Latest fromNatural Disasters
Reinsurance rates to rise as earthquake bill soars
New Zealand insurers face rate increases of more than 10 per cent for the renewal of their insurance this year, as Canterbury earthquake bill continues to mount.
Quake package 'huge weight lifted'
A Govt package for displaced homeowners is the 'first really positive thing' since the Canterbury quake, a resident says.
Govt to help quake residents with accommodation
Cantabrians forced out of their earthquake-damaged homes are set to get financial assistance and help finding accommodation from the Govt.
Brownlee denies telling quake residents to sell on open market
Gerry Brownlee has rejected claims he told Canterbury residents that selling their quake-damaged homes would be the best way to withdraw equity.
Anzac not a name but a way of thinking
The bond forged at Gallipoli is now a dynamic partnership, say Julia Gillard and John Key.
Kiwis denied Yasi payments
Expat New Zealanders hit by Tropical Cyclone Yasi have joined a growing number of disaster victims denied recovery payments by the Australian Government.
Australia: The Great Shrinking Land
In a rare moment of unity, Australia's political leaders joined to mourn the victims of a catastrophic summer.
'Sheer blind luck' decides whose home is destroyed
Bushfire victim Paul Bosveld saw the remains of his home and said he was 'going to travel through life a bit lighter from now on'.
Bushfires raze almost 70 homes
Firefighters worked throughout the night to control a fierce bushfire, which razed 68 homes near Perth.
Perth bushfires destroy 59 homes
Bushfires that destroyed at least 59 Perth homes and forced hundreds of people to flee for their lives continued to burn last night.
A blue day helps to raise the spirits
The Bruce Highway south of Cairns is a road to hope and despair.
Floods, Yasi stamp their mark on 2011
The summer of 2011 was already going to go down in Queensland's history for all the wrong reasons.
Stormchaser looks into cyclone's heart
A stormchaser has told how he tied himself to a tree, strapped on a helmet and went into the core of Cyclone Yasi.