Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hurricane Matthew Forces Millions to Evacuate Along Southeast Coast
Oct 7 2016 // Millions of people in the U.S. southeast were ordered to flee as Hurricane Matthew, set to become the strongest storm to hit the country since 2005, headed toward Florida’s East Coast after leaving hundreds dead in...
New Forecasting, Damage Assessment Tools Track Hurricane Matthew
Oct 7 2016 // As Hurricane Matthew rolled toward Florida earlier this week, the meteorologists at Verisk Analytics were tracking its every move. They weren’t just plotting the usual meteorological stuff, though, and making the...
Delaware Insurance Commissioner Advises Residents in Case of Hurricane Matthew
Oct 6 2016 // Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart is encouraging Delaware residents to take action now to prepare for potential damages and interruptions from Hurricane Matthew. Although it is too early to predict the...
Hurricane Matthew Forces Cruise to be Cut Short, Other Postponements
Oct 6 2016 // The threat of Hurricane Matthew has forced a cruise ship to reroute its trip and a sold-out island festival to be rescheduled in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce said in a news release Tuesday...
Hurricane Matthew Heads to Florida; Losses Could Reach $15 Billion
Oct 6 2016 // Hurricane Matthew has thousands fleeing the U.S. Southeast where it’s expected to batter the coastline and threaten electricity supplies to more than 1 million people in Florida. Potential losses are seen as high as...
South Carolina, Florida Order Evacuations as Hurricane Matthew Approaches Southeast
Oct 5 2016 // The governors of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have ordered a State of Emergency for each of their respective states as Hurricane Matthew makes its way up the Southeast coast after battering Haiti and Cuba. The...
3.5 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Northern Oklahoma, Near Pawnee
Oct 5 2016 // A 3.5 magnitude earthquake struck northern Oklahoma on Tuesday morning, hitting the same spot where a record setting temblor was centered a month ago. The U.S. Geological Survey says Tuesday’s earthquake hit shortly...
London Insurance Market Prepares to Hold Catastrophe Response Test
Oct 5 2016 // The London insurance market plans to test its response this month to a major catastrophe on the scale of the 9/11 attacks, the chairman of insurer Hiscox said on Tuesday. While insurers have coped with regular hurricanes,...
Hurricane Matthews Pounds Haiti, Cuba; 1 Death Reported
Oct 4 2016 // The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade ripped into Haiti’s southwestern peninsula early on Tuesday, packing 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and storm surges that killed at least one person and damaged...
Florida Watching Hurricane Matthew, Governor Urges Residents to Prepare
Oct 3 2016 // The GOES East satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016 at 2:45 p.m. EDT, shows Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean Sea about 190 miles northeast of...
California Governor Approves Early Earthquake Warning System
Oct 3 2016 // Californians will begin getting warnings of impending earthquakes through their cellphones, radios and other devices within the next year or two as the state ramps up a lifesaving early warning system, emergency management...
Oklahoma Commissioner: Quake Coverage Still Being Sold in State
Oct 3 2016 // Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak wants to quell rumors that insurers are imposing six-month moratoriums on purchasing earthquake insurance. He said consumers raised concerns about moratoriums after a 5.8...
National Flood Insurance Program Buys Private Reinsurance, Plans More in 2017
Oct 3 2016 // The federal government has contracted with private reinsurers to improve the National Flood Insurance Program’s claims paying ability and reduce the need for the NFIP to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to cover future...
Powerful Hurricane Matthew Forces Evacuations in Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba
Oct 2 2016 // Haiti and Jamaica urged residents in vulnerable coastal areas to evacuate, and Cuba suspended flights on Sunday as torrential rain from Hurricane Matthew, the strongest storm to menace the Caribbean nations since 2007,...
Matthew Becomes Category 3 Hurricane in Central Caribbean Sea
Sep 30 2016 // Hurricane Matthew has strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale while moving west- southwestward over the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Friday. Matthew was...
Hurricane Hermine Declared Major Disaster; Federal Funds Available to Florida
Sep 30 2016 // President Barack Obama has officially declared a major disaster for areas in Florida affected by Hurricane Hermine. A news release says Obama signed the disaster declaration Wednesday. The president’s action makes...
Texas Insured Property Losses Setting Record in 2016
Sep 29 2016 // Damaging hail storms and wide-spread flooding have caused record setting losses for both homes and automobiles this year in Texas, according to a state insurance trade group. This year’s insured losses for the first...
Typhoon Meranti Insured Losses in China Could Top $1 Billion: AIR Worldwide
Sep 29 2016 // Insured losses on mainland China from September’s Typhoon Meranti are expected to fall between $650 million (CNY 4.3 billion) and $1.15 billion (CNY 7.7 billion). According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide,...
Facebook Claims ‘Zero Tolerance’ for Terrorist Activity
Sep 28 2016 // Lawyers for Facebook Inc. on Tuesday sought to assure a U.S. judge overseeing lawsuits by victims of militant attacks in the Middle East that it took a “zero tolerance” approach to any communications that may...
California Earthquake Authority Sees Surge in New Policies
Sep 27 2016 // The California Earthquake Authority has seen a significant increase in the purchase of CEA policies so far in 2016, according to its top executive. CEA now has more than 908,000 policies in force, an increase of roughly...
