 2022 // Authorities said two bodies were found inside a burned vehicle in the path of a raging Northern California wildfire that is one of several major blazes burning across the U.S. West amid hot, dry, gusty conditions. The...
Floods, Storms Drive Global Insured Catastrophe Losses of US$38B in H1 2022: Swiss Re
Aug 2 2022 // A series of winter storms in Europe, record floods in Australia and South Africa as well as a high number of thunderstorms in the U.S. and Europe resulted in US$35 billion of insured losses from natural catastrophes in the...
California Seeing Largest Wildfire of 2022 at 80 Square Miles
Aug 1 2022 // A wildfire in Northern California was burning out of control on Monday amid exacerbating conditions that pose the dangers of thunderstorms, and hot, windy conditions. The McKinney Fire grew rapidly to more than 80 square...
Western U.S. Wildfires Explode in Size Amid Hot, Windy Conditions
Aug 1 2022 // Wildfires in California and Montana exploded in size overnight amid windy, hot conditions and were quickly encroaching on neighborhoods, forcing evacuation orders for over 100 homes Saturday, while an Idaho blaze was...
United P&C Completes Florida Restructuring Amid Catastrophe Losses
Jul 28 2022 // United Insurance Holdings, parent of United Property & Casualty Insurance, said it has completed most of its major reorganization plan, consolidating its four Florida-based carriers into two. The news was accompanied...
Alaska Experiencing Wildfires It’s Never Seen Before
Jul 26 2022 // Alaska is burning this year in ways rarely or ever seen, from the largest wildfire in a typically mainly fireproof southwest region to a pair of blazes that ripped through forests and produced smoke that blew hundreds of...
Record Temperatures, Wildfires Wreak Havoc on Europe’s Wineries and Vineyards
Jul 26 2022 // In Portugal’s Douro Valley on July 7, a wildfire burned close to Oscar Quevedo’s Quinta da Alegria vineyard. By the middle of the night, flames surrounded it. The vines around the edges, amounting to about a...
Crews Protect Homes as California Wildfire Burns Near Yosemite
Jul 25 2022 // A destructive wildfire near Yosemite National Park burned out of control through tinder-dry forest on Sunday and had grown into one of California’s biggest blazes of the year, forcing thousands of residents to flee...
Four Years After Hurricane Michael, Florida City Rebuilding, Recovering
Jul 25 2022 // MEXICO BEACH, Fla. — Standing on the deck of the new Driftwood Inn, 31/2 years after Hurricane Michael obliterated the old one, Tom Wood spoke of the months after the storm. One of his daughters had urged him and his...
