economic damage News

1 Month After Oil Spill, Lima’s Beaches Empty, Cleanup Slow

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Dozens of beaches near Lima were deserted and thousands of fishermen remained without work Tuesday, one month after an oil spill at a refinery created what the United Nations called the worst ecological disaster in Peru’s …

Western Drought Brings Another Woe: Voracious Grasshoppers

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A punishing drought in the U.S. West is drying up waterways, sparking wildfires and leaving farmers scrambling for water. Next up: a plague of voracious grasshoppers. Federal agriculture officials are launching what could become their largest …

Hurricane Phoenix is Tampa Bay’s Worst-Case Scenario

TAMPA, Fla. — It is only a simulation. It’s also the worst-case scenario. One day, it could be reality. “Hurricane Phoenix” is the hypothetical disaster that would change life in the Tampa Bay area forever. Imagine a Category 5 storm …

Chubb Urges U.S. and Insurers to Team Up for Future Pandemic Costs

Chubb Ltd. proposed that insurers and the U.S. government work together to cover future business-interruption losses from pandemics, as the industry faces a flurry of lawsuits over costs related to coronavirus-related shutdowns. Chubb, the large global insurer led by Evan …

As Nation Reopens, a Historic Referendum on Risk Begins

WASHINGTON — We are becoming a nation of amateur actuaries, calculating the risk of restarting our lives. Can we go outside? Can we go back to work? Can we go to a restaurant or bar? Can we go to the …

Report Makes Chilling Forecast on Northwest Quake

More than 10,000 people could die when – not if – a monster earthquake and tsunami occur just off the Pacific Northwest coast, researchers told Oregon legislators Thursday. Coastal towns would be inundated. Schools, buildings and bridges would collapse, and …