disasters News

UN: $2.5 Trillion in Disaster Losses Since 2000

Economic losses from disasters since 2000 are in the range of $2.5 trillion, a figure at least 50 percent higher than previous international estimates, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday. The U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction warned in …

Spate of Disasters Exposes Supply Chain Weakness

When flood waters rose in Thailand, Wal-Mart stores in Japan ran out of mouthwash. “We were out of mouthwash in Japan for about four days,” Scott Price, Wal-Mart’s Asia chief executive officer, said at the APEC business leaders’ summit. “A …

Health Costs of 6 U.S. Climate Disasters Totals $14B

Deaths and health problems from floods, drought and other U.S. disasters related to climate change cost an estimated $14 billion over the last decade, researchers said Monday. “When extreme weather hits, we hear about the property damage and insurance costs,” …

Panel Says Wild Weather Worsens

A new international climate report warns the world it had better get used to unusual weather extremes. That’s because global warming is making these disasters more severe. The world already is accustomed to weird weather like this past weekend’s freak …

North Carolina County Recovers from Trio of Disasters

Driving along the back roads of Bertie County, it’s hard sometimes to tell one disaster’s damage from another. That huge old tree, its limbs chopped and stacked after falling across a road, was definitely toppled by Hurricane Irene. But what …

US Weather Disasters Have Cost Billions in 2011

A record 10 weather disasters in the U.S. have each caused at least $1 billion in damage: Hurricane Irene, Aug. 20-29. Damages and deaths are still being tallied, but estimates are running more than $7 billion and close to 50 …