Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oregon Wildfire Costs This Year Hit Record of $514M
Oct 12 2018 // New data shows the cost of fighting wildfires in Oregon reached an all-time high $514.6 million in 2018. According to data from Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, Oregon’s costs skyrocketed past last...
Washington Lands Commissioner Wants $55M for Wildfires
Oct 12 2018 // Washington’s Public Lands Commissioner wants lawmakers to increase the amount of money that the state spends to fight wildfires and prevent future blazes. Hilary Franz, who oversees the Department of Natural...
Rescuers Search for Survivors as Death Toll from Hurricane Michael Rises
Oct 12 2018 // Using heavy equipment to push aside debris and with helicopters circling overhead, rescuers in the Florida Panhandle searched for trapped residents as officials warned on Friday the death toll from HurricaneMichael was...
FEMA Hurricane Maria Relief Contracts to Face Audits
Oct 12 2018 // A new law requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to investigate how it came to award Hurricane Maria relief contracts to a company with an unproven record. The Associated Press reported last year that the...
A.M. Best: Insurer Losses from Hurricane Michael Will Be ‘Significant’
Oct 12 2018 // Insurers, reinsurers and ILS investors could face significant losses from Hurricane Michael, a major Category 4 storm that began its assault on the Florida Panhandle Wednesday, according to a briefing from A.M. Best. Best...
Fast, Furious: How Michael Became a 155mph Monster Hurricane
Oct 11 2018 // Moist air, warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, and ideal wind patterns supercharged Hurricane Michael in the hours before it smacked Florida’s Panhandle. Hurricane Michael was barely a hurricane Tuesday morning, with...
Michael Leaves Path Of Destruction Through Florida Panhandle
Oct 11 2018 // Hurricane Michael’s assault on the Florida Panhandle left nothing more than empty foundations and heaps of rubble in some parts of the small towns it crashed into with near-record force. Communications outages and...
Oklahoma Price Gouging Law in Effect After Violent Weather
Oct 11 2018 // More tornadoes were reported in northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas on Tuesday, following several days of violent weather in the region. As a result of the recent heavy rain and storms, causing flooding,...
Woes of California Wildfire Victims Include Cleanup Crews, Fraud
Oct 11 2018 // One year after a devastating series of wildfires ripped through Northern California wine country, destroying thousands of homes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ first experience cleaning up after a wildfire has...
Natural Disasters in September Bring Costliest Damages to Date for 2018: Aon Report
Oct 11 2018 // Hurricane, flood, and earthquake damages made September the costliest month for natural catastrophes in 2018, according to a report from Aon’s Impact Forecasting team. September is typically the busiest month for...
London Market Insurers’ Profits Remain Under Pressure with Excess Capacity: Fitch
Oct 11 2018 // The profitability of London market and Lloyd’s insurers is expected to remain under pressure in 2018, despite the fact that rates improved slightly following the catastrophe losses in the second quarter of 2017,...
Reinsurers Including AIG’s Validus Await Hurricane Michael Claims
Oct 11 2018 // American International Group Inc.’s Brian Duperreault spent his first year as chief executive officer on a rebuilding effort, and his biggest acquisition is the one that can magnify the insurance giant’s...
After Battering Florida, Hurricane Michael Heads for Georgia, Carolinas
Oct 11 2018 // Hurricane Michael, the third most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. mainland, headed northeast on Thursday, weakened but still set to soak Georgia and the Carolinas after devastating the Florida Panhandle. A man was...
CoreLogic Estimates Hurricane Michael Losses Could Top $4.5B; Top 10 Insurers Affected
Oct 11 2018 // Hurricane Michael’s torrential rain, storm surge, and hurricane-force maximum sustained winds that reached 140 miles per hour Wednesday could result in a historically devastating event for the northeastern Gulf...
Losses to North Carolina Schools from Florence Worse than Hurricane Matthew
Oct 11 2018 // North Carolina’s public school officials expect damage from Hurricane Florence to well exceed school losses after Hurricane Matthew two years ago, a Department of Public Instruction official told the state’s...
AIR: Hurricane Michael Strongest Storm to Hit Florida Panhandle on Record
Oct 10 2018 // Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm hitting Florida Wednesday with wind speeds of more than 150 miles per hour, is not just a major storm for the State of Florida, it is the strongest storm to hit the Florida Panhandle...
Georgia Insurance Chief Says to Prepare for Hurricane Michael; State of Emergency Issued
Oct 10 2018 // Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared a State of Emergency Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Michael, which was expected to slam Florida as a Category 4 storm then travel northeast towards Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday...
Duke Energy Braces for Second Hurricane Hit as Michael Nears Florida
Oct 10 2018 // Utilities are warning that lights in the Carolinas may go out for the second time in a month, thanks to Hurricane Michael. Duke Energy Corp. said Michael may trigger outages, some lasting for several days, in North...
4 Small Tornadoes Confirmed in Oklahoma, 2 in Texas
Oct 10 2018 // The National Weather Service reported that six small tornadoes from a single storm system hit Texas and Oklahoma, including one that forced the closure of a state highway in northeastern Oklahoma for more than six...
Fast-Moving Hurricane Michael, Now Category 4, Threatens Florida Panhandle
Oct 10 2018 // Hurricane Michael, with winds strengthening to 145 miles an hour, is poised to be the strongest storm to hit the continental U.S. since 2004, with a life-threatening surge and the potential to cause $16 billion in...
