Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Natural Disaster Losses Hit Five-Year High in April: Aon Catastrophe Report
May 5 2016 // The global economy suffered the worst April natural disaster losses for five years, according to Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team. Earthquakes, convective storms and flooding...
U.S. Insured Catastrophe Losses from 13 Events in Q1 Add Up to Worst in Decade
May 5 2016 // Catastrophe activity in the U.S. led to $3.8 billion in insured losses in 29 states during the 2016 first quarter, with much of the damage hitting Texas. Those events were the worst in a decade in terms of frequency and...
Alberta Wildfire Could Become Canada’s Costliest Natural Catastrophe
May 5 2016 // A wildfire in the Alberta city of Fort McMurray is set to become the costliest ever Canadian natural disaster for insurers, with 1,600 buildings destroyed and another 19,000 under threat, analysts and industry sources...
Officials: 9 Tornadoes in Oklahoma, Arkansas Last Week
May 5 2016 // Meteorologists have identified tornado damage in Muskogee County nearly a week after a string of at least nine weak tornadoes across northeastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. The Tulsa World reports that the National Weather...
Louisiana Tornado Confirmed by Weather Service
May 4 2016 // The National Weather Service confirms that a tornado hit rural parts of northern St. Landry Parish and southern Avoyelles Parish in Louisiana on Saturday. Forecaster Jonathan Brazzell said Sunday that the Weather Service...
Update: Canadian Wildfire Rages, Leading to Evacuation of 80,000 People
May 4 2016 // Fire raged unchecked through the Canadian city of Fort McMurray overnight as authorities raced to complete the evacuation of its population of 80,000, fearful that hot, dry winds forecast for Wednesday would further fan...
Utah Earthquake Country Examined
May 2 2016 // Signs of earthquakes are everywhere in the chaotically beautiful geology of southwest Utah and the region where the mile-high Colorado Plateau falls off into the corrugated Basin-and-Range landscape that dominates...
XL Catlin Names Huang as Asia U/W Manager, War, Terrorism & Political Violence
May 2 2016 // XL Catlin’s insurance operations announced that Carrie Huang has been promoted to the position of Asia underwriting manager for War, Terrorism and Political Violence. Based in Singapore, she will be responsible for...
3.0 Earthquake Hits Western Alabama
May 2 2016 // No injuries are being reported following a small earthquake in Alabama’s Tuscaloosa County. The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 3.0 earthquake occurred around 4 a.m. Friday about halfway between Tuscaloosa...
University of Alabama Partners With Industry on Tornado Preparedness Guide
May 2 2016 // The Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research at The University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Commerce has partnered with the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, the Alabama Department of...
Earthquake Insurance Rates a Concern in Oklahoma
May 2 2016 // Concerned about a lack of competition in the state’s earthquake insurance market, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak has set a public hearing to investigate rising rates. The May 24 hearing will include data...
San Antonio Hailstorm: Costliest Ever in Texas?
May 2 2016 // A hailstorm that covered a swath of nearly 70 miles hit the San Antonio area on April 12 and is estimated to become the costliest such storm in Texas history, an insurer trade group says. The storm was concentrated in the...
PERILS Joins Singapore’s NatCatDAX, Aiming to Close Asia Nat Cat Protection Gap
Apr 28 2016 // PERILS, the Zurich-based independent organization providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, announced it has joined the Singapore-based Natural Catastrophe Data and Analytics Exchange (NatCatDAX) Alliance, which...
Lloyd’s Market Urged to Use Oasis Open-Source Cat Models for Wider Risk View
Apr 28 2016 // Lloyd’s managing agents should take full advantage of Oasis, the open source catastrophe modeling platform, in order to get wider views on catastrophe risks, urged Tom Bolt, Lloyd’s director of performance...
Kansas Tornado Damages 10 Homes, Destroys Trailer
Apr 27 2016 // The National Weather Service is surveying damage from a northern Kansas tornado that left two people with minor injuries, damaged about 10 homes and destroyed a trailer. National Weather Service meteorologist Brian...
Central U.S. States Hit with Tornadoes, Strong Storms
Apr 27 2016 // A powerful spring storm brought strong winds and baseball-sized hail to several central states on April 26, with tornadoes spotted in Kansas and Oklahoma as the severe weather marched east, forecasters said. The storm...
Average to Below-Average Wildfire Season Expected for Colorado
Apr 27 2016 // Firefighters said Tuesday they expect another average or below-average wildfire season in Colorado in 2016, the third mild year in a row. “That’s always good news,” Gov. John Hickenlooper said after...
Retrofitting in Utah, Nevada Spurred by Earthquake Report
Apr 26 2016 // A new report raising the likelihood of a destructive earthquake striking Salt Lake City, Utah in the next half century has underscored the urgency to retrofit more than 30,000 older brick homes and other unreinforced...
2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season Should See Normal Activity of 12 Names Storms: CSU
Apr 25 2016 // The coming Atlantic hurricane season should produce a near-average 12 named storms before it ends in November, according to Phil Klotzbach, lead author of the pioneering Colorado State University forecast. At least five of...
Colorado State Hurricane Forecaster Gray Passes Away
Apr 25 2016 // He changed the way the world looks at hurricanes, and in later years he challenged the science behind climate change, but most people will probably remember Bill Gray as the creator of the modern seasonal forecast for...
