Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report Shows Underestimated Weather Led to Colorado Wildfire
Mar 5 2020 // A controlled burn that became a wildfire in Colorado was the result of weather conditions that were underestimated by fire personnel, state officials said. The Colorado Department of Public Safety Compliance and...
Climate Change Heightens Risk of Fierce Australia Wildfires: Study
Mar 5 2020 // Climate change is adding to the risk of fierce wildfires in Australia, according to a scientific study of this season’s blazes that razed an area the size of England and killed dozens of people and more than a...
Tennessee Left Reeling by Devastating, Destructive Tornadoes
Mar 4 2020 // Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee early Tuesday, shredding at least 40 buildings and killing 24 people. One of the twisters caused severe damage across downtown Nashville, destroying the stained glass in a historic church...
Insured Property Losses for Australia’s January Hailstorms Hit A$670M: PERILS
Mar 4 2020 // The initial insured property losses for January’s hailstorms in Australia are estimated at A$670 million (US$746.7 million), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide...
Earthquake Risk Prompts Order to Drain California Dam
Mar 4 2020 // Worried that an earthquake could collapse a big dam south of San Francisco, officials have ordered its reservoir to be completely drained by October to reduce the risk of floodwaters spilling into Silicon Valley. The...
Pool Re Completes £2.4 Billion Terrorism Retrocession Program
Mar 4 2020 // Pool Re, a leading British terrorism reinsurer, said it has completed placement of its £2.4 billion retrocession program with more than 50 international reinsurers, led by Munich Re. Hannover Re also provided a...
Tennessee Governor Declares State of Emergency After Multiple Tornadoes
Mar 3 2020 // Damage to areas of Nashville from severe tornadoes that hit the area March 2 and March 3, 2020 is captured by resident Adam Holdren. Reprinted with permission. Severe weather and tornadoes have impacted several counties in...
M5.8 Earthquake Strikes Near Western Alaska
Mar 3 2020 // A magnitude 5.8 earthquake near Adak, the westernmost municipality in the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The earthquake struck 12:37 p.m. on Sunday at a spot 144.9 miles west of Adak, a town of about...
Three Florida Men Plead Guilty to Scamming Homeowners After Hurricane Michael
Mar 2 2020 // Three men have pleaded guilty to scamming Florida Panhandle homeowners out of about $319,000 by promising to repair hurricane damage and never doing the work. Edward Newton, Christoper Mayes and Christian Pantazonis each...
USDA’s Wildfire Indemnity Program Offers Possible Drought Assistance for California Farmers
Feb 28 2020 // U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced additional disaster assistance available to agricultural producers, including producers impacted by drought and excess moisture as well as sugar beet growers. California...
California Bill Aimed at Property Insurance in Communities Investing in Wildfire Prevention
Feb 28 2020 // Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-Marin County, has introduced Assembly Bill 3258, which would require property insurance providers to take into consideration local government investments in wildfire prevention when determining...
Update on Puerto Rico Disaster Recovery
Feb 28 2020 // The newly appointed U.S. official charged with overseeing disaster recovery in Puerto Rico said this week that while the pace of federally funded projects to help hurricane and earthquake victims has quickened, he’s...
California Worries About Drought and Wildfires Amid Dry Winter
Feb 28 2020 // California officials are bracing for the potential of another drought and an early and more intense wildfire season amid a record-breaking warm and dry February. February is shaping up to be driest on record for much of...
California Public Utilities Commission Fines PG&E $2.1B over Wildfires
Feb 28 2020 // The California Public Utilities Commission has issued an administrative law judge decision imposing $2.137 billion in penalties against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the utility’s role in the catastrophic 2017...
Catastrophe Bond Prices Signal Coronavirus Nearing Pandemic Status
Feb 28 2020 // The World Health Organization says the coronavirus isn’t yet a global pandemic. Bonds that insure against just such a catastrophe say that it probably is. The bonds, sold in 2017 by the World Bank to raise money for...
Georgia to Receive $347M in Long-Awaited Hurricane Michael Relief
Feb 28 2020 // Georgia’s governor and agriculture commissioner on Wednesday announced that $347 million in federal disaster relief funding would soon be available to farmers, nearly a year and a half after Hurricane Michael caused...
California Wildfire Victims Fear They’ll Be Last in Payout
Feb 27 2020 // A $13.5 billion settlement between victims of California’s catastrophic wildfires and the utility blamed for causing them was supposed to bring some peace and hope to people still reeling from the...
PG&E Fires Contractor After Probe Involving California Wildfires
Feb 26 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric has fired a contractor hired to haul debris from the site of a deadly 2018 Northern California wildfire, saying the company was over-billing the utility and paying “large sums of money and...
Florida Carriers Seek Staggering Rate Increases Amid Market Turmoil
Feb 25 2020 // It’s no surprise that Florida carriers are raising homeowners’ insurance rates given several years of catastrophes and losses from litigation related to assignment of benefits and water damage claims. What may...
Berkshire Hathaway P/C Insurance Profit Down in 2019
Feb 24 2020 // Full-year insurance results at Berkshire Hathaway disappointed in 2019, with after-tax earnings from underwriting falling to $325 million in 2019 compared to $1.6 billion in 2018. Earnings from primary insurance operations...
