Other Natural Catastrophes

2024

• Severe thunderstorms drive insured losses to USD 60 billion in first half of 2024, Swiss Re Institute estimates - Swiss Re (08/07/2024)
  A high frequency of small to medium events resulted in global insured losses from natural catastrophes of USD 60 billion in the first half of 2024, according to Swiss Re Institute’s preliminary estimates. Severe thunderstorms, mainly in the US, accounted for 70% of global insured losses.
• Natural catastrophe insured losses hit $62B in H1: Munich Re - Matthew Lerner, Business Insurance (07/31/2024)
  Insured losses from natural catastrophes worldwide in the first half of 2024 rose 3.3% to $62 billion, according to a report Wednesday from Munich Reinsurance Co. First-half losses were also well above the 10-year average of $37 billion, the report said.
• California county hit hard by natural disasters asks state for insurance crisis help - James Ward, Desert Sun (07/10/2024)
  San Bernardino County supervisors asked the state to declare a statewide state of emergency over rising rates and the increased difficulty for homeowners to get affordable insurance, especially in high-risk areas.
• Beryl produced so many tornado warnings it broke a record - Ramon Padilla, USA Today (07/09/2024)
  Tropical storm Beryl continues to break records. The latest: The number of tornado warnings for a single day in July. According to data collected by Iowa State University, Beryl produced a total of 113 tornado warnings, nearly doubling Hurricane Cindy. The Category 1 system slowed on July 6, 2005, to a tropical storm after it made landfall in Southeastern Louisiana.
• US lighting-related claims on the rise as insurers pay over $1.2bn to homeowners in 2023: Triple-I - Kassandra Jimenez-Sanchez, Reinsurance News (06/20/2024)
  In 2023, over $1.2bn were paid out resulting from lightning-caused US homeowners insurance claims to more than 70,000 policyholders according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I). After compiling national insurance claims data, Triple-I estimated that the total value of lightning-caused US homeowners insurance claims was up more than 30% in 2023, to $1.27bn from $950mn in 2023.
• Tallahassee mayor says cost from May 10 tornadoes now tops $50 million as city seeks federal aid - The Associated Press (06/02/2024)
  Recovery from a May 10 tornado outbreak has cost Florida’s capital city $50 million so far, Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey said Friday. Florida officials have requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency declare a major disaster, which could make local government and individuals eligible for federal assistance. FEMA has not yet approved such a declaration.
• Massive hailstorms keep hitting the U.S. Here’s why. - Scott Dance, The Washington Post (06/01/2024)
  Warming temperatures may be, in effect, making hailstones larger, while also perhaps diminishing the likelihood of smaller hail. And the spread of population across the country means it’s more likely those hailstones fall on structures or vehicles, causing damage.
• Cleanup efforts begin after brutal storms bashed Texas; nearly 400K remain without power - John Bacon, Christopher Cann, Minnah Arshad, USA Today (05/29/2024)
  Localized flooding swept across much of Texas and the southern Plains Wednesday as residents began cleanup efforts from brutal storms that left a teenager dead and knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses.
• Kansas suffers ‘significant damage’ as 17 million Americans face storm risk - Stuti Mishra, The Independent (05/20/2024)
  Kansas suffered “significant damage” after powerful storms lashed the central United States on Sunday, three days after extreme weather left seven people dead in the Houston area. The National Weather Service had warned of 80 to 100 mph destructive winds, large hail and a few tornadoes in the region extending to Oklahoma.
• From flooding in Brazil and Houston to brutal heat in Asia, extreme weather seems nearly everywhere - Seth Borenstein, Suman Naishadham, Sibi Arasu, and Fabiano Maisonnave, The Associated Press (05/07/2024)
  In sweltering Brazil, flooding killed dozens of people and paralyzed a city of about 4 million people. Voters and politicians in India, amid national elections, are fainting in heat that hit as high as 115 degrees (46.3 degrees Celsius). A brutal Asian heat wave has closed schools in the Philippines, killed people in Thailand and set records there and in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives and Myanmar. Record temperatures — especially at night when it just won’t cool down — have hit many parts of Africa. Flooding devastated Houston, and the United States as a whole just had its second highest number of tornadoes for the month of April.
• Tornadoes kill 4 in Oklahoma, leaving trail of destruction and thousands without power - Ken Miller, The Associated Press (04/28/2024)
  Tornadoes killed four people in Oklahoma, including an infant, and left thousands without power Sunday after a destructive outbreak of severe weather flattened buildings in the heart of one rural town and injured at least 100 people across the state.
• The New Norm? Global Insured Losses for Nat Cats Keep Breaking Records: Swiss Re - L.S. Howard, Insurance Journal (03/26/2024)
  Global insured losses from natural catastrophes in 2023 exceeded US$100 billion for the fourth consecutive year – an indication of the new norm for nat cat losses, according to Swiss Re. Other record-breaking numbers for 2023 included the total of insured-loss-inducing catastrophes (which hit a record 142), and the insured price tag for severe convective storms (SCS), which reached US$64 billion for the first time, said the report published by Swiss Re Institute, Swiss Re’s research unit. (The report is titled “Natural catastrophes in 2023: gearing up for today’s and tomorrow’s weather risks“).
• A Massachusetts town spent $600K on shore protection. A winter storm washed it away days later - Michael Casey, The Associated Press (03/13/2024)
  A Massachusetts beach community is scrambling after a weekend storm washed away $600,000 in sand that was trucked in to protect homes, roads and other infrastructure. The project, which brought 14,000 tons (12,701 metric tons) of sand into Salisbury over several weeks, was completed just three days before Sunday’s storm clobbered southern New England with strong winds, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding.
• Farm insurer joins others in pulling back from Iowa after increased storms - Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register (03/12/2024)
  A farm insurance company is dropping some Iowa customers, adding to the list of businesses cutting their losses after a series of storms that wreaked costly damage in the state.
• Davos 2024: Extreme weather and misinformation top global risks - Victoria Waldersee, Reuters (01/11/2024)
  Risk specialists see extreme weather and misinformation as most likely to trigger a global crisis in the next couple of years, a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey released on Wednesday said.
• Insured Price Tag for Natural Disasters Was $95B in 2023 With Economic Cost of $250B - L.S. Howard, Insurance Journal (01/09/2024)
  Natural catastrophes in 2023 caused global economic losses of US$250 billion, with insurers and reinsurers paying US$95 billion of that amount, according to Munich Re. Last year’s insured losses of US$95 billion are close to the five-year average of US$105 billion, above the 10-year average of US$90 billion, but lower than the 2022 price tag of $125 billion, said Munich Re in its report on the nat cats of 2023.
• Insured damage from severe weather exceeded $3.1B in 2023 - The Toronto Sun (01/09/2024)
  The Insurance Bureau of Canada’s annual tally places 2023 fourth on the bureau’s list of most expensive weather years — a list that is still topped by 2016, when a devastating wildfire destroyed much of Fort McMurray, Alta.

