Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
TWIA Board to Meet on March 22 to Decide on Reinsurance for 2022 Hurricane Season
Mar 10 2022 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Board of Directors will hold an interim meeting on March 22 at 1:30 p.m. CT to determine TWIA‘s catastrophe funding and reinsurance needs for the 2022 hurricane season. The...
HUD: Texas Agency Discriminated in Hurricane Harvey Flood Relief Funding
Mar 10 2022 // Texas’ administration of flood relief money from Hurricane Harvey broke federal law by discriminating against Black and Hispanic residents in the Houston area, according to a decision by the federal housing agency...
Iowa Tornadoes Deadliest Since 2008; Storm Caused Estimated $1 Billion in Damage
Mar 9 2022 // Four of the seven people killed in devastating storms that tore through central Iowa were members of the same family who had sought shelter inside a home that was razed by a powerful tornado, authorities said. Two...
Kansas Wildfire Kills 1, Destroys Several Homes
Mar 8 2022 // One person was found dead March 6 as firefighters worked to contain a wildfire that burned 12,000 acres in south-central Kansas. Reno County Emergency Management officials said one person who had been reported missing...
Experts Warn Central U.S. Needs to be Ready For Next Earthquake
Mar 8 2022 // Experts have warned for decades that a large swath of the central U.S. is at high risk for a devastating earthquake. They know that overcoming complacency is among their biggest hurdles. Hundreds of emergency managers,...
Nevada Utility to Inspect Power Lines Near 2020 Reno Wildfire
Mar 7 2022 // Nevada’s largest utility plans to inspect power lines near a Reno neighborhood where a 2020 wildfire destroyed five homes and damaged two dozen others, a blaze that investigators blamed on arching power lines in gale...
Florida Panhandle Wildfire Forces Evac of Areas Still Recovering from Hurricane Michael
Mar 7 2022 // Hundreds of residents near Panama City, Florida, were forced to evacuate from a wildfire that destroyed at least two homes and damaged others in an area still recovering from Hurricane Michael in 2018. Local news sites...
$12.8M in Funding Authorized for Arizona Wildfire Recovery
Mar 4 2022 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to provide $12.8 million in emergency funding to help parts of Arizona recover from three major wildfires in recent years, two members of the state’s congressional...
Colorado Wildfire Victims Hitting ‘Green’ Building Code Hurdle
Mar 3 2022 // Some homeowners recovering from Colorado’s most destructive wildfire in history, which decimated entire neighborhoods near Denver late last year, say they could end up paying tens of thousands of dollars more to...
Insured Losses From February’s Windstorms in Europe Could Reach €4.5 Billion: RMS
Mar 2 2022 // Insured losses from February’s windstorms Dudley and Eunice will likely fall between 3.0 and 4.5 billion Euro (US$3.4 and US$5.1 billion), with Germany accounting for around 40% of the total loss, according to risk...
California Commissioner Wants to Require Insurers to Factor Wildfire Safety Steps into Pricing
Feb 25 2022 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced new regulations he believes will improve wildfire safety and drive down the cost of insurance for homeowners and businesses. The proposed regulations, which could be...
Insured Losses for 2 Recent European Windstorms Estimated at €3B-€5B: Verisk
Feb 25 2022 // Insured losses due to wind from Winter Storms Dudley/Ylenia and Eunice/Zeynep will range between €3 billion and €5 billion (US$2.2 billion-$5.6 billion), the majority of which are expected in Germany, UK, and the...
Extreme Wildfires Expected to Increase 30% by 2050
Feb 24 2022 // Indonesia’s peatlands, California’s forests, and, now, vast swathes of Argentine wetland have all been ravaged by extreme wildfires, heralding a fiery future and the dire need to prevent it. With climate change...
California Wildfire at 20% Containment, Evacuation Orders Lifted
Feb 18 2022 // A wildfire near Bishop, California, is only 20% contained, however evacuation orders have been lifted. The Airport Fire, which started on Wednesday, has burned 4,136 acres. At one point it had threatened 150 structures,...
Parts of Mississippi Valley, Mid-South Under Tornado Watch
Feb 17 2022 // A tornado watch is in effect for parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee until 6:00 p.m. CST, Thursday Feb. 16, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS said to expect “Severe thunderstorms...
UK Braces for ‘Storm Eunice’ and Hurricane-Strength Gusts on Friday
Feb 17 2022 // Britain’s Met Office issued a rare red weather warning for parts of the UK, saying hurricane-strength gusts of 90 miles (145 kilometers) an hour are set to hit the country on Friday. The weather service said the most...
Storms With Hurricane Gusts Set to Batter NW Europe, Driving Wind Power Generation
Feb 16 2022 // Storms across northwest Europe are set to drive electricity generation from wind farms to records this week in gusty conditions that threaten to disrupt transportation and down power lines. Weather forecasters in the UK,...
Relatively Weak Hurricane Elsa Caused $1B in Damage Last Year
Feb 15 2022 // Hurricane Elsa, which made landfall on July 7, 2021, with winds of 86 mph, caused about $1 billion in damage to the southern United States and multiple Caribbean countries, the National Hurricane Center reported. New data...
Oregon Getting $262M in Wildfire Recovery Funding
Feb 15 2022 // The U.S. Forest Service in Oregon will receive more than $262 million in federal disaster funding to help with wildfire recovery. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported the money is part of a $1.1 billion disaster assistance...
California Commissioner, Emergency Agencies Issue ‘Safer From Wildfires’ Framework
Feb 14 2022 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and emergency management leaders in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Administration on Monday announced “Safer from Wildfires,” an insurance framework that incorporates...
