Latest Natural Disasters Headlines

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

Typhoon Shanshan Headed for Japan Threatens Transport Links

Aug 26 2024 // Typhoon Shanshan is expected to approach Japan’s southern island of Kyushu on Tuesday or Wednesday, with railway operators warning of service disruptions and an airline canceling flights.The storm is packing maximum...

FBI: From Cybercrime to Terrorism, America Faces Many Elevated Threats ‘All at Once’

Aug 23 2024 // The country is facing heightened threats from many corners at a time when law enforcement agencies are struggling, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an exclusive interview, adding that he is “hard pressed to...

Tornado-Like Waterspouts Are ‘More Likely’ as the Mediterranean Warms

Aug 23 2024 // The type of weather phenomenon that may have led billionaire Mike Lynch’s yacht to sink in the Mediterranean this week is now more likely to happen as global warming has raised sea temperatures, according to climate...

Update: Greece Battles Wildfires While Storm Lilian Crosses UK

Aug 23 2024 // Greek wildfire risks increased as temperatures climb and near gale force winds blow across the Aegean Sea, while Storm Lilian is battering parts of the UK.Firefighters, supported by helicopters, are trying to control an...

Frequency of Deadly Hurricanes Has Jumped 300%

Aug 23 2024 // New research indicates that what used to be the 100-year hurricane will now happen every 25 years, according to Deep Sky Research, a Montreal-based carbon removal project developer.The new report analyzes data within the...

Remnants of Hurricane Ernesto Trigger Wind and Rain Warnings in Scotland

Aug 22 2024 // Yellow weather warnings are in place for Scotland on Thursday, as the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto bring strong winds and heavy rain.There’s an alert for rain across western Scotland, with more than 100 millimeters...

Unseasonal Winter Heat Across Australia Raises Wildfire Risks

Aug 22 2024 // Australia is facing elevated wildfire risks months ahead of the summer fire season, as an unusually warm winter scorches parts of the continent and threatens to set temperature records.Heat is forecast to bake vast areas...

Compounding Disasters in Lake Charles Highlight Need for Disaster Preparedness

Aug 21 2024 // Most Americans will remember 2020 as the year when the pandemic changed everything. But for Lake Charles, Louisiana, and its neighbors along the Gulf Coast, it was also the year of record-setting disasters, when...

Puerto Rico Insurers to Absorb Hurricane Ernesto Losses: AM Best

Aug 21 2024 // Losses in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Ernesto are expected to be absorbed by the island’s domiciled insurers, according to industry rating AM Best.Initial feedback from AM Best-rated insurers—though it is early in...

Beryl-Battered Grenada Becomes 1st Country to Use Government Bond Hurricane Clause

Aug 20 2024 // Grenada has become the first country in the world to use a so-called hurricane clause in a government bond – a special feature that allows authorities to postpone debt payments in the wake of a major natural...

California Pot Farmers Feel the Heat from Low Pricing, Wildfires

Aug 20 2024 // Small-scale cannabis farmers in California are calling it quits, crushed by crop damage from devastating wildfires and sliding prices, and industry experts expect the exodus to continue near-term in the largest pot market...

California Commissioner Invites Input on Final Phase of Wildfire Modeling Regulation

Aug 19 2024 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has invited public input as he begins the final phase of approving a “first of its kind” catastrophe modeling and ratemaking regulation that “will help...

Europe’s $42 Billion Effort to Fight Wildfires Is an Uphill Battle

Aug 19 2024 // Europe is spending tens of billions of euros a year to fight wildfires, yet it hasn’t stopped blazes from flaring up across Greece and other parts of the continent this summer.This week fires on the outskirts of...

Wildfires Are Growing Under Climate Change, and Their Smoke Threatens Farmworkers

Aug 16 2024 // As wildfires scorched swaths of land in the wine country of Sonoma County in 2020, sending ash flying and choking the air with smoke, Maria Salinas harvested grapes.Her saliva turned black from inhaling the toxins, until...

Wildfire Near Athens Burns Area Nearly Twice the Size of Manhattan

Aug 16 2024 // A European Union satellite mapping agency says 104 square kilometers (40 square miles) of land was burned northeast of Athens this week during a deadly wildfire that gutted scores of homes and prompted multiple countries...

Ernesto Becomes Category 2 Hurricane as It Heads to Bermuda

Aug 16 2024 // Ernesto strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane as it plowed northward toward Bermuda, threatening to drench the British territory with heavy rain and unleash flash floods.The storm was 410 miles (660 kilometers)...

Hundreds Able to Return Home After Fleeing Wildfire Along California-Nevada Line

Aug 15 2024 // Hundreds of people were allowed to return home this week after being forced to flee a wildfire west of Reno that also shut down Interstate 80 along the California-Nevada line.About 170 firefighters continued to work to...

Judge Bars Insurers From Going After Defendants Who Agreed to $4B Maui Wildfire Settlement

Aug 15 2024 // A Maui judge’s ruling resolves a critical roadblock to finalizing a $4 billion wildfire settlement: Insurance companies who have paid out more than $2 billion in claims can seek reimbursement only from the settlement...

Update: Severe Typhoon Skims Japan, Disrupting Flight, Train Services

Aug 15 2024 // Typhoon Ampil grazed Japan’s main island of Honshu on Friday, prompting cancellations of flights and trains in the middle of the country’s peak summer holiday season.Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways...

Hurricane Ernesto Threatens Bermuda, Leaves Puerto Rico in Dark

Aug 15 2024 // Hurricane Ernesto took aim at Bermuda as almost half of Puerto Rico remained without power in the storm’s wake, the island’s fragile electric grid battered by high winds.Officials declared a hurricane watch for...