2023

• A Year Of Billion-Dollar Disasters—And The Maui Fires Weren’t Even The Costliest - Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes (12/31/2023)
  A record-breaking number of natural disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damage cost the United States a total of $81 billion this year, data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows, including a devastating wildfires in Hawaii, Hurricane Idalia in western Florida and a drought that killed more than 200 people across the South and Midwest.
• Energy officials warn of winter blackout risk in Texas and beyond - Mose Buchele, KUT News (12/14/2023)
  Outside of the Sand Hill natural gas power plant, near Austin, workers have installed a windbreak in case a big winter storm hits again.
• Global Insured Losses From Severe Convective Storms Hit New High of $60B: Swiss Re - Insurance Journal (12/07/2023)
  Global insured losses from severe thunderstorms have hit a new all-time high of US$60 billion in 2023, with overall natural catastrophe claims surpassing $100 million, according to Swiss Re Institute in a new report.
• Return of El Nino climate poses tornado danger to Central Florida, forecasters warn - Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel (11/15/2023)
  National Weather Service experts warned Wednesday that the rise of a potent, global climate bully has set the stage for violent weather and killer tornadoes in Central Florida from now until spring.
• Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters - National Centers for Environmental Information (11/08/2023)
  In 2023 (as of November 8), there have been 25 confirmed weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each to affect United States. These events included 1 drought event, 2 flooding events, 19 severe storm events, 1 tropical cyclone event, 1 wildfire event, and 1 winter storm event.
• The National Weather Service called it “super fog” — a combination of thick smoke from fires in marshy wetlands of south Louisiana and the fog that often hangs thick in the air on cool, windless mornings. - Isabella O'Malley and Kevin McGill, The Associated Press (10/24/2023)
  The National Weather Service called it “super fog” — a combination of thick smoke from fires in marshy wetlands of south Louisiana and the fog that often hangs thick in the air on cool, windless mornings. It was a deadly combination this week. Smoke spreading through the region from a marsh fire east of New Orleans combined with thick fog and reduced visibility on highways to near nothing. It caused a series of horrific crashes that turned a section of Interstate 55 near New Orleans into a virtual junkyard of mangled and charred vehicles.
• Global catastrophe losses revealed - Ryan Smith, Insurance Business (10/23/2023)
  Global insured losses from natural disasters hit $88 billion by the end of the third quarter, according to a new report from Aon. The total is 17% higher than the 21st century annual average, according to Aon’s Q3 Global Catastrophe Recap report.
• One of California's riskiest volcanoes is very active. Is an eruption coming? - Rong-Gong Lin II, The Spokesman-Review (10/23/2023)
  One of California’s riskiest volcanoes has for decades been undergoing geological changes and seismic activity, which are sometimes a precursor to an eruption, but — thankfully — no supervolcanic eruptions are expected.
• Earnings perils: Redefining the risks that matter - The Insurer (10/12/2023)
  According to a Gallagher Re report, during 2022, “secondary perils were again the most expensive on an economic basis and exceeded those on the insured loss side”. The frequency of secondary peril events typically outpaces that of primary perils.
• Intense Storms, Insurance Crisis Force Residents of a Louisiana Community to Consider Leaving - Cameron McWhirter and Arian Campo-Flores, The Wall Street Journal (09/27/2023)
  Two years after Hurricane Ida struck the Gulf Coast, Winona and Charles Barnette are still struggling to repair their home here. The Category 4 storm toppled a tree that smashed through their roof and triggered flooding that brought 3 feet of water into their house.
• 'Sobering' data shows US set record for natural disasters, climate catastrophes in 2023 - Doyle Rice, USA Today (09/11/2023)
  From storms to wildfires, it's already been a record catastrophic year for weather and climate disasters across the nation, and we've still got nearly four months to go. As of Monday, the U.S. has endured a whopping 23 separate weather and climate disasters that have each led to at least $1 billion in damage, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.
• How a mix of natural and human-caused factors cooked up Tropical Storm Hilary’s soggy mess - Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press (08/22/2023)
  A natural El Nino, human-caused climate change, a stubborn heat dome over the nation’s midsection and other factors cooked up Tropical Storm Hilary’s record-breaking slosh into California and Nevada, scientists figure.
• California officials warn 'worst of the storm has yet to come' as Hilary makes landfall - NBC News (08/21/2023)
  Tropical storm Hilary slammed Southern California with a deluge of rainfall, flooding roadways and breaking records in parts of the region on Sunday as it made its historic arrival.
• Mississippi governor requests federal assistance for tornado damage - The Associated Press (07/24/2023)
  Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has requested financial assistance from the federal government for 16 counties hit by tornadoes and damaging storms that hammered the state over a five-day period in June, he announced Monday.
• Catastrophe losses double at Travelers as insurance industry and more regions absorb severe weather - Michelle Chapman, The Associated Press (07/20/2023)
  Travelers, considered a bellwether for the insurance industry due to its size, said catastrophe losses doubled in its most recent quarter and the company swung to a loss as severe wind and hailstorms in a number of regions led to rising coverage claims.
• Tornado damages Pfizer plant in North Carolina as scorching heat and floods sock other parts of US - Ben Finley and Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press (07/19/2023)
  A tornado heavily damaged a major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina on Wednesday, while torrential rain flooded communities in Kentucky and an area from California to South Florida endured more scorching heat.
• Tornado and other severe weather kill 3, damage homes, and knock out power in multiple states - The Associated Press (06/26/2023)
  A tornado struck an Indiana home, killing a man and injuring his wife, while two people died in Arkansas after a tree fell onto a house, as severe weather rumbled through several central states.
• Lightning-related home insurance claims totaled $952M in 2022 - Steve Hallo, Property Casualty 360 (06/21/2023)
  The value of lightning-related U.S. home insurance claims dropped around 27% in 2022, totaling $952 million compared with $1.3 billion seen in 2021, the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I).
• As rising oceans threaten NYC, study documents another risk: The city is sinking - Bobby Caina Calvan, The Associated Press (05/29/2023)
  If rising oceans aren’t worry enough, add this to the risks New York City faces: The metropolis is slowly sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers, homes, asphalt and humanity itself.
• Illinois leads nation in tornadoes this year, nearly twice above state average - Joey Schneider, Fox 2 (05/06/2023)
  If it seems like you’re preparing for tornado threats a little more than usual lately, there’s some truth to that, at least if you live in Illinois. According to the National Weather Service, Illinois is leading the nation in tornadoes this year. Eighty-six tornadoes have already rolled through the Prairie State in 2023, nearly double the state’s average of 50 twisters per year.
• Weekend tornadoes rip through coastal Florida and Virginia causing major damage - Terry Collins, USA Today (04/30/2023)
  A pair of weekend tornadoes struck along the coastal Atlantic touching down on Virginia and Florida as powerful winds and heavy rains hit parts of the South. On Sunday, a tornado was confirmed shortly after 6 p.m. ET in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
• Insurance losses from Mississippi tornado nearing $100M - Michael Goldberg, The Associated Press (04/18/2023)
  Insurance losses from the March tornado that carved a path of destruction through parts of Mississippi are approaching $100 million, and uninsured losses will likely exceed that number, the state insurance department announced Tuesday. The damage is particularly severe in the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest regions in the country.
• One of 'extraordinary' season's wildest California storms moves out, but flood dangers remain - Staff, Napa Valley Register (03/22/2023)
  Heavy rain and damaging winds gradually eased on Wednesday as one of the wildest storms of the season made its exit from the Golden State. The remarkable "bomb cyclone" rocked the Bay Area and Central Coast, killing at least one person and critically injuring several others as it felled trees and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands.
• Rare and Dangerous: Southern California Faces Floods and Blizzard Conditions - Eduardo Medina, Mike Ives, Judson Jones, and Vik Jolly, The New York Times (02/24/2023)
  Snow, high winds and intense rain hit parts of the state Friday. Los Angeles was under a flash flood warning early Saturday, and blizzards were expected in nearby mountains.

