Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hurricane Irma Caused $2.5B in Damage to Florida Crops
Oct 6 2017 // State officials say Hurricane Irma caused more than $2.5 billion in damage to Florida’s agricultural community. Irma dealt Florida’s iconic orange crop the most devastating blow causing more than $760 million...
Hurricane Cars Declared ‘Total Losses’ by Adjusters Are Now Back on Roads
Oct 5 2017 // The ink on the “total loss” insurance paperwork, like the 2007 Range Rover itself, was still wet when Morgan Moran began trying to buy his vehicle back after Hurricane Matthew last year. The insurance adjuster...
Trump Administration Seeks $29B in Hurricane Disaster Relief Funds
Oct 5 2017 // The Trump administration on Wednesday asked U.S. lawmakers to approve $29 billion in disaster relief funds to assist victims of recent hurricanes that hit Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. The aid request includes $12.8...
Terrorism Risks Have Made Tight Security Routine at Many Global Hotels, Resorts
Oct 4 2017 // Across the globe, risks of terrorism and other violence have made tight security at hotels and resorts routine, even in countries where strict gun control laws may help prevent the kind of shooting attack that occurred...
UPDATE 2: Global Re/Insurers Estimate Price Tag of Q3 Hurricanes & Quakes
Oct 3 2017 // Losses from Hurricane Maria and other recent 2017 natural catastrophes, including Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, the Mexico City earthquakes and other events, have led global insurers and reinsurers to issue profit...
Eyewitness to Destruction, Hope: TOPA Insurance CEO Shares Caribbean Hurricane Experiences
Oct 3 2017 // When Topa Insurance Group President and CEO John Donahue arrived in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) just a few days after Hurricane Irma hit, one of the first things he noticed aside from the utter devastation was the look...
Progress Made on California Central Coast Wildfires
Oct 2 2017 // Firefighters made progress on trio of wildfires on California’s Central Coast. Santa Barbara County fire spokesman Mike Eliason said that a marine layer of cooler, wetter air helped fire crews contain 60 percent of...
Cost of Fighting Montana Wildfires Approach $400M
Oct 2 2017 // The cost of fighting wildfires in Montana is approaching $400 million at the tail end of the state’s worst wildfire season in two decades. To date, wildfires have burned almost 1,900 square miles, slightly more than...
Hurricane Claim Insurance Checks Drive New Car Sales
Oct 2 2017 // As Hurricane Harvey poured on Houston, Frank Rodriguez feared for his 2014 GMC Sierra. Once he saw the pickup’s soaking-wet interior and center console full of water, he knew it was a lost cause. He just hoped his...
12th Nursing Home Resident Dies After Hurricane Irma-Related AC Outage
Oct 2 2017 // A 12th patient has died after being taken from an overheated Florida nursing home that lost its air conditioning during Hurricane Irma, officials confirmed on Friday. Dolores Biamonte, 57, died Thursday night, according to...
Florida Hurricane Irma Losses Keep Rising
Oct 2 2017 // With two Florida landfalls in the same day, Hurricane Irma’s destructive wind and flood damage could cost up to $65 billion for both insured and uninsured losses, according to a recent estimate by...
A.M. Best: Hurricane Irma to Test Florida Market Newbies
Oct 2 2017 // Hurricane Irma represents a sizeable catastrophe event that will test the infrastructure and potentially strain the financial wherewithal of some local and regional carriers in Florida, particularly those that are...
States Should Implement Stronger Safeguards for Consumers in Natural Disasters: Rutgers Report
Oct 2 2017 // As homeowners file insurance claims in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, many could find their level of protection depends on the state where their damaged home is located, according to a research report released by...
With Hurricane Losses Insurers Downgrade Anticipated Profit Goals
Oct 2 2017 // Allstate expects insurance losses of about $593 million for August mainly due to Hurricane Harvey, which left a path of destruction along the Gulf Coast. The initial accounting follows warnings from other insurers that are...
Puerto Rico Power Outage to Mean More Business Interruption Claims
Oct 1 2017 // Puerto Rico’s island-wide power outage will mean a surge in insurance claims for lost business income that will increase the already high cost of damage caused by Hurricane Maria, likely tipping some big reinsurers...
North Carolina’s Outer Banks Reopened as Maria Heads Out to Sea
Sep 29 2017 // Maria was finally racing east over the Atlantic on Thursday, giving the United States a rest from the constant threat of tropical weather for more than a month. No injuries have been reported on the U.S. mainland from...
Climate Researchers Warn of Hotter Summers, More Wildfires, in Southern Europe
Sep 29 2017 // Climate researchers are warning that Europeans should prepare for the return of “Lucifer,” saying the hellishly named heat wave that hit parts of the continent this summer could become a regular occurrence due...
Economic Costs of Mexico’s Earthquake Could Surpass $2B
Sep 29 2017 // President Enrique Pena Nieto said Wednesday [Sept. 27] that preliminary accounting of the damage caused by the two big earthquakes that hit Mexico this month could cost upward of $2 billion (38.1 billion pesos). Pena Nieto...
RMS Estimates Hurricane Maria’s Insured Losses Will Range Between $15B and $30B
Sep 29 2017 // RMS, the Newark, Calif.-based risk modeling and analytics firm, estimated that the insured loss from Hurricane Maria will be between US$15 billion and US$30 billion. This estimate represents the insured losses associated...
1987 Whittier Narrows Earthquake Anniversary A Reminder to Californians
Sep 29 2017 // The 30th anniversary of the 1987 magnitude 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake is Sunday, and the head of the California Earthquake Authority is using that to remind Californians to buy earthquake insurance. The quake was...
