Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
28 Streamflow Records Broken in Carolinas by Hurricane Florence Floods
Nov 19 2018 // A federal report shows Hurricane Florence broke records in a key flooding measure at more than two-dozen stream gauges in the Carolinas. The U.S. Geological Survey released a report Nov. 13 on streamflow, which measures...
S&P Says Insurers and Reinsurers Can Absorb Losses from California Wildfires
Nov 16 2018 // S&P Global Ratings expects both the primary insurers and reinsurers to be able to absorb losses from the California wildfires, limiting them to an earnings event. However, the mounting bills from more frequents large...
Insurance Industry Kept Promises to Hurricane Victims; Now Tested by Wildfires
Nov 16 2018 // Between the devastating wildfires in California and the destructive forces of Hurricanes Florence and Michael on the East Coast earlier this fall, the property/casualty insurance market has been put to the test this...
Insurance Agent at Heart of Heartbreaking California Wildfire
Nov 14 2018 // Derek Ross has his hands full with the Woolsey Fire in Southern California for three reasons. He’s an insurance agent with numerous clients affected, he’s the president of the board of a school district...
PG&E’s Camp Wildfire Liabilities Could Exceed Renewed Insurance
Nov 14 2018 // Shares of utility PG&E Corp. fell 18 percent on Wednesday after the company warned of liquidity concerns if its equipment was found responsible for starting the Camp wildfire currently raging in California. The company...
Solutions to Wildfires in Time of Climate Change Are Costly, Unpopular
Nov 14 2018 // California’s deadly wildfires have a straightforward solution, experts say: stop building homes in places that are likely to burn — and make homes that already exist in those areas a whole lot tougher. That...
Weather Service Confirms Several Tornadoes Hit Northeast Mississippi
Nov 14 2018 // The National Weather Service has confirmed two tornadoes hit northeast Mississippi last week. A preliminary survey Nov. 6 showed a twister with top winds of 115 mph (185 kph) struck in Pontotoc County. The tornado, rated...
How Insurance Industry Might React to ‘New Normal’ of California’s Historic Wildfires
Nov 13 2018 // The “new normal” for California has yielded another year of record wildfires and billions of dollars in insured losses. Homeowners insurance rates inch up in high risk areas, and carriers get more cautious...
Will California See More Laws and Regulations in Wake of Wildfires?
Nov 13 2018 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Last year’s California wildfires destroyed thousands of homes and cost billions of dollars, but they also created numerous new laws and regulations in their wake as Legislators and...
California Utilities Face Potential of Billion Dollar Wildfires Year After Year
Nov 13 2018 // California utilities are facing the very real possibility that billion-dollar blazes could become an annual occurrence, and they don’t know how to pay for them. Shares of the state’s two largest utilities...
Insurers’ Firefighting Teams Move to Limit Damage from California Wildfires
Nov 13 2018 // California’s raging wildfires are so bad that American International Group Inc. and Chubb Ltd. are deploying teams of specialists and former firefighters to spray retardants on homes. The season may soon rank among...
California Wildfire Insured Losses at Billions of Dollars and Climbing
Nov 12 2018 // An analysis by catastrophe modeler RMS shows 15 wildfires are burning more than 280,000 acres in California have collectively destroyed nearly 7,000 homes and businesses and killed 31 people. Roughly 300,000 have been...
Deaths, Damages Continue to Rise in California’s Most Destructive Wildfires
Nov 12 2018 // The most destructive wildfires in California’s history have killed at least 31 people and forced tens of thousands more to evacuate as firefighters struggle to gain control amid swirling winds. The so-called Camp...
California Wildfire Update: Thousands Flee, More Than 50K Without Power
Nov 9 2018 // Fanned by hot, dry winds, wildfires north of San Francisco and near Los Angeles have forced the evacuation of more than 150,000 people in the state, including Malibu, the coastal enclave of the rich and famous. The fires...
California Wildfire Grows to More than 20K Acres, More Blazes Erupt
Nov 9 2018 // A wildfire raging in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada foothills quadrupled in size late Thursday and another day of dry winds threatens to make it spread even farther, faster. The blaze near the community of Chico...
AXIS Capital Estimates 4Q Losses from Hurricane Michael
Nov 9 2018 // AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. announced a preliminary pre-tax loss estimate for Hurricane Michael in the range of $100 million to $120 million, which will affect its fourth quarter financial results. The loss estimate figure...
Tallying Losses from October’s Global Catastrophes
Nov 8 2018 // October was a deadly and costly month due to natural catastrophes, with the the U.S. and Europe being hit particularly hard, according to Aon’s Impact Forecasting. Total U.S. economic losses from October’s...
Storm May Have Spawned Tornadoes in Deep South
Nov 8 2018 // Possible tornados touched down in Louisiana and Mississippi as a line of storms moved across the Deep South. Tree limbs and power lines were down from Louisiana to Alabama early Tuesday, prompting some schools to delay the...
New Alabama State Park Buildings Utilize IBHS Commercial Resiliency Standards
Nov 8 2018 // The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has utilized construction standards from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) FORTIFIED Commercial in the creation of new...
Casualty Losses Provide Impetus for 2019 Rate Firming: Willis Towers Watson
Nov 7 2018 // Commercial insurance buyers are facing upward pricing pressure across most lines of business in 2019, driven in part by escalating losses in the casualty insurance market, according to a report by Willis Towers Watson. The...