   

• Cyclone Gabrielle moves away from New Zealand, recovery efforts begin - Lucy Craymer and Renju Jose, Reuters (02/15/2023)
  Cyclone Gabrielle weakened and moved away from New Zealand on Wednesday as the country started to assess the damage caused by significant flooding, landslides and high winds that left four people dead and displaced thousands from their homes.

   

• NOAA Report: Tennessee Drought Plan Lacks Triggers - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (02/05/2023)
  Drought affects everything from water quality and public health to ecosystems and infrastructure. But when does a drought become severe enough to warrant water restrictions? Tennessee state agencies do not have that answer, according to a new report funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of South Carolina.

   

• Ice storm crippling Texas, Mid-South as death toll, power outages climb - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (02/01/2023)
  A severe and prolonged ice storm, which began Monday, is transforming parts of Texas and the Mid-South into a skating rink, causing treacherous travel and power outages and damaging trees. At least seven people in Texas have died in traffic accidents since Monday, according to local reports.

   

• Natural Disasters Caused $313B Economic Loss in 2022 – Aon - Reuters, Reuters (01/25/2023)
  Natural disasters, many driven by climate change, caused global economic losses of $313 billion in 2022, insurance broker Aon estimated on Wednesday, of which less than half was insured.

   

• Allstate Warns About 4Q After Major Winter Storm Elliott Losses - Sabela Ojea, Market Watch (01/18/2023)
  Shares of Allstate Corp. on Wednesday fell after the insurer warned about expecting to post higher catastrophe losses in its latest quarter due to the winter storm Elliott. Shares are down 4% to $127.15 in after-hours trading after closing down 2.3%.
  

   

• Severe weather events in Canada caused $3.1B in insured damage in 2022: report - Heidi Lee, Global News (01/18/2023)
  From flooding to storms, insured damage caused by severe weather events hit $3.1 billion in Canada last year, making 2022 the third worst year for insured losses in the country’s history, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).

   

• Travelers Announces Initial Estimate for Fourth Quarter 2022 Catastrophe Losses, Which Were Driven by the December Winter Storm, as well as Preliminary Fourth Quarter 2022 Results - Business Wire, Business Wire (01/17/2023)
  The Travelers Companies, Inc. today announced preliminary results for the fourth quarter of 2022. Fourth quarter 2022 results include the Company’s estimate for catastrophe losses of $459 million pre-tax ($362 million after-tax), net of reinsurance. Catastrophe losses primarily resulted from the significant winter storm that impacted much of the U.S and Canada in late December.

2022

• Illinois lawmakers take step toward investigating warehouse safety after Amazon collapse - Kelsey Landis, The Pantagraph (04/01/2022)
  Nearly four months after a deadly tornado hit an Amazon facility in Edwardsville, Illinois lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill Thursday that would create a task force to study warehouse safety standards.
  
  

   

• Gulf Coast States Including Texas, Louisiana Face Tornado Threats This Week - Deanna Paul, The Wall Street Journal (03/20/2022)
  The National Weather Service said there is a substantial risk of severe weather including tornadoes, thunderstorms, hail and damaging winds this week as a storm moves east along the Gulf Coast.
  
  

   

• Officials: 7 dead after tornadoes tore through central Iowa - Scott McFetridge & Josh Funk, The Associated Press (03/07/2022)
  Seven people were killed, including two children, when several tornadoes swept through central Iowa, destroying homes and knocking down trees and power lines in the state’s deadliest storm in more than a decade, authorities said.

