Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
No Injuries as 4.3M Earthquake Rattles Los Angeles
Sep 19 2021 // A small earthquake shook the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area Friday night, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. There weren’t any immediate reports of major damage or injuries. The magnitude-4.3 quake struck...
RMS Estimates US$31– $44 Billion in Total U.S. Onshore and Offshore Insured Losses from Hurricane Ida
Sep 17 2021 // Estimates reflect insured wind, storm surge, and inland flooding impacts in the U.S., including losses to the National Flood Insurance Program and the private flood market. Newark, CA – September 17, 2021 – RMS®, the...
Tropical Storm Nicholas Expected to Bring Flash Flooding to Deep South
Sep 14 2021 // Tropical Storm Nicholas is expected to produce life-threatening flash flooding to portions of the deep South through early Friday according to the National Hurricane Center. Nicholas was approximately 50 miles east of...
AccuWeather: Nicholas Hits Texas as Cat 1 Hurricane
Sep 14 2021 // Nicholas made landfall as a hurricane, packing 75-mph winds, on the coast of Texas on Monday night, and AccuWeather forecasters say the slow-moving storm will unleash life-threatening flooding along the Texas Gulf Coast,...
PG&E Judge Wants to Know Why Power Wasn’t Cut on Line Linked to Wildfire
Sep 14 2021 // A federal judge wants PG&E Corp. to explain why it didn’t turn off power sooner to a utility line suspected of causing the second-largest wildfire in California history. At a hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge...
Tropical Storm Nicholas to Test Post-Harvey Houston Infrastructure
Sep 14 2021 // On Aug. 25, the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, which dumped about 50 inches of rain on Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that the city “is safer today as it prepares to move forward.” Now comes...
Tropical Storm Nicholas Drenches Texas, Louisiana
Sep 14 2021 // HOUSTON — Heavy rains lashed Texas and Louisiana on Tuesday as hurricane Nicholas weakened into a tropical storm, bringing the threat of widespread floods and power outages as it swept down the U.S. Gulf Coast. It is the...
67% of Northern Minnesota Wildfire Contained
Sep 13 2021 // Authorities said on Sept. 12 that a vast majority of the Greenwood Lake wildfire in northern Minnesota is contained, one month after lighting ignited the blaze in the Superior National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service...
AIR Says Hurricane Ida Insurance Losses Could Reach $30 Billion
Sep 13 2021 // Modeling firm AIR Worldwide has updated its insured loss estimates for Hurricane Ida and now projects that Ida’s insured industry losses will range from $20 billion to $30 billion. The estimate includes inland flood...
KCC Estimates Sept. 7 Mexico Earthquake Insured Losses at $200M
Sep 13 2021 // The impact from the the strong (magnitude 7.0) earthquake that occurred Sept. 7 near Acapulco City, Mexico is expected to be moderate, with insured losses of about $200 million, according to catastrophe modeling firm Karen...
U.S. Hurricane Ida, Haiti Quake, Multiple Major Wildfires Among August’s Disasters: Aon
Sep 13 2021 // Hurricane Ida will likely become one of the costliest U.S. mainland hurricanes on record both on a nominal and inflation-adjusted basis, according to Aon’s monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluated the...
Tropical Storm Nicholas Heads for Texas, Louisiana
Sep 13 2021 // Tropical Storm Nicholas will pass near or just offshore the coasts of northeastern Mexico and south Texas this morning, and move onshore along the coast of south or central Texas late this afternoon or evening, the...
Typhoon Chanthu’s Rains, Winds Threaten China Coastal Regions
Sep 13 2021 // Authorities in Shanghai and neighboring coastal regions canceled flights, and suspended schools, subways and trains as Typhoon Chanthu approached China after drenching Taiwan though causing little damage there. The storm,...
Louisiana Orders Insurers to Pay Hurricane Ida Evacuation Expenses
Sep 9 2021 // Louisiana’s top insurance regulator on Sept. 7 directed insurance companies pay policyholders’ Hurricane Ida evacuation expenses as damaged infrastructure and dangerous living conditions in Southeast Louisiana...
Tropical Storm Mindy Expected to Bring Heavy Rainfall to Florida Panhandle
Sep 9 2021 // Tropical Storm Mindy is expected to produce two to four inches of rainfall across the Florida Panhandle into southern Georgia and South Carolina through Tuesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. Mindy...
Officials Say Wildfire Near Lake Tahoe Largely Kept from Towns
Sep 8 2021 // The huge wildfire near the Lake Tahoe resort region was about half contained as of Tuesday night, with the head of California’s firefighting agency saying crews largely have been able to keep flames away from...
NWS Says Seven Tornadoes Hit New Jersey, Pennsylvania During Storm
Sep 8 2021 // Seven tornados tore through parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey during last Wednesday night’s storm, including an EF-3 that damaged homes and businesses in the Garden State, according to the National Weather...
After Huge Wildfires, Greece Creates Climate Crisis Ministry
Sep 8 2021 // Greece’s center-right government has created a new ministry to address the impact of climate change and named former European Union commissioner Christos Stylianides as minister. Stylianides, 63, who served as...
U.S. Probing Nearly 350 Reports of Oil Spills in Hurricane Ida’s Wake
Sep 7 2021 // The U.S. Coast Guard said on Sept. 6 it was investigating nearly 350 reports of oil spills in and along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Hurricane Ida. Ida’s 150 mile-per-hour (240 kph) winds wreaked havoc on...
Weather Catastrophes Growing in Numbers and Damages But Taking Fewer Lives
Sep 7 2021 // Weather disasters are striking the world four to five times more often and causing seven times more damage than in the 1970s, the United Nations weather agency reports. But these disasters are killing far fewer people. In...
