Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lexington Insurance Wins Texas Battle of Hurricane Harvey Deductibles
Jun 15 2020 // In a case of competing deductibles, a federal appeals court has sided with an insurer and against the owner of two Houston office buildings, holding that a larger windstorm deductible applied to flood damage caused by...
Survey: Florida Residents More Concerned for Hurricane Season Amid Pandemic
Jun 15 2020 // Florida has officially started hurricane season and a new survey shows a majority of residents are more concerned for this year’s potential storms than in previous years, given the simultaneous continuing issues...
Florida Cat Fund Foregoes Private Reinsurance for 2020 Hurricane Season
Jun 15 2020 // Reinsurance coverage for the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund was not purchased for this year’s hurricane season after overseers of the fund evaluated the market and found a lack of private capital availability. In...
Correction: 127 Oklahoma Tornadoes in First 5 Months of 2019, Not 186
Jun 12 2020 // Note: In a previous story about there being fewer tornadoes in Oklahoma thus far in 2020, The Associated Press erroneously reported the number of tornadoes through the first five months of 2019. There were 127, not 186...
Tornado Numbers Down in Oklahoma in 2020, So Far
Jun 11 2020 // Following a record-setting year for the number of tornadoes in Oklahoma, the state has seen fewer thus far in 2020, according to state climatologist Gary McManus. There were 33 twisters during the first five months of this...
Updated Residential Earthquake Damage Guidelines for California Released
Jun 9 2020 // The California Earthquake Authority today released updated guidelines for identifying, evaluating and repairing residential earthquake damage were The guidelines were updated at CEA’s annual claim manager...
Tornado in Orlando Topples Trees, Damages Buildings
Jun 9 2020 // A tornado that struck the Orlando area toppled trees and damaged buildings but did not cause any deaths or injuries, authorities say. The National Weather Service said the twister had winds of at least 100 mph (160 kmh)....
Tropical Storm Cristobal Brings Rain, Flooding to South
Jun 8 2020 // Rain pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Cristobal, which had already spawned a tornado in Florida. Roads flooded in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, and thousands were without...
As Texas Grapples with Pandemic, Officials Prepare for Hurricane Season
Jun 8 2020 // More hurricanes and tropical storms than usual could make landfall in the United States this summer, forecasters predict. That is sending Texans and officials who are increasingly facing severe weather events scrambling to...
Alabama Alters Hurricane Shelter Plans Due to Coronavirus Concerns
Jun 8 2020 // Shelters that open during dangerous hurricanes may look and operate differently this storm season, state emergency officials said, as the new coronavirus complicate response plans. Across the coastal United States,...
West-Central, Southern Minnesota Hit with Tornado, Large Hail
Jun 5 2020 // At least one tornado moved through west-central and southern Minnesota, but there are no reports of injuries or widespread damage, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado was reported near Garden City about...
Magnitude 5.5 Earthquake Confirmed in California Desert Region
Jun 5 2020 // A magnitude 5.5 earthquake has jolted the region of California desert where a powerful quake last summer was followed by thousands of aftershocks, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The USGS says Wednesday’s quake...
Homes Burned, Evacuations Ordered in California Wildfire
Jun 5 2020 // A grass fire burning northeast of San Francisco destroyed or damaged about a dozen homes Wednesday and prompted evacuations of several streets, fire officials said. The fire erupted at around 3:30 p.m. near a wildlife...
Diverging Views: Is COVID a One-Off Catastrophe or Not?
Jun 5 2020 // While reinsurers are “open for business” and insurers and reinsurers are reporting the impacts of COVID-19 as a one-off catastrophe impacting earnings rather than capital, equity markets are viewing the...
Florida Rethinks Hurricane Plans in Midst of Coronavirus
Jun 4 2020 // Florida’s emergency manager is expressing complete confidence that the state is prepared for a hurricane during the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, but some local directors aren’t sharing the same level of...
Amid Pandemic, Oil Refineries, Offshore Drillers Face Hurricane Challenges
Jun 4 2020 // As oil and gas companies began shutting offshore production before the first tropical storm of the season in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, experts said restarting wells and refineries will take longer and prove more costly this...
Some Gulf of Mexico Oil Rigs Evacuate Workers as Tropical Storm Cristobal Threatens
Jun 3 2020 // BP Plc began turning off production at three platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico and evacuating workers because of the threat from Tropical Storm Cristobal, forecast to make landfall in Louisiana over the weekend, the...
NHC: Tropical Storm Cristobal Expected to Enter Gulf on Friday
Jun 3 2020 // A tropical disturbance currently moving inland over eastern Mexico is expected to re-enter the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, according to information from the National Hurricane Center. The NHC said Tropical Storm Cristobal...
Grounded Airplanes at Risk from Asia’s Tropical Storm Season, Industry Experts Warn
Jun 3 2020 // Airlines, airports and insurers across Asia are bracing for the prospect of unusually high damage as the region’s tropical storm season begins, as hundreds of aircraft grounded by the coronavirus pandemic can’t...
How Florida’s Strained Insurance Market is Facing COVID-19, Hurricane Season
Jun 3 2020 // From the threat of insurer ratings downgrades to mounting carrier losses because of excessive litigation to increasing insurance rates, Florida’s insurance market got off to a rocky start in 2020. Then came the...