   

• The family of a delivery driver who died last month when a tornado collapsed the central Illinois Amazon facility where he worked filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday in Madison County. - Bethany Dawson, Business Insider (01/22/2022)
  Amazon is facing a wrongful death lawsuit from one of the families bereaved in the December 10 warehouse collapse in Illinois, which occurred when a tornado, which reached wind speeds of up to 150 mph, devastated the building and killed six workers.
  
  

   

• Tornado victim’s family sues Amazon over warehouse collapse - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (01/17/2022)
  The family of a delivery driver who died last month when a tornado collapsed the central Illinois Amazon facility where he worked filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday in Madison County.

   

• I-95 closure in Virginia ends after nearly 30 hours of driver despair - Chantal Da Silva et al., NBC News (01/04/2022)
  Interstate 95 has reopened, more than a day after a crash brought the East Coast's main north-south road to a halt and stranded drivers.
  
  

   

• Texas puts final estimate of winter storm death toll at 246 - Patrick Svitek, Texas Tribune (01/03/2022)
  “Texas puts final estimate of winter storm death toll at 246” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
  
  

   

2021

• Why America has the most tornadoes in the world - Shirin Ali, The Hill (12/15/2021)
  As multiple states from Kentucky to Illinois and Arkansas experienced fatal tornadoes over the weekend, the U.S. maintains its top spot as the target for the highest number of tornadoes of any country in the world.
  
  

   

• Some Amazon workers say the company never offered them disaster training, report says - Sophia Ankel, Business Insider (12/14/2021)
  Some Amazon workers across the country are coming out to say the company never offered them disaster training, The Intercept reported.
  
  

   

• OSHA investigating after 6 killed by tornado at Amazon facility - Catherine Thorbecke, ABC News (12/14/2021)
  The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has launched an investigation into the collapse of an Amazon delivery station in Edwardsville, Illinois, that left six people dead after a tornado pummeled the facility during the height of the busy holiday shopping season.
  
  

   

• Amazon employees speak out against controversial phone ban after deadly tornado kills at least 6 warehouse workers in Edwardsville, Illinois - Bethany Biron, Business Insider (12/12/2021)
  Amazon employees are speaking out about the return of a controversial mobile phone ban after devastating tornadoes ripped through the Midwest on Friday, destroying an Illinois warehouse and killing at least six employees.
  
  

   

• Over 80 killed in tornadoes in central U.S.; Biden declares emergency in Kentucky - Deepa Shivaram & James Doubek, NPR (12/11/2021)
  Scores of people in the South and Midwest are believed dead after severe weather that caused multiple tornadoes struck late Friday night and early Saturday morning, tearing through Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas.
  
  

   

• Woman files $1m lawsuit against Texas grid operator for mother’s death during severe winter storm - Kelsie Sandoval, The Independent (09/09/2021)
  A Texas woman whose 87-year-old mother died during the severe winter storm in February is suing the state’s grid operator and a power company over her death.
  
  

   

• More tornadoes in New York? - Rick Karlin, Times Union (05/11/2021)
  Is upstate New York becoming a new Tornado Alley?
  
  The answer is 'no' - but an insurance industry study has found an uptick in the number of twisters recorded in the state over the past two decades.
  
  

   

• Surprising tsunami triggers may lurk off California’s coast, scientists say - Amina Khan, The Los Angeles Times (05/03/2021)
  Although California’s most dangerous tsunamis come from thousands of miles away, scientists say they’ve pinpointed a wave trigger that’s much closer to home. Earthquakes along strike-slip faults can cause potentially dangerous waves in certain contexts, a new model shows — and such faults do exist right off parts of the Golden State’s shores.
  
  

   

• At least 5 dead after tornadoes rip through Alabama, bring destruction to Georgia - Dan Whitcomb, Reuters, Global News (03/25/2021)
  Several powerful tornadoes tore through northern Alabama on Thursday, killing at least five people, injuring dozens of others and destroying entire neighborhoods.
  
  

   

• A trust representing more than 80,000 victims of deadly wildfires ignited by Pacific Gas and Electric’s rickety electrical grid is suing nearly two dozen of the utility’s former executives and board members, alleging they neglected their duty to ensure the equipment wouldn’t kill people. - Doyle Rice, USA Today (02/23/2021)
  This year's tornado season could be more severe than usual across the USA, in part because of La Niña.
  
  

   

2020

• Third Of Bangladesh Underwater As Monsoon Drenches Region - Sam Jahan, Barrons (07/14/2020)
  Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, officials said Tuesday, with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade.
• Dust from the Sahara Desert is putting a pause on hurricane activity - Josh Fiallo, Tampa Bay Times (06/18/2020)
  The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season had one of the most active starts in history, with three named storms forming by June 1 for the first time ever. But the tropics have been quiet ever since.
• Arizona wildfire swells to nearly 90,000 acres, prompts evacuations amid coronavirus spike - Matthew Cappucci and Andrew Freedman, The Washington Post (06/17/2020)
  Wildfires are rampaging across parts of the Desert Southwest and California, where an active start to the summer fire season is underway as some states in the region are seeing a spike in coronavirus cases.
• PG&E Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Fires as It Nears Bankruptcy Exit - Katherine Blunt and Peg Brickley, The Wall Street Journal (06/16/2020)
  PG&E Corp. pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter for its role in sparking California’s deadliest wildfire, on the same day that a separate judge said he would clear the way for the company to exit bankruptcy.
• Massive wildfires burn around Arizona, force evacuations - Staff, 12 News (06/15/2020)
  Firefighters across Arizona are working to gain ground against massive wildfires that have led to surrounding communities evacuating.
• Western states are entering an active wildfire season just as coronavirus cases spike - Diana Leonard, The Washington Post (06/14/2020)
  Coronavirus and the West’s wildfire season are on a collision course, with the virus on an upswing in several western states that are starting to see increased fire activity, especially those at heightened fire risk during July.
• PG&E Says Wildfire Victims Back Settlement in Bankruptcy - Ivan Penn, The New York Times (05/18/2020)
  Pacific Gas & Electric said Monday that thousands of homeowners and businesses had overwhelmingly approved a $13.5 billion settlement for wildfires caused by the utility’s equipment, an important victory in its effort to resolve its bankruptcy.
  
