Archive for November 2018

Human activity is making hurricanes worse, according to a pair of studies published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. Climate change increased rainfall from 5 percent to 10 percent in hurricanes Katrina (2005), Irma (2017) and Maria (2017), wrote two … Source: Claims Journal

Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. soared Friday after California’s top utility regulator said his agency will help the company deal with potentially crippling liability costs from wildfires. Stock prices soared 36 percent in midday trading after plunging 60 … Source: Claims Journal

Humans helped make recent devastating U.S. hurricanes wetter but in different ways, two new studies find. Hurricane Harvey snagged on the skyscrapers of Houston, causing it to slow and dump more rain than it normally would, one study found. The … Source: Claims Journal

Designers overestimated the strength of a critical section of a Florida International University pedestrian bridge that collapsed, killing six people, and they underestimated the load on that same section, federal investigators reported Thursday. Cracks that were observed in the bridge … Source: Claims Journal

In a major new effort to curb smoking, a top U.S. health official pledged Thursday to try to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars and tighten rules governing the sale of most flavored versions of electronic cigarettes. The proposed restrictions … Source: Claims Journal

Former Marlins Pitcher Gets 4 Years for Insurance Fraud A pitcher on the Florida Marlins team that won the 2003 World Series has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for taking part in an insurance scam. The … Source: Claims Journal

Though it’s estimated that by 2025 auto insurance premiums will drop by $25 billion as a result of the adoption of driverless cars, the insurance market is expected to recover through new lines of coverage, according to a report by … Source: Claims Journal

Testing by AAA shows that electronic driver assist systems on the road today may not keep vehicles in their lanes or spot stationary objects in time to avoid a crash. The tests brought a warning from the auto club that … Source: Claims Journal

A delay in securing equipment needed to find recordings of the pilots’ final conversations on the doomed Lion Air jet is hampering Indonesian authorities search for clues to the nation’s worst air disaster in two decades. The National Transportation Safety … Source: Claims Journal

International air travel has become remarkably safe in recent years, with deadly accidents like last month’s Lion Air crash in Indonesia becoming more rare. Statistics aside, the accident is making travelers wary of flying in some countries or on certain … Source: Claims Journal