Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Underwriters and Insureds Taking Harder Look at Commercial Property Risks
Dec 24 2019 // Commercial property underwriters are adjusting to a market defined by rising catastrophe losses and dwindling profits. From increasing rates and higher deductibles to fewer classes of business and stricter underwriting,...
Alabama Town Picks Up the Pieces After EF-2 Tornado
Dec 23 2019 // Daylight broke Tuesday (Dec. 18) on Colbert Heights mountain in Alabama to reveal the damage and destruction that a late Monday afternoon tornado left in its wake. Some work crews even beat the daylight to the area as the...
Louisiana Governor Declares Emergency After Severe Weather, Tornadoes
Dec 23 2019 // Louisiana is under a state of emergency after an outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes swept through the region. Gov. John Bel Edwards issued the order on Dec. 18, after a line of storms associated with a cold front...
PG&E Creditors Sweet Offer to California Wildfire Victims With $13.5 Billion Upfront
Dec 22 2019 // PG&E Corp.’s creditors have sweetened their offer to California wildfire victims, saying they are now prepared to pay $13.5 billion in cash upfront, according to a letter sent on Friday to state governor Gavin...
Insurance Protections Expanded in California Wildfire Areas
Dec 20 2019 // More than a million California homes are now protected under a new state order that temporarily bans insurance companies from dropping customers in areas affected by recent wildfires, officials announced this...
California Earthquake Warning App Sends 1st Public Alert
Dec 20 2019 // California’s new earthquake early warning cellphone app issued its first public alert when a modest tremor occurred this week in a rural area of the state, a newspaper reported. MyShake app project manager Jennifer...
Spending Bills with Flood, Terrorism Insurance Renewals Go to President Trump
Dec 20 2019 // The Senate yesterday went along with House measures that fund the military and rest of the federal government through next September. The government funding measure includes two provisions of particular interest to the...
Insured Losses in 2019 Estimated at $56B, Down from $93B Last Year: Swiss Re
Dec 20 2019 // Global insured losses in 2019 dropped to an estimated US$56 billion, from US$93 billion in 2018 and below the annual average (US$75 billion) of the previous 10 years, according to preliminary sigma estimates from Swiss Re...
Puget Sound is an Earthquake Hot Zone, New Study Shows
Dec 19 2019 // Puget Sound has a 75% or greater chance of being struck by a damaging earthquake in the next 100 years, according to a new earthquake danger assessment by the U. S. Geological Survey. The Daily News reports for a region...
Hiscox’s Rubin Joins Liberty Specialty Markets as Head of Terrorism Underwriting
Dec 19 2019 // Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) has appointed Jennifer Rubin to a newly-created role as senior underwriting executive and head of Terrorism Underwriting in North America. Rubin was formerly senior vice president, head of...
2018 California Wildfires – An Actuarial Review
Dec 19 2019 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. 2018 was another catastrophic year for wildfires across the United States. Nearly 9 million acres burned, and many lives, homes and businesses were lost. California...
4 Dead After Storms Leave ‘Trail of Destruction’ Across the South
Dec 19 2019 // A swarm of tornadoes and storms that left a trail of destruction across the Southeast killed four people, injured at least a dozen more and left victims to bundle up against the cold as they picked up pieces of their homes...
4 Dead, Including 1 in Louisiana, as Twisters, Storms Batter the South
Dec 18 2019 // A swarm of tornadoes and storms that left a trail of destruction across the Southeast killed four people, injured a dozen more and left victims to bundle up against the cold as they picked up pieces of their homes...
Bankruptcy Judge Approves $13.5B PG&E Deal with California Wildfire Victims
Dec 18 2019 // A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved on Tuesday PG&E Corp.’s $13.5 billion settlement with victims of Californian wildfires, and the company’s stock rallied as the utility gained momentum to emerge from...
California and PG&E Reach $1.7B Deal on Wildfire Penalties
Dec 17 2019 // California utility regulators have reached a settlement with PG&E Corp. over violations tied to catastrophic wildfires ignited by the company’s power lines in 2017 and 2018. The proposed settlement would prevent...
Judge Rules U.S. Army Engineers May Be Liable for Hurricane Harvey Floods
Dec 17 2019 // Hundreds of Houston homeowners near U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-managed reservoirs may receive compensation for flooding of their properties during 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The U.S....
PG&E Takes California Governor out of $13.5B Wildfire Deal
Dec 17 2019 // Bankrupt utility giant PG&E Corp. has removed a requirement that California Gov. Gavin Newsom sign off on its settlement with wildfire victims, trying to buy more time for its restructuring plan. PG&E reached an...
As California Thins Forests to Limit Wildfire Risk, Some Resist
Dec 16 2019 // Buzzing chainsaws are interrupted by the frequent crash of breaking branches as crews fell towering trees and clear tangled brush in the densely forested Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco. Their goal: To protect...
Hunt for Survivors Underway After Earthquake Hits Philippines Island Trade Building
Dec 16 2019 // Rescue teams in the southern Philippines searched for signs of life on Monday in a collapsed shopping center after a powerful earthquake that killed at least three people and wounded dozens more. Disaster response...
Tropical Storm Imelda: Another Unique Weather Event
Dec 16 2019 // Tropical Storm Imelda landed on the Texas Gulf Coast on September 17, 2019. Over the three-day duration of the storm, 43 inches of rain saturated some locations, with nearly 30 inches falling over a 12-hour period. Some...