  
• Tornado Alley in the Plains is an outdated concept. The South is even more vulnerable, research shows. - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (05/16/2020)
  Anyone who’s ever seen the movie “Twister” is aware of Tornado Alley — known for its reliable and, at times, hyperactive swarms of tornadoes that swirl across the landscape like clockwork each spring. The term brings to mind the strip of land stretching across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas. But meteorologists fear that imaginary zone may be leaving out areas at an even greater risk for damaging tornadoes.
  
  
• April was a historic month for tornadoes in the US - Allison Chinchar, Haley Brink, CNN (05/02/2020)
  April 2020 was one for the severe weather history books.
  
  The preliminary count of 351 tornadoes last month is the second most for any April on record, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. All but three days in April had official reports of severe weather.
• Supercell Spawns Tornadoes While Tracking Nearly 300 Miles in 3 States on Wednesday - Chris Dolce, The Weather Channel (04/22/2020)
  A long-lived supercell thunderstorm tracked nearly 300 miles in three states and likely spawned multiple tornadoes on Wednesday, including a deadly twister in Texas.
  
  
• Fate of Ford F-150, Super Duty trucks depends on plant shredded by tornado - Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, USA Today (04/22/2020)
  After more than a week, still no word. And with big money at stake.
  
  A tornado that ripped apart the roof and interior of a BorgWarner factory in Seneca, South Carolina, and killed a security guard stationed outside on April 13 has left Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Toyota and Ford Motor Co., wondering when operations will return to normal.
• Mississippi Was Raked By Three EF4 Tornadoes Within 40 Miles of Each Other in One Week - Jonathan Erdman , The Weather Channel (04/20/2020)
  Sunday's EF4 tornado in southern Mississippi tore a path less than 40 miles from a pair of Easter Sunday EF4 tornadoes in the same area, making it the third violent tornado there in a week.
  
  
• Insurers receive more than 8,200 claims for property damages in Chattanooga after storms - Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press (04/20/2020)
  The tornadoes and storms that swept through Southeast Tennessee on Easter night toppled or damaged more than 6,200 homes and commercial buildings and left more than 1,300 cars in need of repair, according to initial insurance claims filed in the first week after the April 12-13 storms.
  
  
• 900 homes damaged in SC by strong tornado outbreak - Jeffrey Collins, The Associated Press, ABC 4 News (04/15/2020)
  Emergency officials in South Carolina say more than 900 homes were damaged and 111 houses were destroyed by a series of tornadoes and strong winds that moved across the state on Monday.
• At Least 29 Are Killed as Tornadoes and Severe Weather Strike Southern States - Sandra E. Garcia et. al, The New York Times (04/12/2020)
  At least 29 people died as tornadoes and severe thunderstorms swept across the South on Sunday and early Monday, sowing destruction across at least six states, emergency officials said.
  
  
• Tornado east of Nashville on Tuesday was nation’s most intense in nearly three years - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (03/05/2020)
  Two days after violent tornadoes laid siege to a large swath of Middle Tennessee, National Weather Service storm surveys are offering new details on their path and intensity. The staggering twisters achieved rare feats of strength and longevity during their devastating overnight assault Tuesday.
  
  
• Tornadoes Cut a Swath Through Nashville’s Restaurant Scene - Amelia Nierenberg, The New York Times (03/04/2020)
  Freddy Schwenk woke up at 2 on Tuesday morning to a barrage of texts and calls: people asking if he was safe, people asking if he knew what had happened. And then photographs of Geist, a bar and restaurant in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood where he is the managing partner.
  
  
• Experts predict near- to above-average tornado activity this spring - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (02/16/2020)
  Every day that passes, the calendar draws nearer to spring — peak tornado season for much of the central and eastern United States. And atmospheric scientists have cast their predictions for tornado season 2020, calling for a near to slightly more active season than average. There are also signs that peak periods of storminess could ramp up earlier in the year than during some previous seasons.
• Economic impact of Australia's bushfires set to exceed $4.4bn cost of Black Saturday - Ben Butler, The Guardian (01/07/2020)
  The economic damage from the bushfires devastating Australia’s eastern seaboard is likely to exceed the record $4.4bn set by 2009’s Black Saturday blazes, Moody’s Analytics has said.
• 'Never seen anything like it’: The Australia bush fires are generating vast areas of violent weather - Andrew Freedman, Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (01/06/2020)
  Among the many apocalyptic scenes from the Australian bush fires has been the presence of explosive, towering clouds appearing in the skies above the fire zones of southeastern Australia. These clouds, the most fearsome of which is known as pyrocumulonimbus, or pyroCb for short, are fire-generated thunderstorms.
• High Cost of Wildfire Insurance Hurts California Home Sales - Nicole Friedman, The Wall Street Journal (01/05/2020)
  Home sales are slowing in wildfire-prone areas of California as insurers retreat from high-risk regions, say real-estate agents and homeowners.
• Floods Inundate Sinking Jakarta, Leaving Dozens Dead After Torrential Rain - Jon Emont, The Wall Street Journal (01/02/2020)
  Dozens of people died in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta and its suburbs after torrential rain brought on the worst flooding in years, drawing attention to the challenge of protecting one of the world’s fastest-sinking megacities from inundation.
  
  
• ‘It’s Going to Be a Blast Furnace’: Australia Fires Intensify - Livia Albeck-Ripka et. al., The New York Times (01/02/2020)
  They fled from looming firestorms that threatened to cut off their escape, only to join a slog alongside the masses of others who crowded the roads. Thousands more waited for rescue by sea.

