Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Australian Insurers Declare Catastrophe for Losses from East Coast Flooding
Feb 10 2020 // The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe for property losses caused by storms and flooding along the east coast since February 5. Insurers said they have received 10,000 claims with the value of...
Wine ‘Smoke Taint’ Disputes Linger 2 Years After California Wildfires
Feb 7 2020 // Recent wildfires in California Wine Country, particularly those that devastated parts of Napa and Sonoma counties in October 2017, have focused attention on whether insurance covers smoke taint damage to grapes and...
Arkansas’ Benton County to Appeal FEMA Denial of Aid for Tornado Damages
Feb 6 2020 // Benton County plans to appeal the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to not help pay for the costs to clean up damages from two tornadoes that struck in October, officials said. The county was notified of...
A Tale of Two Californias: Managing Wildfire Risk in the Year 2030
Feb 6 2020 // For most of the 20th century, the insurance industry considered wildfires to be little more than a benign nuisance. They occurred frequently but rarely resulted in more than a handful of claims, and underwriters priced for...
Commentary: It’s Time to Reform the Florida Cat Fund, Give Consumers Rate Relief
Feb 5 2020 // Floridians currently pay the highest homeowner’s insurance rates in the nation, and no one should be surprised by this. Florida is a long relatively narrow large peninsula jutting out into bodies of warm water prone...
Crews Removing Overturned Cargo Ship in Georgia Port Rush to Beat Hurricane Season
Feb 4 2020 // The salvage team in charge of removing a cargo ship that overturned on the Georgia coast nearly five months ago wants to surround it with a giant mesh screen to contain any loose debris as the vessel gets cut into...
Kansas Offering Public Access to Earthquake Investigation Information
Feb 4 2020 // The Kansas Corporation Commission has approved opening general investigation dockets to allow the public access to information gathered during investigations into seismic activity in Reno and Rooks counties. The dockets...
2019 Natural Hazard Report Highlights Long Tail of Financial Recovery
Feb 4 2020 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Preparing for a catastrophe is a science. This science involves models built from data and analytics that can capture the worst-case scenario for businesses and...
Chubb Launches Non Damage Terrorism Product for Businesses
Feb 4 2020 // Chubb has launched an insurance coverage aimed at bridging gaps in traditional terrorism business interruption policies. Chubb’s Non Damage Terrorism Solutions is a single policy offering non damage business...
W.R. Berkley Reports Underwriting Income Up, Catastrophe Losses Down
Jan 31 2020 // W.R. Berkley Corp. reported that its gross premiums written grew by more than 10 percent in the 2019 fourth quarter, thanks in part to accelerated rate increases. But net income dipped compared to the same period a year...
Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to Hurricane Irma Disaster Assistance Fraud
Jan 31 2020 // A Florida woman has pleaded guilty to lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma. Deannajo White, 39, pleaded guilty in Jacksonville federal court Friday to one count of disaster assistance fraud, according to court...
Tsunami Threat to Miami Passes After Major Earthquake in Caribbean Shakes City
Jan 28 2020 // A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in the sea in the western Caribbean on Tuesday, sending workers into the streets and triggering evacuations as buildings shook across the Cayman Islands, in Jamaica, and in...
Oregon Coast Tornado Confirmed, Caused Minor Damage
Jan 28 2020 // A tornado caused some minor damage to homes in Manzanita, Ore., on Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service confirmed. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that Tillamook County Emergency Manager Gordon McCraw said the...
Florida Man Accused of Making Fraudulent Hurricane Irma Claims
Jan 27 2020 // A Florida man has been accused of lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma, federal prosecutors announced this week. An indictment was returned charging Deontre Javan Taylor, 26, of Jacksonville, with disaster...
4.6M Earthquake Confirmed in Southern California Desert
Jan 27 2020 // A small earthquake rattled the Southern California desert on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, the U.S. Geological Survey has confirmed. A temblor with a preliminary magnitude of 4.6 struck...
South Texas Lawmaker Appointed to Windstorm Insurance Oversight Board
Jan 27 2020 // Texas state Rep. J.M. Lozano has been appointed to the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) Legislative Oversight Board, a group of four State Representatives and four State Senators that will closely monitor TWIA...
How Parametric Insurance Can Help Fill the Gap Where Traditional Insurance Falls Short
Jan 27 2020 // Although parametric solutions have been generally available since the late 1990s, they have more recently found their way into corporate insurance. Parametric insurance solutions offer a means to guarantee direct payout...
Policy Changes Now in Effect at Texas Windstorm Insurer
Jan 27 2020 // The new year brought some changes to residential and commercial policies provided by Texas’ insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the coast. New coverages, terms and conditions now apply to Texas Windstorm...
7 Confirmed Tornadoes in Phoenix Metro Area Last Year
Jan 27 2020 // The National Weather Service reports there were seven confirmed tornadoes in Arizona’s Maricopa and Pinal counties last year, the most in nearly five decades. Meteorologists say last year’s total is second only...
Insured Losses from Australia’s Hailstorms Hit US$352.5 Million
Jan 24 2020 // The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe for damage caused by hailstorms that struck eastern Melbourne, the Australian Capital Territory and parts of New South Wales on Sunday and Monday (Jan....
