Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Update: Tropical Storm Eta Strikes Florida Keys, Could Still Strengthen
Nov 8 2020 // Updated on Nov 9, 2020, 9:36 AM – After coming ashore in the Florida Keys overnight, Tropical Storm Eta will wander the eastern Gulf of Mexico, dumping heavy rain on the Sunshine State and raking it with gusty...
Vertus, Zurich Expand Hurricane Deductible Buy-Back Program Into S.C., N.C., Va.
Nov 6 2020 // Vertus Insurance Partners and Zurich North America have expanded the Cat4Home deductible buy-back insurance product to customers in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The expanded offering comes on the heels of...
Liberty Mutual Reports 46% Hike in Q3 Net Income Despite Catastrophe Losses
Nov 6 2020 // Liberty Mutual Holding Co. Inc. has reported a 46% increase in net income during the third quarter, despite elevated catastrophe losses. The company reported Q3 net income of $397 million, compared with $272 million during...
AIG’s Profit Slumps on Q3 Catastrophe Losses
Nov 6 2020 // American International Group Inc reported a slump in third-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by losses related to storms, wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. AIG, one of the largest U.S. insurers, posted an underwriting...
California Issues Moratorium on Insurers Non-Renewing or Cancelling Following Wildfires
Nov 5 2020 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Thursday announced a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies non-renewing or cancelling residential property insurance policies, a move he says is aimed at...
RMS: Total Onshore U.S. Insured Zeta Losses Could Rise to $5B
Nov 5 2020 // Catastrophe risk modeler RMS has estimated that insured on losses from Hurricane Zeta could rise to as high as $5 billion in the U.S. That figure is slightly higher than estimates announced by catastrophe modelers AIR...
Another Severe Storm Threatens Philippines Just Days After Super Typhoon Goni
Nov 5 2020 // The Philippines is bracing for a severe tropical storm that’s expected to hit its northern tip days after Super Typhoon Goni left. Storm Atsani will likely strengthen into a typhoon with peak intensity of 120...
Despite Challenges, New Year Will Bring Strong, Stable Industry: Hartwig
Nov 4 2020 // Despite a year of unprecedented challenges and uncertainty and a halting global economic recovery, the insurance industry remains strong, stable, sound and secure. Though below pre-COVID forecasts, major indicators point...
Category 4 Hurricane Eta Makes Landfall in Nicaragua, with Dangerous Floods Expected
Nov 4 2020 // Hurricane Eta has made landfall in northern Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm, with life-threatening flood from rainfall predicted for much of Central America, according to a report from Weather Underground. Eta’s eye...
Hurricane Zeta Insured Loss Estimates Range from $1.5B to More than $4B
Nov 3 2020 // Insured losses from Hurricane Zeta — the fifth named storm to make landfall in Louisiana and the third hurricane to hit the state in the span of two months — will likely come in somewhere between $1.5 billion and $4.4...
Zeta Leaves Its Mark on Southeast States
Nov 2 2020 // Millions of people were without power and at least six were dead Thursday after Hurricane Zeta slammed into Louisiana and made a beeline across the South, leaving shattered buildings, thousands of downed trees and fresh...
Landslide from Tropical Storm Zeta Causes 90-Mile Detour in North Carolina
Nov 2 2020 // A landslide caused by Tropical Storm Zeta has blocked a North Carolina road, severing access between mountain counties and forcing motorists to take a 90-mile detour, officials said Friday. McDowell County Emergency...
Zeta’s Impact on Louisiana Island: ‘Like a Bomb Was Dropped’
Nov 2 2020 // Mark Andollina remembers stinging rain and a howling wind that peeled the roof off part of his Cajun Tide Beach Resort on Grand Isle, the Louisiana barrier island town where residents were among the first to feel the...
Update: Insurance Price Tag from Hurricane Zeta Estimated at $4.3B in U.S.
Nov 2 2020 // Insurers are bracing for a hit of about $4.3 billion from Hurricane Zeta in the United States, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Monday. At least six people were killed in the southeast of the...
Rescue Efforts Continue After Earthquake Strikes Turkey, Greece with at Least 57 Dead
Nov 2 2020 // IZMIR, Turkey – Rescue workers extricated a 70-year-old man from a collapsed building in western Turkey on Sunday, some 34 hours after a strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea struck Turkey and Greece, killing at least 57...
Tropical Storm Eta Ties 2005 Record for Most Named Atlantic Storms in One Year
Nov 2 2020 // Tropical Storm Eta formed overnight [on Sunday, Nov. 1] in the Caribbean, becoming the Atlantic’s 28th storm of 2020 and tying a 2005 record for the most named systems in a single year in records going back to...
World’s Strongest Storm in 2020 Kills at Least 16 in Philippines
Nov 2 2020 // The world’s strongest storm this year killed at least 16 people in the Philippines, and sent tens of thousands more to evacuation centers, risking coronavirus infection. Nearly 458,000 people were evacuated mostly in...
California Pledges to Protect Homeowners from Insurer Withdrawals Due to Wildfires
Nov 2 2020 // California’s insurance commissioner in late October pledged to step up efforts to protect the state’s residents from wildfires and address a pullback of private insurers from the state’s riskiest...
Zeta Leaves Southeast Louisiana Reeling Before Heading Northeast
Oct 30 2020 // A fast-moving Zeta weakened to a tropical storm as it barreled northeast on Oct. 29 after ripping through Louisiana and Mississippi where storm-weary residents were advised to stay indoors overnight while officials...
It Would Take P/C Insurers 150 Years to Pay COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses
Oct 30 2020 // The world’s property/casualty insurers would have to collect business interruption insurance premiums for 150 years in order to absorb the estimated US$4.5 trillion global output loss inflicted by COVID-19 and its...