2019

• Judge OKs nearly $25 billion for PG&E fire victims, insurers - Michael Liedtke, AP News (12/18/2019)
  A federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved two Pacific Gas & Electric settlements totaling $24.5 billion to help pay the losses suffered by homeowners, businesses and insurers in the aftermath of catastrophic Northern California wildfires that sent the nation’s largest utility into a financial morass.
• California Expands Insurance Protections in Wildfire Areas - Associated Press, US News & World Report (12/18/2019)
  More than a million California homes are now protected under a new law that temporarily bans insurance companies from dropping customers in areas affected by recent wildfires, officials announced Wednesday.
• PG&E settlement of $13.5 billion brings some relief, more uncertainty to California fire victims - Adam Elmahrek, Esmeralda Bermudez, The Los Angeles Times (12/07/2019)
  It’s been a long, painful road for the victims of some of California’s worst fires: the Camp fire of 2018, the Tubbs fire of 2017, the Butte fire of 2015.
• Dallas Tornado: Government To Spend $60 Million On Repairs And Recovery - Rohit Nair, International Business Times (11/07/2019)
  The city of Dallas will be spending $60 million in recovery efforts after a tornado caused heavy damages destroying houses and downing power lines.
• As Paradise Rebuilds, a Divide Over Safety a Year After Fire - Don Thompson, NBC Bay Area (11/06/2019)
  There was “no way in hell” Victoria Sinclaire was rebuilding in Paradise.
• Study: Alien grasses are making more frequent US wildfires - Seth Borenstein, Associated Press (11/04/2019)
  For much of the United States, invasive grass species are making wildfires more frequent, especially in fire-prone California, a new study finds.
• More Californians Could Lose Home Insurance After Wildfires - Nicole Friedman, The Wall Street Journal (11/01/2019)
  A new wave of wildfires is likely to reduce the availability of home insurance in vulnerable areas of California.
• California’s governor declares statewide emergency over wildfires as mass evacuation continues - Courtney Teague et. al. , The Washington Post (10/27/2019)
  California’s governor declared a statewide emergency Sunday as hurricane-force wind fueled wildfires across Sonoma County and prompted mass evacuations in communities to the Pacific Ocean.
• Dallas County Tornadoes Caused $2 Billion in Damage, Insurance Council Says - Jim Sams, Claims Journal (10/25/2019)
  An insurance industry group says the nine tornadoes that struck the Dallas area during a Sunday night outbreak caused an estimated $2 billion in insured losses.
• ‘Extremely critical’ fire danger: Wildfires erupt in California - Matthew Cappucci, Andrew Freedman, The Washington Post (10/24/2019)
  Rapidly spreading wildfires have erupted amid “extremely critical” fire danger in parts of California, with conditions likely to escalate risks to Southern California, including the Los Angeles area, through Friday.
• 3 deaths connected to fires that swept through Southern California - Leila Miller et al., Los Angeles Times (10/13/2019)
  The fires that have hit Southern California have been linked to three deaths as officials on Sunday continue to gain ground.
• Millions of Californians Will Go Dark in Biggest Fire Outage Yet - David Baker, Yahoo Finance (10/08/2019)
  PG&E Corp., the California utility giant forced into bankruptcy by two years of devastating wildfires, is orchestrating the biggest planned blackout yet to keep power lines from sparking more blazes.
• California’s Latest Wildfire Problem: Insuring the Tree Trimmers - Lauren Hepler, The New York Times (09/29/2019)
  Contractors crucial to clearing vegetation around power lines face higher coverage costs because of potential liability in later disasters.
• PG&E Agrees To Pay $11 Billion Insurance Settlement Over California Wildfires - Bill Chappell, NPR (09/13/2019)
  Utility giant PG&E has agreed to a second large settlement over devastating Northern California wildfires, saying it will pay $11 billion to resolve most insurance claims from the wine country fires in 2017 and massive Camp Fire in 2018.
• Freak Summer Hailstorm Hits Mexico's Guadalajara - Merrit Kennedy & Joe Neel, NPR (07/01/2019)
  People in Guadalajara, Mexico, woke up on Sunday to a thick blanket of ice over areas of their city, after a freak hailstorm that damaged houses and left cars partially buried.
• PG&E to pay $1 billion to governments for wildfire damage - Adam Beam, The Associated Press (06/18/2019)
  A California utility agreed Tuesday to pay $1 billion to 14 local governments to cover damages from a series of deadly wildfires caused by its downed power lines.
• Insurance claims from deadly California wildfires top $12B - Kathleen Ronayne, The AP (05/08/2019)
  Insurance claims have topped $12 billion for the November wildfires in California, making them the most expensive in state history.

2018

• Devastating toxic algae bloom plagues Florida’s Gulf Coast - TAMARA LUSH, AP (08/10/2018)
  Tons of dead fish. A smell so awful you gag with one inhale. Empty beaches, empty roads, empty restaurants. . . . A toxic algae bloom has overrun Florida’s southern Gulf Coast this summer, devastating sea life and driving people from the water. . . . Red tide — a naturally occurring toxic algae bloom that can be harmful to people with respiratory problems— has spread throughout the Gulf of Mexico, drifting in the water since it began in October. Stretching about 150 miles (240 kilometers), it’s affecting communities from Naples in the south to Anna Maria Island in the north and appears to be moving northward. . . . The algae turns the water toxic for marine life, and in recent weeks beachgoers have been horrified to find turtles, large fish like goliath grouper and even manatees wash up dead. In late July, a 26-foot long (8-meter-long) whale shark washed ashore on Sanibel Island, which is known for its pristine beaches. In places like Longboat Key, more than 5 tons of dead fish have been removed from beaches. This week, nine dead dolphins were found in Sarasota County, and marine biologists are investigating whether the deaths are related to red tide.

2017

• AIR Worldwide Estimates Industry Insured Losses for California Wildfires Will be Between USD 2 Billion and USD 3 Billion - Globenewswire.com (10/26/2017)
  Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that industry insured losses from the Tubbs, Pocket, Nuns, Atlas, Redwood, and Sulphur fires in California will be between USD 2 billion and USD 3 billion. AIR's loss estimates explicitly capture residential, mobile home, commercial, and automobile losses, as well as direct business interruption losses. AIR Worldwide is a Verisk (Nasdaq: VRSK) business
• Mexico launches pioneering scheme to insure its coral reef - Fiona Harvey, The Guardian (07/20/2017)
  

  A stretch of coral reef off Mexico is the testing ground for a new idea that could protect fragile environments around the world: insurance. . . . The reef, off the coast of Cancún, is the first to be protected under an insurance scheme by which the premiums will be paid by local hotels and government, and money to pay for the repair of the reef will be released if a storm strikes. . . . Coral reefs offer a valuable buffer against storm damage from waves but their condition has deteriorated in recent years, the result of human exploitation and destruction of the reefs, as well as climate change, plastic waste and the acidification of the oceans.

