Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Magnitude 3.7 Earthquake Hits Southwest Utah
Jul 22 2020 // A minor earthquake struck a remote corner of Utah early Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The USGS reported that the magnitude 3.7 quake shook the desert at 3:44 a.m. local time. The epicenter was in...
January’s Hailstorms in Australia Cost Insurers an Estimated A$1.8B (US$1.3B): PERILS
Jul 21 2020 // The industry loss footprint for the January 2020 Australian hailstorms, which occurred Jan. 19-21, 2020, are estimated at A$1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that...
Texas Windstorm Rate Filing Consideration Process Now Underway
Jul 20 2020 // July 17 was the last day the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s (TWIA) Actuarial & Underwriting Committee accepted comments on its annual rate filing process, which officially begins on July 21 when the...
Louisiana, Army Corps at Odds over Repair of Barrier Island Hit by TS Cristobal
Jul 20 2020 // Tropical Storm Cristobal ate away the beach of Louisiana’s only inhabited barrier island to the huge sand-filled tube at the core of a protective levee, and the Army Corps of Engineers says permits and studies keep...
Thousands of Acres of Crops Destroyed by Hailstorm in Minnesota
Jul 20 2020 // Agricultural experts have been tallying the crop damage caused by a recent storm that packed 50 mph winds and baseball-sized hail in parts of Minnesota. The storm was a blow for farmers from Kandiyohi County to Nicollet...
Scientist Says Chances of Big One on San Andreas Greater Than We Believed
Jul 17 2020 // Get ready for the big one. That’s a refrain Californians have heard for years, but this time one scientist is putting a number on it. There’s a 1% chance a big quake will strike next year on the Southern...
Hailstorm in June Was One of Canada’s Costliest Thunderstorm-Related Events: Aon
Jul 17 2020 // Canada saw powerful a series of powerful thunderstorms in June, which brought hail greater than the size of tennis balls and caused extensive damage and flooding throughout the greater Calgary metro region, said Aon in its...
A Look at the 32% of Businesses Located in Hurricane-Vulnerable Counties
Jul 17 2020 // As the 2020 hurricane season gets underway, emergency officials pay attention to the growing share (29%) of the U.S. population in the nation’s 255 coastline counties. They’re also looking at ways to minimize...
Florida Official Pleads Guilty in $5M Hurricane Fraud Scheme
Jul 17 2020 // A Florida city official pleaded guilty Tuesday to his role in a scheme to bilk the federal government out of $5 million in Hurricane Michael cleanup money, the U.S. attorney’s office announced. Former Lynn Haven...
North Carolina’s Outer Banks Island Ravaged by Storms, Virus Restrictions
Jul 17 2020 // When Hurricane Dorian pounded the wisp of earth that is Ocracoke Island, a wall of Atlantic seawater flooded Bob Chestnut’s home, surf shop and four vehicles. Seven months later, his shop was ready for business. But...
Reinsurance Capital Dips 6%, Tightening of Capacity Accelerates: Aon
Jul 16 2020 // Global reinsurance capital fell 6% to $590 billion for the first quarter of 2020, Aon reported in its June/July Reinsurance Market Outlook report. The report, which also looks at changes in reinsurance demand levels,...
Arch Estimates Q2 Catastrophe Losses Could Hit $225M, Which Include Pandemic Claims
Jul 15 2020 // Arch Capital Group Ltd. has estimated a range of pre-tax catastrophe losses of $205 million to $225 million in the second quarter of 2020 across its property casualty insurance and reinsurance segments. Included in these...
East Coast’s Insured Loss From Tropical Storm Fay to Tally Near $400 Million: KCC
Jul 15 2020 // The insured loss from Tropical Storm Fay will be close to $400 million, according to catastrophe risk modeling firm Karen Clark & Company (KCC). KCC said its estimate includes the privately insured wind and storm surge...
Damage Analysis of 2017-2018 California Wildfires Keys on Mitigation
Jul 15 2020 // New findings point to need for home improvements that resist embers, the cause of up to 90 percent of wildfire ignitions Researchers identified key factors influencing the survivability of structures during a wildfire...
W.R. Berkley Estimates $85 Million in Q2 COVID Catastrophe Losses
Jul 14 2020 // W.R. Berkley Corp. cautioned that its 2020 second quarter pretax catastrophe losses will reach $145 million, with more than half of that coming from COVID-19 related costs. Out of that total, $85 million stems from...
Fed Warns Climate, COVID Worsen Western States’ Economic Risk From Wildfires
Jul 14 2020 // Wildfires threaten the economy of the western United States to a greater extent than the rest of the country, and the coronavirus pandemic and climate change will only make that worse, according to research from the San...
May 2019 Tornadoes in Missouri Caused Nearly $190M in Insured Losses
Jul 10 2020 // The May 2019 tornadoes that ravaged several parts of Missouri caused significant damage to both residential and commercial properties, and resulted in close to $190 million in insured losses, the state Department of...
1 Dead After Tornado Hits Western Minnesota, Authorities Say
Jul 10 2020 // At least one powerful tornado damaged farms, left one person dead and two others injured in western Minnesota as severe storms moved across parts of the Midwest, authorities said. A 30-year-old man was killed near Dalton...
Tropical Storm Fay Heads to New York, Southern New England
Jul 10 2020 // Quick-moving Tropical Storm Fay strengthened as it moved toward southern New Jersey, where it was expected to make landfall Friday afternoon before sweeping north to New York with a curtain of heavy rain and thrashing...
Wyoming Wildfire Destroys Home, Burns Other Buildings
Jul 10 2020 // A wildfire in eastern Wyoming burned at least one home and closed a highway. The fire on Tuesday burned through rolling plains and trees north of Interstate 25 and south of the North Platte River near Glenrock. The flames...
