Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California’s Wine Country Adapting to Annual Wildfire Threat
Nov 13 2020 // Harvest season in Northern California’s wine country is what dream weddings are made of: ripe grapevines and golden sunsets provide ceremonies an alluring backdrop that every year draws millions of visitors. But...
Hurricanes Staying Stronger Longer After Landfall Than in Past
Nov 13 2020 // Hurricanes are keeping their staying power longer once they make landfall, spreading more inland destruction, according to a new study. Warmer ocean waters from climate change are likely making hurricanes lose power more...
EQ One Adds Earthquake Capacity, Expands Limits through Munich Re
Nov 13 2020 // EQ One, a West Coast earthquake insurance underwriter, has added additional capacity to its earthquake offering through Munich Re Specialty Insurance. This increased capacity will allow EQ One team to write larger...
Texas Seeks Comments on Windstorm Insurer Rules, Classification for Oil, Gas
Nov 12 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) seeks comments on an informal draft to improve the structure of Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) rules. These updates do not include revisions to the rule text. Visit the...
Erratic Tropical Storm Eta Makes Landfall on Florida’s West Coast
Nov 12 2020 // Tropical Storm Eta made landfall on Florida’s west coast Thursday, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to northern parts of the peninsula. Eta came ashore near Cedar Key at 4 a.m. New York time, with maximum...
Small Tornado Confirmed in Oregon, Buildings Damaged
Nov 12 2020 // The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down north of Portland in St. Helens, Ore. The weather service confirmed the tornado at about 2 p.m. Tuesday. It touched down around 12:20 p.m., KPTV...
Palomar Buys Renewal Rights to Hawaii Residential Hurricane Business from GeoVera
Nov 10 2020 // Palomar Specialty Insurance Co. has agreed to acquire the renewal rights to GeoVera’s Holding’s Hawaii residential hurricane policies. The transaction is expected to further deepen Palomar’s presence in...
Tropical Storm Eta’s Rains Threaten Floods for South Florida, Cuba, Bahamas
Nov 10 2020 // Nov 10, 2020, 4:33 AM— After coming ashore in the Florida Keys overnight, Tropical Storm Eta is now hovering just north of the Yucatan Channel and is set to re-strengthen as it meanders over the south-eastern Gulf of...
Flood Waters Keep Rising in South Florida from Tropical Storm Eta
Nov 10 2020 // Beaches and coronavirus testing sites were closed, public transportation shut down and some evacuations in place early Monday after Tropical Storm Eta made landfall in the Florida Keys, bringing heavy rains to already...
Earthquake Felt Across Southern New England
Nov 9 2020 // An earthquake struck southern New England on Sunday morning but there were no reports of serious damage. The earthquake centered a few miles off the coast of New Bedford in Buzzards Bay struck just after 9 a.m., according...
Update: Tropical Storm Eta Strikes Florida Keys, Could Still Strengthen
Nov 8 2020 // Updated on Nov 9, 2020, 9:36 AM – After coming ashore in the Florida Keys overnight, Tropical Storm Eta will wander the eastern Gulf of Mexico, dumping heavy rain on the Sunshine State and raking it with gusty...
Vertus, Zurich Expand Hurricane Deductible Buy-Back Program Into S.C., N.C., Va.
Nov 6 2020 // Vertus Insurance Partners and Zurich North America have expanded the Cat4Home deductible buy-back insurance product to customers in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The expanded offering comes on the heels of...
California Issues Moratorium on Insurers Non-Renewing or Cancelling Following Wildfires
Nov 5 2020 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Thursday announced a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies non-renewing or cancelling residential property insurance policies, a move he says is aimed at...
Another Severe Storm Threatens Philippines Just Days After Super Typhoon Goni
Nov 5 2020 // The Philippines is bracing for a severe tropical storm that’s expected to hit its northern tip days after Super Typhoon Goni left. Storm Atsani will likely strengthen into a typhoon with peak intensity of 120...
Category 4 Hurricane Eta Makes Landfall in Nicaragua, with Dangerous Floods Expected
Nov 4 2020 // Hurricane Eta has made landfall in northern Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm, with life-threatening flood from rainfall predicted for much of Central America, according to a report from Weather Underground. Eta’s eye...
Hurricane Zeta Insured Loss Estimates Range from $1.5B to More than $4B
Nov 3 2020 // Insured losses from Hurricane Zeta — the fifth named storm to make landfall in Louisiana and the third hurricane to hit the state in the span of two months — will likely come in somewhere between $1.5 billion and $4.4...
Landslide from Tropical Storm Zeta Causes 90-Mile Detour in North Carolina
Nov 2 2020 // A landslide caused by Tropical Storm Zeta has blocked a North Carolina road, severing access between mountain counties and forcing motorists to take a 90-mile detour, officials said Friday. McDowell County Emergency...
Update: Insurance Price Tag from Hurricane Zeta Estimated at $4.3B in U.S.
Nov 2 2020 // Insurers are bracing for a hit of about $4.3 billion from Hurricane Zeta in the United States, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Monday. At least six people were killed in the southeast of the...
Rescue Efforts Continue After Earthquake Strikes Turkey, Greece with at Least 57 Dead
Nov 2 2020 // IZMIR, Turkey – Rescue workers extricated a 70-year-old man from a collapsed building in western Turkey on Sunday, some 34 hours after a strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea struck Turkey and Greece, killing at least 57...
Tropical Storm Eta Ties 2005 Record for Most Named Atlantic Storms in One Year
Nov 2 2020 // Tropical Storm Eta formed overnight [on Sunday, Nov. 1] in the Caribbean, becoming the Atlantic’s 28th storm of 2020 and tying a 2005 record for the most named systems in a single year in records going back to...
