Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wuuii Partnering with IBHS on Wildfire Prepared Home Option for Californians
Oct 18 2024 // Wuuii is partnering with the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety to combine IBHS’ Wildfire Prepared Home program and Wuuii’s Madronus Wildfire Defense network to offer an option for California...
Allstate Reports $1.7B in Q3 Pretax Catastrophe Losses, $630M From Helene
Oct 17 2024 // Allstate Corp. doesn’t announce third quarter earnings until Halloween but today it released some scary September pretax catastrophe losses. In keeping with its initiative to announce monthly catastrophe losses that...
HCI Group Expects to Pay $600M to $750M in Claims from Recent Hurricanes
Oct 17 2024 // Publicly traded HCI Group, the Tampa-based holding company for Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty, TypTap and a new condominium insurance reciprocal, is one of the first Florida insurers to report estimated losses...
Hurricane Milton Insured Losses in $30B-$50B Range, Says Verisk
Oct 16 2024 // Catastrophe modeler Verisk said it expects insured losses from Hurricane Milton will be between $30 billion and $50 billion from damages caused mostly by wind. Verisk’s Extreme Event Solutions group said the range...
Explaining Deductibles After Multiple Florida Hurricanes
Oct 16 2024 // Deductibles serve several purposes. They provide some premium relief for the insured. They make insureds less likely to file smaller claims because either damage falls within the deductible, or is so close to it that the...
Far From Milton’s Eye, Tornadoes Wrought Unexpected Damage
Oct 16 2024 // WELLINGTON, Fla. (AP) — Tony Brazzale, a diving boat captain who has lived for 10 years in his Wellington home in southeastern Florida, wasn’t worried about Hurricane Milton. The storm’s center was forecast...
Volunteers Bring Solar Power to Hurricane Helene Disaster Zone
Oct 15 2024 // Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene downed power lines and washed out roads all over North Carolina’s mountains, the constant din of a gas-powered generator is getting to be too much for Bobby Renfro. It’s...
KCC Expects Private Insured Losses of $36B From Hurricane Milton
Oct 15 2024 // Florida’s Hurricane Milton caused private insured losses of about $36 billion, estimated catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co. The estimate includes losses from wind, storms surge, and inland flooding to...
Typhoon-Hit Southeast Asia to See a Rainy End to 2024
Oct 15 2024 // Southeast Asia could see higher-than-normal rainfall in the coming months, threatening further disruptions to agriculture, tourism, and industrial output in a region already hit by a series of storms this year. Weather...
Catastrophe Bonds Dodge Worst-Case Scenario After Milton
Oct 10 2024 // After fearing the worst from Hurricane Milton, investors in catastrophe bonds appear to have sustained losses well below those predicted as recently as Wednesday. Estimates that had indicated the bonds would lose as much...
Hurricane Milton Could Use Up P/C Insurers’ 2024 Catastrophe Budgets
Oct 10 2024 // S&P Global Ratings said potential losses from Hurricane Milton could fully deplete the 2024 natural catastrophe budgets for rated U.S. property/casualty insurers, affecting underwriting margins and earnings. In a...
Flaws of the Saffir-Simpson Scale: Wind Isn’t the Only Threat in Modern Hurricanes
Oct 10 2024 // The insurance industry faces significant challenges in covering catastrophic risks, especially as climate change drives more extreme weather events. With soaring premiums and increasing exclusions, the need for an accurate...
North Dakota Officials Offer Guidance Following Wildfires
Oct 9 2024 // In the wake of wildfires over the weekend affecting parts of NorthDakota, Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread and State Fire Marshal Doug Nelson are reminding residents of the necessary steps to protect themselves and...
Hurricane Milton Bears Down on Florida’s Tampa Area With House-Toppling Winds
Oct 9 2024 // Hurricane Milton churned toward Florida’s west coast with winds powerful enough to demolish houses, threatening to unleash once-in-a-century flooding across some of the state’s fastest-growing...
Hurricanes Milton and Helene Expose Limits of US Flood Maps
Oct 9 2024 // Even before the second megastorm in as many weeks brings devastating floodwaters to the Southeast US, it’s already clear that federal flood-risk maps underpinning decisions by millions of American homeowners and...
Catastrophe Bond Investors Brace for Major Losses as Milton Rages
Oct 9 2024 // Investors in catastrophe bonds are girding themselves for substantial losses as the combined destructive force of Hurricanes Helene and Milton looks set to trigger payment clauses on a scale not seen in years. Two weeks...
Hurricane Milton Insured Loss Could Be $60 Billion, Similar to 2022’s Ian: RBC
Oct 9 2024 // Hurricane Milton could result in a $60 billion loss for the global insurance industry, creating a surge in 2025 reinsurance prices which could boost some insurance companies’ shares, analysts at RBC Capital said. The...
Utilities’ Extreme Plan to Stop Wildfires: Shut Off the Power
Oct 8 2024 // A growing number of utilities are resorting to an extreme measure to prevent their equipment from sparking catastrophic wildfires: turning off the power. Electric companies serving about 24 million homes and businesses...
Hurricanes Like Helene Keep Killing for Years After They Strike
Oct 8 2024 // Hurricanes in the United States end up hundreds of times deadlier than the government calculates, contributing to more American deaths than car accidents or all the nation’s wars, a new study said. The average storm...
Former Hurricane Kirk Set to Lash France With Heavy Rain
Oct 8 2024 // The remnants of Hurricane Kirk are forecast to hit France on Wednesday, after weakening to a post-tropical cyclone. The storm will bring wind gusts as strong as 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour to the Pyrenees, according...
