Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hawaii’s Big Island Feels Effects of Approaching Hurricane Lane
Aug 23 2018 // As emergency shelters opened, rain began to pour and cellphone alerts went out, the approaching hurricane started to feel real for Hawaii residents. Hurricane Lane was forecast to continue i Hurricane Lane was forecast to...
Hurricane Lane Threatens 48K Hawaii Homes with Reconstruction Value of $8B
Aug 22 2018 // A new analysis shows 48,617 homes in Hawaii with a total reconstruction cost value of roughly $8 billion are at extreme-to-very high risk of hurricane-driven flood damage from Hurricane Lane. The CoreLogic analysis issued...
Hurricane Lane Weakening as it Approaches Hawaii, But Still Strong
Aug 22 2018 // Hurricane Lane has weakened as it approaches Hawaii but was still expected to pack a wallop, forecasters said Wednesday, as people hurried to buy water and other supplies and the Navy moved its ships to safety. The...
Hawaii Bracing for Blow from Hurricane Lane
Aug 22 2018 // Hawaii is bracing for a grazing blow from Category 5 Hurricane Lane, now packing 160-mile-per-hour winds, enough to collapse frame buildings, cause power outages that could last weeks or months and snap trees off at the...
Disaster Declaration Approved for Connecticut’s Tornado Recovery
Aug 22 2018 // U.S. President Donald Trump has approved a disaster declaration for Connecticut following severe storms that included four tornadoes. The tornadoes touched down in six towns in Connecticut during the May 15 storms....
Weather Service Confirms Tornado in Southwest Missouri
Aug 21 2018 // Authorities say storms have damaged trees, downed power lines and churned up at least one small tornado in southwest Missouri. National Weather Service meteorologist Drew Albert says an EF-0 tornado has been confirmed near...
A Tale of Two Floridas: Hurricane Irma’s Belated Impact on Reinsurers
Aug 21 2018 // Reinsurers expressed different views of loss developments related to Hurricane Irma, when executives reviewed the impact of the Florida event on second-quarter earnings reports earlier this month. Everest Re was among...
Damage Reported in Mississippi City Hit by EF1 Tornado
Aug 20 2018 // The National Weather Service confirms a tornado hit the central Mississippi city of Madison. The agency, in a Twitter post Saturday, said a survey team confirmed Friday’s damage was the result of an EF1...
Jury Rules Nevada Liable for 2017 Wildfire That Burned 23 Homes
Aug 20 2018 // A jury has found the Nevada Division of Forestry liable for the loss of 23 homes and 17 other buildings in a 2016 wildfire after strong winds re-ignited a prescribed burn. The verdict set the stage for future court...
Dry Fall And Worsening Drought in Oregon Portends Wildfires
Aug 20 2018 // A climate prediction report issued by the National Weather Service says Oregon will remain hot, dry and smoky well into autumn this year. The Statesman Journal reported that forecast in the report released last week means...
NOAA Update: Fewer Atlantic Storms Expected for Rest of Hurricane Season
Aug 20 2018 // Conditions in the ocean and the atmosphere are producing a less active Atlantic hurricane season than initially predicted in May. Forecasters with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said on Aug. 9 the likelihood of a...
AIR Worldwide Updates Wildfire Model with Event-Based Risk Management Approach
Aug 17 2018 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) has released an updated Wildfire Model for the United States designed to provide a comprehensive view of the risk of wildfire to property within the 13 westernmost...
ICT to Begin Annual Texas ‘Hurricane Tour’
Aug 17 2018 // The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) is set to launch its annual “hurricane tour” aimed at reminding coastal residents to be ready in case a hurricane or tropical storm should make landfall this year. Beginning...
Experts: Cost of Hail Damage Will Continue to Rise
Aug 16 2018 // Hailstorms inflict billions of dollars in damage yearly in North America alone, and the cost will rise as the growing population builds more homes, offices and factories, according to climate and weather experts who spoke...
Global Insured Catastrophe Losses Decline to $20 Billion in H1: Swiss Re
Aug 16 2018 // Global insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters during the first half of 2018 were US$20 billion, down from US$30 billion in H1 2017, according to Swiss Re Institute’s latest sigma study. On...
2018 Wildfire Season Outpacing 2017
Aug 15 2018 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Examining the Risk in French Gulch and Redding Less than a year ago, California was ablaze with some of the most catastrophic fires the United States has seen. Over 10...
Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Creates California Wildfire Disaster Relief Fund
Aug 15 2018 // The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a nonprofit organization that unites the insurance industry in helping communities and enriching lives through grants, volunteer service and leadership, has announced...
Extraordinary Re’s Extraordinary Idea for Trading Insurance Risks Like Stocks
Aug 15 2018 // Imagine there’s a way for institutional investors to trade insurance risks much like they trade stocks. Well, imagine no more. A new and unique reinsurer, Extraordinary Re, has hit upon the novel idea of creating a...
To Date, Wildfires Are Burning 3 Times More of California Than in 2017
Aug 14 2018 // California’s wildfires are now burning through land at a pace more than three times faster than last year’s blazes. About 4,200 fires have charred 726,000 acres (294,000 hectares) in the state so far this year,...
Mag 6.4 Earthquake Hits Alaska’s North Slope Region
Aug 14 2018 // Alaska’s North Slope was hit Sunday by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the region, the state’s seismologist said. At 6:58 a.m. Sunday, the magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck an area 42 miles (67...