• AIR Worldwide Announces Crop Hail Model for Canada - AIR Staff, AIR Worldwide Press Release (06/26/2017)
  Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide today announced that it has released its Crop Hail Model for Canada to give stakeholders across the crop insurance value chain a probabilistic view of crop hail risk in Canada.
• Technology changing how wildfires are fought - J. Harry Jones, The San Diego Union-Tribune (05/19/2017)
  
  Computer technology is changing the way wildfires are being fought - and will soon allow firefighters in San Diego County to track on their smart phones what a blaze is doing and how it will evolve. That groundwork was highlighted Friday during a seminar on wildfire preparedness seminar that drew more than 100 leaders of local fire agencies. The event was hosted by San Diego Gas & Electric Co in conjunction with the San Diego Fire Foundation. Across the region, 170 steel electrical poles are equipped with small weather stations that constantly record wind speed and humidity levels. Vegetation maps - updated regularly - show what kind of brush is growing and where, and how dry it has become. Historical data helps firefighters know when an area last burned, and how thick the fuel is - which gives them an idea of how fierce and hot a wildfire there might burn.
• Destructive Storm System Bruises the Nation’s Midsection - Richard Perez-Pena, The New York Times (05/04/2017)
  Across a broad swath of the nation’s midsection, people fought on Thursday to hold back floodwaters, repair tornado damage and dry out homes and businesses, after a powerful storm front stretching nearly a thousand miles barreled through, bringing destructive winds and more than a foot of rain in places.
• Storms Tossed Insurers in Quarter - Leslie Scism, WSJ, Fox Business (05/01/2017)
  
  U.S. property-casualty firms were buffeted by unexpectedly harsh weather.
• Eastern Newfoundland windstorm causes close to $45 million in insured damage - CNW Group, Yahoo Finance (04/26/2017)
  Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) reports that a windstorm which affected eastern Newfoundland on March 11, 2017 has resulted in almost $45 million in insured damage according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.
• Firefighters Battling 7,000-Acre Wildfire Near Green Valley - The Associated Press, US News (04/24/2017)
  A wind-whipped grass and brush wildfire that forced the evacuation of several homes in southern Arizona has now grown to nearly 11 square miles but remains 5 percent contained.
• Storm damage to top $14 million for Bay Area parks — and we’re not done yet - Denis Cuff, The Mercury News (04/13/2017)
  Bay Area parks and open spaces suffered more than $14 million damage from winter storms, and the toll is expected to rise much higher as record-setting rain lingers into spring.
• Severe US weather expected to cost insurers more than $2bn in March, according to Aon catastrophe report - Aon PLC, PR Newswire (04/07/2017)
  
  Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield's catastrophe model development team, today launches the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during March 2017. Aon Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc. The report reveals that an extremely active period for severe weather persisted in the United States throughout March, as four separate significant outbreaks led to extensive damage in central and eastern parts of the country. The most prolific outbreak from March 6-10 resulted in major damage from tornadoes, large hail and straight-line winds in the Plains, Midwest and Southeast. Total economic losses for this event alone were estimated at USD1.7 billion, while public and private insurance claims were listed at USD1.2 billion. The aggregated cost to the insurance industry from the four events was expected to exceed USD2.0 billion.
• Thunderstorms are getting more destructive — and insurance companies are paying for it - Ally Marotti, The Chicago Tribune (04/07/2017)
  Severe storm systems leave more in their wake than death and destruction - including insurance claims. And they're piling up. Strings of destructive storms in the U.S. throughout March are expected to cost the insurance industry more than $2 billion, according to a report from Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance branch of London-based Aon. Though the report doesn't break down damage by state, it names a system that swept through Illinois in early March as the most damaging. It dropped dozens of tornadoes throughout the Midwest and parts of the South, downing power lines and damaging buildings, before heading east and wreaking havoc there.
• Oklahoma: How Kansas can protect itself better from wildfires - Oliver Morrison, The Wichita Eagle (03/31/2017)
  Oklahoma had to learn the hard way that Kansas fights fires unlike almost anywhere else in the U.S., according to George Geissler, the director of the Oklahoma Forest Service. Instead of reaching out to a single Kansas agency during the Anderson Creek fire last year - which burned nearly 400,000 acres near Medicine Lodge - Oklahoma had to reach out separately to each Kansas county impacted by the fire. Each county gave the fire a different name, Geissler said, and often provided "wildly different" reports about how much damage the fire had done. So before this year's fire season kicked off, Geissler took several of his 80 full-time staff members to meet with all five fire people at the Kansas Forest Service responsible for coordinating the state's response to wildfires. They shared information about how each state handles wildfires.
• US weather losses exceed $1bn in January for insurers, according to Aon catastrophe report - Aon via PR Newswire (02/09/2017)
  Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield's catastrophe model development team, today launches the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during January 2017. Aon Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc (NYSE: AON). The report reveals that multiple severe weather outbreaks killed 27 people in the United States during January, causing economic losses of more than USD1.0 billion, and insured losses minimally in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

2016

• Like Tens of Millions of Matchsticks, California’s Dead Trees Stand Ready to Burn - Cynthia H. Craft , The New York Times (09/29/2016)
  At the height of California’s fierce wildfire season, the Sierra Nevada and North Coast forests are choked with tens of millions of dead and dying trees, from gnarly oaks to elegant pines that are turning leafy chapels into tinderboxes of highly combustible debris… “Tree die-offs of this magnitude are unprecedented and increase the risk of catastrophic wildfires that put property and lives at risk,” Mr. Vilsack said earlier this summer. “We must fund wildfire suppression like other natural disasters in the country.”
• China Floods Kill 173, Cut Transportation Links; Hit to Economy Expected - Insurance Journal (07/11/2016)
  

  Weeks of torrential rain across central and southern China have caused the country’s worst flooding since 1998, killing 173 people, ruining farms and cutting major transportation arteries — and creating potential headwinds to economy growth.

• Alberta Wildfires Costliest Disaster in Canadian History - Bobby Magill, Climate Central (07/08/2016)
  

   The Fort McMurray wildfire, driven by drought and climate change, was the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history, ringing up $3.58 billion in losses, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

• Florida tornado tally at 18, three times higher than average - Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post (02/18/2016)
  An atmosphere energized by racing winds aloft has upped Florida’s tornado tally this year to three times what’s average for January and February.

