Latest Natural Disasters Headlines

All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Hurricane Beryl Caused Estimated $2-3B in Insured Losses to U.S. Property: Verisk

Jul 19 2024 // Estimated industry insured losses to onshore property from wind in the U.S. for Hurricane Beryl will range between $2 billion to $3 billion, Verisk’s Extreme Event Solutions business unit said. Beryl made landfall...

Coalition Asks FEMA to Make Wildfire Smoke, Extreme Heat Eligible for Disaster Funds

Jul 18 2024 // A group of 14 attorney generals has formed a coalition to persuade the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to initiate rulemaking to update its regulations to recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke events as...

Reckitt Sales to Be Hit by Tornado at Indiana Warehouse

Jul 17 2024 // Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc said sales will be affected by a tornado that struck a warehouse in Mount Vernon, Indiana, where it stores products and raw ingredients for its baby formula business. The consumer goods company...

Record Flooding and Tornadoes This Spring In Iowa Caused $130M in Damage

Jul 17 2024 // DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Record flooding and powerful tornadoes ravaged parts of Iowa for weeks this spring, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, closing roads and bridges and costing over $130 million in...

Rebuilding After Hurricanes is Complex, Can Change Character of a Community

Jul 17 2024 // HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Before Hurricane Idalia smashed into a small fishing village in northwestern Florida, Charles Long, 68, was fixing up a two-bedroom house for him and his wife. After the August storm, he...

Hurricane Beryl Caused $2.5-$4.5B in Estimated Insured Losses, Says Moody’s

Jul 16 2024 // U.S. insured losses from Hurricane Beryl will likely fall between $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion, according to estimates by Moody’s RMS Event Response. Insured losses associated with the storm include wind, storm...

Hawaiian Residents Return Home After Crews Contain Wind-Swept Wildfire

Jul 16 2024 // Firefighters have contained a wind-swept wildfire that was threatening about 200 homes on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, authorities said late Monday night, and an evacuation notice for the area has been lifted. The fire...

CenterPoint Sued Over Hurricane Beryl Power Outages in Houston

Jul 16 2024 // A group of Houston restaurants that lost power for days after Hurricane Beryl sued the city’s main utility, accusing CenterPoint Energy Inc. of failing to adequately invest in infrastructure and respond to widespread...

Beryl’s Remnants Spawned 4 Indiana Tornadoes, Including an EF-3: NWS

Jul 15 2024 // MOUNT VERNON, Ind. (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Beryl spawned at least four tornadoes in Indiana, including an EF-3 twister with winds as high as 140 mph (225 kph) that tore through a small city in the state’s...

Texans Endure Second Week Without Power After Hurricane Beryl

Jul 15 2024 // CHANNELVIEW — Juan Piñón’s long-sleeve black shirt and forest green pants were soaked. He used a shovel to scrape concrete mix out of a blue wheelbarrow and throw it on the ground. The 43-year-old construction...

Growing Southern California Wildfire Threatening 4,100 Structures

Jul 15 2024 // Evacuation orders and warnings are in place for roughly 4,200 people due to a growing wildfire in southern California that is threatening 4,100 structures. The Shelly Fire in Siskiyou County is now 15,232 acres and is 3%...

Natural Disasters Cost China $13 Billion in January-June

Jul 15 2024 // Natural disasters such as flooding, drought and extreme temperatures cost China 93.16 billion yuan ($12.83 billion) in the first half of this year, with almost 33 million people affected, the government said on...

A Troubling Phrase: ‘Just a Category 1 Hurricane’

Jul 15 2024 // Here’s a troubling phrase hurricane forecasters hate but often hear: “It’s just a Category 1. Nothing to worry about.” Or even worse: “Tropical storm? Just some wind and rain.” But look...

Hurricane Beryl: Insurers See Minimal Impact, Brace for Active Season

Jul 12 2024 // Insurers’ losses from Hurricane Beryl will be “low and readily absorbed” and the storm is not expected to change pricing conditions in the property/casualty and reinsurance sectors, Moody’s Ratings...

Hurricane Beryl’s Remnants Spawn Severe Storms in Midwest and Northeast

Jul 12 2024 // INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Beryl dropped tornadoes and threatened flooding Wednesday as the system churned into Canada and the northeastern U.S. after leaving millions in the Houston area without...

Wildfires Encircle Canada’s Oil-Sands City Amid Hot Weather

Jul 12 2024 // A ring of wildfires has erupted around Canada’s unofficial oil-sands capital of Fort McMurray, adding new threats to crude production from the world’s third-largest petroleum reserves. Eight out-of-control...

SageSure Secures $60M Cat Bond Ahead of Busy Hurricane Season

Jul 11 2024 // SageSure, a managing general agent specializing in catastrophe-exposed markets in the Southeast and other states, along with its affiliated Anchor Re captive reinsurer and SURE reciprocal, announced they have secured a $60...

Wildfire Risk Rises as Western States Dry Out Amid Ongoing Heat Wave

Jul 11 2024 // Authorities in Western states warned of the rising risk of wildfires as hot conditions and low humidity dry out the landscape amid a protracted heat wave that is expected to bake much of the U.S. again...

Damage From Hurricane Beryl May Cost Insurers $2.7B in US, $510M in Caribbean: KCC

Jul 11 2024 // Insurers in the United States may take a hit of about $2.7 billion from damage caused by Hurricane Beryl, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Thursday. About 1.5 million customers remained...

Hurricane Beryl Triggers Record Payout for Caribbean Insurer

Jul 11 2024 // Hurricane Beryl’s path of destruction through the Caribbean last week triggered a record $44 million payout to the nation of Grenada from a regional catastrophe insurance fund. The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk...