Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lava Spatters, Flows Inside Crater of Hawaii Volcano
Jan 5 2021 // Lava spattered and flowed over the weekend inside the crater of a Hawaii volcano that began erupting in December. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the lava is confined to the summit crater of Kilauea, the Honolulu...
Riskiest Counties for Natural Disasters Are Not Always Where People Think
Jan 5 2021 // Spending her life in Los Angeles, Morgan Andersen knows natural disasters all too well. In college, an earthquake shook her home hard. Her grandfather was affected by recent wildfires in neighboring Orange...
Alaska Scientists Find Slope with Tsunami Potential
Jan 4 2021 // Alaska scientists have found a second slope that has the potential to create a landslide or a destructive tsunami to its surrounding area. The slope in the Prince William Sound area is next to a previously discovered slope...
California Releases Final ZIPs for Non-Renewal Protection for 2020 Wildfires
Jan 4 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced that nearly 500 policyholders in six ZIP codes affected by the Mountain View Fire in Mono County were included in the mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance...
5.7 Earthquake Confirmed 127 Miles Off Oregon Coast
Dec 30 2020 // A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck about 127 miles off the Oregon coast early Tuesday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The earthquake struck at 4:50 a.m. west of Bandon, Oregon, the agency said. The Northwest...
Rescuers Race to Find Survivors After Croatia’s Worst Earthquake in 140 Years
Dec 30 2020 // Rescuers raced to search for survivors amid strong aftershocks after Croatia’s worst earthquake in 140 years killed seven people and devastated cities and towns in one of the nation’s poorest regions. The...
How Agents Can Help Floridians Navigate Hurricane Season Aftermath
Dec 30 2020 // The 2020 hurricane season was one for the books. From ferocious storms battering the Gulf Coast to heavy rains inundating the Florida Panhandle, the Atlantic saw an unprecedented amount of activity this year. The Weather...
Earthquake Confirmed in Northern California
Dec 29 2020 // A magnitude 3.9 earthquake rattled parts of Northern California on Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The earthquake was reported at 6:44 a.m. about 14 miles from Chico. The quake was felt 25 miles away...
2 Months After Hurricanes, Recovery Elusive for Louisiana Residents
Dec 27 2020 // As southwest Louisiana recovers from the back-to-back hurricanes that hammered the region this year, signs of progress compete with lingering evidence of mass destruction. The fallen trees that carpeted neighborhoods have...
Seattle Scaling Back Bridge Earthquake Retrofit Work
Dec 23 2020 // The Seattle Department of Transportation now says reinforcing 16 bridges to better withstand eartquakes would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than once expected. The Seattle Times reports that instead of 16...
Kilauea Volcano Erupting on Hawaii’s Big Island
Dec 22 2020 // The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island has erupted, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The eruption began late Sunday within the within Halema’uma’u crater. The volcano is located within Hawaii...
Small Earthquake Confirmed Near Colorado-Utah Border
Dec 21 2020 // A small earthquake hit a rural area Saturday near the Colorado-Utah border, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations confirmed. The magnitude 4.3 earthquake took place at 7:11 p.m on Saturday. The epicenter was 3 1/2...
The Other New Normal: Wildfires from a Winery Insurer’s Perspective
Dec 21 2020 // Arriving on the scene after a wildfire has ravaged an area is never easy. One can only imagine what experiencing such devastation is like for the victims of these fires, who have lost homes, livelihoods and even loved...
Tornado Causes Damage, Leaves Thousands Without Power in Florida
Dec 18 2020 // A tornado damaged vehicles and buildings on Wednesday while leaving thousands without power in Florida’s Tampa Bay area, authorities said. Most of the damage was in Pinellas County, north of St. Petersburg, the Tampa...
RMS Estimates that Total Insured Losses from the 2020 Western U.S. Wildfires Will Be Between US$7bn – US$13bn
Dec 17 2020 // Latest RMS estimate includes loss from new fires that started and spread following the previous RMS loss estimate in September Newark, CA – December 15, 2020 – RMS, the world’s leading catastrophe risk solutions...
M4.4 Earthquake Confirmed at Hawaii Island Volcano Area
Dec 16 2020 // The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed an earthquake struck Hawaii’s Big Island on Monday. The magnitude 4.4 quake was centered about 12 miles southeast of Waimea, Hawaii, at a depth of about 16 miles. The earthquake...
Officials Assess Damage from Tornado Touchdown in Alabama
Dec 16 2020 // Weather officials say they’re still assessing the effects of a tornado that touched down in Alabama over the weekend. The National Weather Service said Monday that a storm survey team had found preliminary evidence...
Joint Louisiana Insurance Committees to Hear About Hurricane Claims, Pandemic
Dec 15 2020 // The insurance committees of the Louisiana Senate and House of Representatives will hear about the impact of multiple 2020 hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic on insurance rates in a joint meeting on Dec. 16. Presenters...
Judge OKs Plan for Settling Hurricane Damage Lawsuits Against Insurers in Louisiana
Dec 15 2020 // A federal judge in western Louisiana has approved a plan on how to settle thousands of lawsuits expected to be filed against insurance companies over damage from a pair of hurricanes that hit the region six weeks...
Oregon Wildfire Hazardous Waste Cleanup Complete
Dec 15 2020 // The Environmental Protection Agency said it has completed the cleanup of household hazardous waste from properties burned in Oregon wildfires. The September fires led to an initial EPA response in Jackson County, which...
