Latest Natural Disasters Headlines

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

Zurich’s Exposure to Hurricanes Helene, Milton Below $360M as Catastrophe Losses Rise

Nov 7 2024 // Zurich Insurance Group said on Thursday that its exposure to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which recently wreaked havoc in the United States, would be less than $360 million, as insurers face increasing losses from natural...

About 17% of Gulf of Mexico Oil Production Shut Due to Hurricane Rafael

Nov 7 2024 // About 17% of crude oil production and 7% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was shut in response to Hurricane Rafael, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Wednesday.Energy producers...

Finland Records First Hurricane-Force Winds Off West Coast

Nov 5 2024 // Finland’s coastal waters were hit by hurricane-force winds for the first time, as more extreme weather batters Europe.Storm Lyly brought an average wind speed of 33.5 meters per second on Friday to Kylmapihlaja, off...

Malibu Retrofit at $300,000 Shows Limits of Wildfire-Prepping

Nov 5 2024 // Evelin Weber and her neighbors fled their Malibu homes as the deadly Woolsey Fire tore across the California coast in 2018. Ever since, haunted by fears of another blaze, she’s spent $300,000 on fireproofing her...

Severe Storms and Tornadoes Hit Oklahoma, Leaving 11 Hospitalized

Nov 5 2024 // OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Severe storms and tornadoes battered Oklahoma early Sunday, tossing cars and ripping roofs off buildings in the middle of the night and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without...

Will People Leave Florida After Hurricanes? History Suggests Not

Nov 4 2024 // ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The news rippled through Treasure Island, Florida, almost like a third storm: The mayor planned to move off the barrier island a month after Hurricane Helene flooded tens of thousands of homes along...

Hawaii Attorney General Probe into Deadly Wildfire Won’t Lead to Criminal Charges

Nov 4 2024 // An investigation by the Hawaii attorney general’s office into the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, which destroyed most of the historic town of Lahaina, won’t lead to any criminal charges.Hawaii...

Natural Disaster Losses Below Average Through Q3, Despite Higher Frequency: Report

Nov 4 2024 // Although 2024 has seen significant global natural catastrophe activity, economic costs were slightly below average through the third quarter, according to Gallagher Re’s latest Nat Cat report.The total economic loss...

Claims From Hurricane Milton Continue to Rise in Florida

Nov 4 2024 // Two weeks after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, as a Category 3 storm, claims and loss totals continue to rise. As of Oct. 21, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said carriers reported more...

Regional Banks With Florida Operations Brace for Loan Defaults After Hurricanes

Nov 1 2024 // Several regional lenders allocated loan-loss provisions in the third quarter to cover potential defaults by borrowers grappling with recent hurricanes, primarily in Florida, highlighting the risks extreme weather and...

Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits Taiwan as Shanghai Braces for Downpour

Oct 31 2024 // Typhoon Kong-Rey made landfall in Taiwan packing dangerous winds, with Shanghai bracing for the heaviest November rain burst since 1981 as the large storm tracks toward mainland China.Kong-Rey had maximum sustained winds...

Aerospace Startup Partners With NASA, USGS to Monitor Wildfires, Storms From Space

Oct 31 2024 // Aerospace startup Sceye has partnered with NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to deploy climate management tools to monitor wildfires and storms from the edge of space, the company and the government agencies exclusively...

Allstate Turns in Net Income of $1.2B After Q3 Hurricanes

Oct 31 2024 // Allstate Corp. said its net income attributable to common shareholders for the third quarter was about $1.2 billion compared to a loss of $41 million during the same time a year ago.The Northbrook, Illinois-based insurer...

Update: Taiwan to Suspend Stock Trading Due to Super Typhoon Kong-Rey

Oct 30 2024 // Taiwan will suspend trading on its $2.5 trillion stock exchange Thursday as a powerful typhoon barrels toward the archipelago.Super Typhoon Kong-Rey has intensified as it skirts the Philippines and tracks toward Taiwan,...

Program Uses AI to Send Cash Payments to 1,000 Households Hit by Hurricanes

Oct 29 2024 // Nearly 1,000 hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will benefit this week from a new disaster aid program that employs a model not commonly used by philanthropy in the United States: Giving people...

Washington Commissioner: Most Homes in 2023 Wildfire Were Underinsured

Oct 29 2024 // An analysis of the claims paid out after the Gray and Oregon Road fires in Washington last year found that most of the homes destroyed were underinsured.The fires destroyed 366 homes, burning more than 20,000 acres outside...

Rebuilding from Hurricanes Hinges on Immigrants at Center of US Election

Oct 28 2024 // The efforts to rebuild in Southeastern states after a pair of destructive hurricanes are at risk of being drawn out by shortages of a critical supply of workers: migrants.Builders are anxious about proposals laid out by...

Catastrophe-Bond Funds Suffered Virtually No Losses From Hurricane Milton

Oct 25 2024 // After two weeks of number-crunching, it now seems clear that investors in catastrophe bonds emerged from Hurricane Milton relatively unscathed.In fact, holders of the bonds may be looking at returns of as much as 12%,...

Hurricane Milton Caused $1.5B-$2.5B in Losses to Florida Agriculture

Oct 22 2024 // Hurricane Milton caused an estimated $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion in damage to Florida’s crops and agricultural infrastructure, according to a preliminary assessment released by the state’s Department of...

Natural Disasters Cost China $13 Billion in January-June

Oct 22 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...