Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hurricane Irma May Push Island States to Seek Climate Change Aid
Sep 13 2017 // Devastation from Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean will sharpen the demands from small island nations that top fossil-fuel consumers help them cope with damage attributable to climate change, according to representatives of...
Irma Leaves Behind Death and Destruction in Cuba
Sep 12 2017 // The historic but often decrepit buildings of Havana and other colonial Cuban cities couldn’t stand up to Hurricane Irma’s winds and rainfall, collapsing and killing seven people in one of the highest death...
Death Toll from Mexico Earthquake Rises to 96
Sep 12 2017 // The death toll from Mexico’s 8.1 magnitude earthquake rose to 96 on Monday as more victims were confirmed in the hard-hit southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas and residents worked to repair shattered homes and small...
Travelers Insurance Expects Hurricane Harvey Losses Between $375M-$750M
Sep 12 2017 // The Travelers Companies Inc. estimates that its catastrophe losses relating to Hurricane Harvey, including estimated recoveries from reinsurance, will be in the range of $375 million to $750 million pre-tax ($245 million...
Hurricane Irma Adds to Pressure on New Greenlight Re Chief
Sep 12 2017 // Hedge fund manager David Einhorn has endured a number of losing bets at his insurance venture. Now, the weather is becoming a threat for his Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. The company’s stock has slumped about 9 percent...
How ‘Bermuda High’ Threw Irma and Damage Estimates Off Course
Sep 12 2017 // Twenty miles may have made a $150 billion difference. Estimates for the damage Hurricane Irma would inflict on Florida kept mounting as it made its devastating sweep across the Caribbean. It was poised to be the costliest...
Florida ‘Dodged a Cannon’ as Irma Swerved and Weakened
Sep 11 2017 // Florida is drenched, tattered — but fortunate. Hurricane Irma weakened as it moved past Tampa on Monday, leaving in its wake a state that avoided the worst predictions of its destruction by sea and storm. By one...
Hurricane Harvey: Identifying the Insurance Gap
Sep 11 2017 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. As hurricane Harvey made landfall north of Corpus Christi last week, this Category 4 hurricane left devastation in its wake. CoreLogic® estimates that the total...
Insurers Gain as Shifty, Weakened Irma May Not Be as Damaging as Feared
Sep 11 2017 // Insurers jumped in markets from Europe to Florida amid signs that predictions about Hurricane Irma’s damage were excessively dire. Giant reinsurers like Swiss Re and Munich Re, which shoulder risks for local insurers...
Is Maryland Ready for the Next Big Storm?
Sep 11 2017 // In Maryland, which historically has ducked many of the worst storms of the last 50 years, the question is increasingly not if, but when the next big one will strike. And while some believe the state has often been spared...
Insurers Rush to Find, Deploy Adjusters for Harvey, Irma Claims
Sep 11 2017 // Insurers are scrambling to find inspectors in Texas and Florida after fierce hurricanes battered the states one after the other, causing tens of billions of dollars’ worth of property damage in less than two...
Irma Analysis: Insurer Financial Stress Unlikely If Early Loss Estimates Hold
Sep 11 2017 // Before Hurricane Irma made landfall in south Florida on Sunday morning, analysts were assessing the potential damage to property/casualty insurer and reinsurance balance sheets and earnings. On Friday, Fitch Ratings noted...
Hurricane Costs Become Talk of Monte Carlo’s Reinsurance Rendez-Vous
Sep 10 2017 // As Hurricane Irma battered Florida on Sunday, the cream of the insurance world — gathered under the Mediterranean sun in Monte Carlo — was assessing the costs of the storm for the global industry. The takeaway...
Irma Update: Tropical Storm Exits Florida for Georgia After Flooding Cities, Cutting Utilities
Sep 10 2017 // Downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, Irma flooded several northern Florida cities with heavy rain and a high storm surge on Monday as it headed out of the state after cutting power to millions and ripping roofs...
After Powerful Mexico Quake, Authorities Evaluate if Cat Bond Payout Triggered
Sep 10 2017 // At least 61 people died when the most powerful earthquake to hit Mexico in over eight decades tore through buildings and forced mass evacuations in the poor southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, triggering alerts as far...
Hedge Funds Overseeing Cat Bonds Try to Remain Calm Over Irma
Sep 8 2017 // Greg Hagood didn’t have many details to work with on Thursday afternoon. Hurricane Irma wasn’t expected to make landfall in South Florida for another 64 hours. Projections for its path were all over the place,...
Chemical Fallout from Hurricane Irma Could Be Worse than Harvey’s
Sep 8 2017 // Before flames and smoke leaped into the sky over the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, last week, Jolyn Masters was hunkered down at home on a Hurricane Harvey-flooded street a mile away. Then came a knock. A...
New York’s ‘Sixth Borough’ with Trophy Condos in Hurricane Irma’s Path
Sep 8 2017 // Beyond the bar and the palm-fringed pool, past the gold-leafed columns and floor-to-ceiling murals, workers at the grand Faena Hotel Miami Beach prepared for Hurricane Irma’s fury. Their unusual assignment: fortify...
Irma Update: Georgia Coast Evacuation Underway; Gas, Water Shortages in Miami
Sep 8 2017 // Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, drove toward Florida on Friday after lashing the Caribbean with devastating winds and torrential rain, killing 19 people and leaving a swathe of...
Rethinking Freight Flood Risk Management After Hurricane Harvey
Sep 8 2017 // A week before Hurricane Harvey walloped Houston, workers for Union Pacific Corp. began moving rail cars out of the railroad’s Englewood switching yard near downtown and brought in enough generators to fill 70 tractor...