2015

• El Nino worst in over 15 years, severe impact likely: UN - Nina Larson, Yahoo News (11/16/2015)
  The "El Nino" phenomenon, which sparks global climate extremes, is this year the worst in more than 15 years, the UN weather agency said Monday, warning it was already causing severe droughts and flooding.
• Global catastrophe losses in October expected to top USD10bn, according to Aon report - PR Newswire (11/05/2015)
  Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield'scatastrophe model development team, today launches the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during October 2015.
• London-Based Reinsurers Among "Most-Exposed" in One-in-250 Shock - S&P - Alliance News (09/02/2015)
  London-based players and some of their North American reinsurance counterparts appear most exposed in the event of rare and extreme catastrophe losses, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Wednesday.
• Disasters, Both Natural and Weather-Related, Displaced 19 Million in 2014 - Nick Cumming-Bruce, The New York Times (07/20/2015)
  Natural disasters forced more than 19 million people from their homes in 2014, mostly the result of typhoons, flooding and other weather-related events that are becoming more intense and more frequent, a leading European aid agency said Monday.
• Chile volcano: Calbuco erupts for first time in decades, sending ash and smoke into sky - ABC (05/24/2015)
  The surprise eruptions prompted officials to declare a state of emergency, send in the army and evacuate a 21-kilometre radius around the volcano, which last erupted 54 years ago and had not shown any signs of increased activity.
• Insuring for Disaster - Jeffrey D. Sachs, New York Times (05/04/2015)
  Natural disasters like the devastating earthquake in Nepal constitute a highly uncertain but quantifiable risk.
• Dry future looks costly for California - Peter Huck, New Zealand Herald (03/28/2015)
  LA's corroded pipes, stressed by seismic activity, lose 8 billion gallons (30.3 billion litres) a year. The San Jose Mercury News says San Francisco, also cursed by old pipes, loses 23 billion gallons.

2014

• Florida's 'sinkhole alley' homeowners struggle with insurance overhaul - Jeff Harrington, Dan DeWitt, Tampa Bay Times (10/10/2014)
  Based on the new law, the same engineering firm that found the Irizarrys' sinkhole — and recommended that it be filled with grout — deemed that it wouldn't qualify for an insurance claim.
• Africa assumes onus on disaster relief with catastrophe insurance pool - Wendell Roelf, Reuters Africa (05/15/2014)
  On May 1, Africa launched its first sovereign risk pool insurance scheme, marking a major policy shift in the way climatic events such as droughts, and from next year floods, will be tackled by the world’s poorest continent.
• Florida property insurance drops a bit - Jeff Harrington, Tampa Bay Times (05/12/2014)
  Florida homeowners have had more to fear from their insurance company than from Mother Nature…[but] Property insurance rates are finally receding this year — albeit very slowly in many cases — in large part because the cost is going down for reinsurance, an added layer of coverage that insurance companies buy to help them pay claims after catastrophes. 
• Cyclone Ian triggers first Pacific catastrophe risk insurance payout of USD$ 1.27 Million to Government of Tonga - MIC (01/24/2014)
  

  The Government of Tonga will be the first country to benefit from insurance coverage under the PCRIP.

• Report: Windstorm rates won’t cover worst-case insurance losses
  An independent review of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s rate inadequacy has come out in time for public comment ahead of a crucial committee meeting next week.

   

• Desperate search for crew of ship sunk in typhoon off Japan
  Japanese coast guard rescuers searched Thursday (Sept 3) for the remaining 42 crew of a ship believed to have sunk in a typhoon, after a lone survivor was found bobbing in a lifejacket.

   

• Typhoon Maysak strikes South Korea, while a second storm gains strength just behind it
  Maysak is just the sixth Category 2 or greater storm to hit South Korea since reliable records began in 1951, and it is the fourth typhoon to strike the Korean Peninsula during the ongoing western Pacific typhoon season. That ties the record for the most landfalling storms in a single season, according to Sayaka Mori, a meteorologist for NHK World.

   

• Lebanon blast caused damage up to USD 4.6 billion, says World Bank
  The massive explosion in Beirut earlier this month that killed and injured thousands of people has caused up to USD 4.6 billion in physical damage, the World Bank said in a report released Monday.

   

• Brutal heat wave continues in the West, exacerbating wildfires and straining California's power grid
  The brutal heat wave scorching the western USA will continue for several more days, forecasters said, exacerbating wildfires and straining the power grid in California.
• Powerful Typhoon Maysak brings 100 mph winds to Okinawa, heads for super typhoon status and landfall in Korea
  Typhoon Maysak sideswiped the Japanese island of Okinawa on Monday, with wind gusts as high as 101 mph, and is forecast to intensify into the equivalent of a Category 4 storm as it moves toward eventual landfall in South Korea. Maysak is currently the equivalent of a strong Category 3 hurricane, and is traversing warm ocean waters in an environment that is favorable for further intensification, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

   

• Lebanon Insurance Claims on Port Blast at $425 Million So Far
  Caretaker Economy Minister Raoul Nehme said 2,500 claims have been filed, according to the presidency’s Twitter account. The ministry expects claims to reach 10,000
  
  
  
• Drones help insurance companies check damage in Cedar Rapids
  Insurance adjusters who descended on Cedar Rapids after the Aug. 10 derecho storm are using drones to check roofs and asking homeowners with less severe damage to take their own photos.

   

• Cedar Rapids and nearby Iowa communities, still in shambles days after destructive derecho, plead for help
  Monday’s derecho, the violent thunderstorm complex that unleashed winds over 100 mph in parts of Iowa, has devastated scores of communities in the Hawkeye State. Cedar Rapids, a city of more than 130,000 people, was among the hardest-hit areas.

   

• Tropical Storm Isaias Leaves One Dead, Two Million Homes Without Power in New York, New Jersey
  Isaias made landfall in North Carolina as a hurricane, bringing storm surges and destructive winds. Though the storm has weakened, states on the eastern seaboard close some Covid-19 testing sites while preparing for flooding and high winds.