Earthquake hits New York City and eastern New Jersey late Saturday as residents report buildings shaking
According to the United States Geological Survey, a magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck Saturday night with its epicenter in eastern New Jersey, just north of Newark.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Skift
an hour ago
- Skift
Extreme Weather Means More Cancellations and Pricier Insurance. What Can Planners Do?
Planners need to sharpen their awareness of seasonality and avoid risky outdoor locations — that is, if they want to get their events insured. The number of storms, wildfires, and floods, along with extreme heat events, rose sharply between 2023 and 2024. So did the total number of resulting event disruptions — by a staggering 86.5%, according to new research. Outdoor events, such as festivals, have been hardest hit. The Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee was canceled this June on the first night due to heavy rain and severe weather — the second time in the last four years. 'We generally avoid locations prone to issues during hurricane season, as well as a heightened awareness and tracking of other extreme weather events,' said one meeting planner from a Fortune 100 insurance firm. 'Seasonality is more key than ever before, and we are less apt to take risks in shoulder seasons than we would have previously.' Before booking a destination that her company hasn't used before, her enterprise security and business continuity team does an overall assessment. If it's a repeat destination, the planning team conducts its own due diligence to check on recent events or upcoming anticipated issues or changes. Surging Costs Where there are storms, there are increases in insurance costs, and events are no different. The growth in the number of festivals taking place, on top of adverse weather, has caused event cancellation and weather insurance premiums to triple in some cases. Many insurers now implement high deductibles — often up to 10% of insured value — or coinsurance provisions. Severe weather claims now account for approximately 42% of cancellation claims at Risk Strategies, according to Scott Schacter, senior vice president of the firm's entertainment practice. That's up from 28% a decade ago. Schacter says that prices had stabilized leading into 2025, 'but with recent high-profile cancellations at Bonnaroo and the Soundside Music Festival, it is not outside the realm of possibility that rates could tighten the back half of the year.' Rate increase forecasts for contingency/event cancellation already range from 2% to 5%+ in 2025. 'Policies near weather-prone zones carry higher rates and stricter underwriting,' said Schacter. 'Insurance providers are tightening policy terms, deductibles and/or coinsurance provisions, and underwriting scrutiny — particularly for immersive, high-risk, or outdoor events.' And just like homeowners insurance, event insurance is becoming harder to get at all in wildfire-prone areas of California or hurricane-threatened coastal regions. Despite this, Visit Florida plans to continue offering its Cover Your Event insurance for the 2026 hurricane seasons. The program will reimburse planners in the event of a cancellation due to a named hurricane during the Atlantic hurricane season (as established by the National Hurricane Center). It applies only to indoor meetings and conventions with room block contracts with Visit Florida partners. Claims can only be made if the event is rescheduled within 12 months at the same or nearest available venue in Florida. Other conditions apply. Tips for Planners There are steps planners can take to be more proactive when purchasing insurance. Schacter suggests locking in a policy in hurricane-vulnerable regions at least 30–40 days in advance to avoid being refused coverage. With some types of policies, known as a parametric or weather-triggering policy, payouts are automatically triggered by weather index thresholds.'These products remain niche but are gaining traction as climate volatility increases,' he said. 'This can speed claims and reduce basis risk if you pair it with diversified locations or events.' Most importantly, planners should monitor market conditions closely. 'Though there was some softening in early 2025, cycles can shift abruptly after high-cost catastrophic events.'
News24
2 hours ago
- News24
Flood-hit Beijing prepares for new round of heavy rain as rescuers retrieve bodies
More rain is predicted for Beijing, already recovering from floods. 44 people died in July floods. Up to 200mm of rain could hit parts of Beijing, warned weather forecasters. Beijing on Monday warned residents in its mountainous suburbs to brace for another round of heavy rainfall, a week after catastrophic floods killed dozens in the deadliest deluge to hit the Chinese capital since 2012. Up to 200mm of rain could hit parts of Beijing over a six-hour period from 12:00, weather forecasters warned. The city of 22 million people receives on average 600mm of rainfall each year. The alert comes as authorities rush to reinforce ageing flood defences, fine-tune weather forecasts and update evacuation plans amid reports of bodies being pulled from raging flood waters across the country, including at least three at a flooded wellness camp in Hebei province. Late in July, at least 44 people died in Beijing after days of heavy rains. Most of the dead were people unexpectedly trapped by rapidly rising waters at a nursing home in Miyun district on the city's northeastern outskirts. Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images The fatalities led authorities to admit to shortcomings in their contingency plans for extreme weather. On Monday, Beijing had seven of its 16 districts on the highest level of preparedness for flood prevention - Mentougou, Fangshan, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Huairou, Miyun and Yanqing - most of which lie in mountainous areas to the west and north of the city. The risk of flash floods and landslides is 'extremely high', authorities said. In the summer of 2012, 79 people died in Beijing in the city's deadliest flooding in living memory. Fangshan district was the worst-hit, with one resident reporting a rise in floodwaters of 1.3m in just 10 minutes. Beijing's topography has been described by some as a rain 'trap', with its mountains to the west and north capturing moist air and amplifying any ensuing rainfall as a result. As of Saturday, torrential rains that swept through 'Beijing Valley', a riverside wellness retreat in the Hebei city of Chengde adjacent to Beijing, had claimed three lives, with four still missing, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. Around 40 people had gathered on 27 July for an event at the site, where organisers directed them into tents pitched on low-lying land next to a river bend, Caixin Media reported. By 02:00, floodwaters had risen to knee height, forcing attendees to scramble toward the camp's only exit. The site bore similarities to Camp Mystic in Texas, where at least 28 children were swept to their deaths in July by floodwaters after the Guadalupe River burst its banks amid torrential rain. In China's southern Guangdong province over the weekend, the bodies of five people were recovered after a large-scale search operation involving more than 1 300 rescuers. The five people, who went missing on Friday night, were 'swept away by water' following heavy rainfall in recent days, Xinhua reported on Sunday.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
McNair High in Stockton flooded by water main break, students shift to remote learning
A Stockton-area school is shifting to remote learning for the day after a water main broke and caused flooding on campus. The Lodi Unified School District announced Monday that McNair High School will be on remote learning for the day due to the situation. "Students will need to log onto their Google Classroom during their class periods. Students on campus will be going home," the district said in a statement. Video from the scene shows significant flooding in one of McNair's buildings. It appears several classrooms are impacted. Workers are trying to mitigate the damage. It's unclear how the water main broke and how long the school will be in remote learning. Lodi Unified schools only just returned from summer break last Tuesday.
