Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hurricane Museum Seeks to Close $15M Funding Gap
Sep 11 2015 // Ten years after back-to-back storms Katrina and Rita galvanized plans for a Lake Charles, La., museum focused on hurricanes, supporters have secured about $42 million in pledges to build it. The Advocate reports supporters...
TDI Posts Summary of Bills Affecting Property/Casualty Insurers
Sep 9 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance has produced a summary of various bills passed by the Texas Legislature this year that impact property/casualty insurance companies. Many but not all of the following were effective Sept....
California Struggles with Wildfires, Thunderstorms, Triple-Digit Heat
Sep 9 2015 // Wildfires burned amid a week of triple-digit temperatures across California, while some sections of the state saw sudden thunderstorms and flash floods. High temperatures were expected from Sacramento to San Bernardino,...
Hurricane Season’s Peak: Gone with the Wind Shear
Sep 9 2015 // The day during the Atlantic hurricane season when a tropical storm or worse is most likely to be swirling around the basin may come and go with a whimper. The best the Atlantic probably will come up with by Thursday, the...
Litigation Relief Needed for TWIA Depop Program to Work, Lawmakers Say
Sep 7 2015 // A new law that became effective Sept. 1 in Texas will give the state’s property insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the coast more leeway in its plan to reduce overall exposure by incenting private...
Hurricane Katrina: Every Number Tells a Story
Sep 7 2015 // In a 25-year span leading up to 2005, homeowners insurers in Louisiana wrote a total of $13 billion in homeowners insurance premium, from which they earned $1 billion in profit, according to the chief actuary at the state...
Study: Ventura, Oxnard in California Could Be at Greater Tsunami Risk
Sep 7 2015 // A study says two California coastal cities are at greater risk from tsunamis than previously thought. The study released in August by the American Geophysical Union examined the flooding risk if earthquake faults in the...
Kansas Earthquakes Linked to Injection Wells, Geologist Says
Sep 7 2015 // The Kansas Geological Survey believes an increase in earthquakes in two southern Kansas counties is linked to saltwater injection after oil and natural gas drilling, according to an agency scientist. The agency had said in...
Earthquake Coverage Increasingly Expensive, Hard to Find in Missouri
Sep 7 2015 // Missouri is the third largest market for earthquake insurance in the U.S., after California and Washington, but the coverage is getting more expensive and scarcer in high-risk areas, state insurance officials say. On...
Aon Benfield August Cat Report Highlights Global Droughts, El Niño, Typhoons
Sep 4 2015 // The monthly report for August from Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting catastrophe model development team cites the “severe drought conditions” in the western U.S. as resulting in “economic losses...
Local Conn. Businesses Are Told to Plan Ahead, Prepare for Next Big Storm
Sep 3 2015 // A Category 3 hurricane with forces not seen in Eastern Connecticut for nearly 100 years barrels into the mouth of the Connecticut River. Roads are blocked by downed trees and utility lines. Power is expected to be out for...
S&P Report Urges Discipline as Reinsurers Adjust Exposure to Cat Risk
Sep 3 2015 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has released a report – “Discipline Is Necessary As Reinsurers Adjust Their Exposure To Catastrophe Risk” – that examines diverging attitudes to...
Hurricane Strikes Cape Verde in East Atlantic — First Time Since 1892
Sep 1 2015 // Something rare happened out in the Atlantic — a hurricane hit Cape Verde. The islands off the coast of Africa lend their name to some of the most powerful storms the Atlantic produces, yet they themselves rarely get...
Fighting Western U.S. Wildfires Costing More than $1B, Agriculture Chief Says
Sep 1 2015 // U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the federal government has spent more than $1 billion fighting this year’s deadly wildfires, which have scorched drought-stricken Western states. Vilsack told a news...
Storm Watch Ends For Hawaii Islands, But Hurricane Churns
Aug 31 2015 // Greg Colden, a farmer on Hawaii’s Big Island, said he is most worried about the damage that more rain and sustained winds could do to the area as Hurricane Ignacio passes by this week. “I’m more worried...
Tropical Storm Erika Fades Before Florida After 20 Deaths in Caribbean Island
Aug 31 2015 // Tropical Storm Erika, which killed at least 20 people on the small Caribbean island of Dominica, broke up in the waters off Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Saturday. All tropical storm warnings and watches...
Wildfire Threatens Idaho Town, Evacuations Ordered
Aug 28 2015 // Residents in west-central Idaho near the town of Riggins were told to flee due to a wildfire that expanded to 40 square miles Thursday, an 11-square-mile jump. Fire managers say the fire made runs through the tops of trees...
Florida Prepares for Possible Hurricane Erika on Monday
Aug 27 2015 // Florida advised residents and tourists to check disaster kits and escape plans as chances rise the state will face its first hurricane strike in 10 years. Tropical Storm Erika, which has triggered storm watches and...
RMS and Taiwan’s MSIG Mingtai Collaborate on Typhoon Risk Insights
Aug 27 2015 // RMS, the Newark, Calif.-based catastrophe risk management firm, has formed a technical collaboration with MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co. Ltd. to share industry information and insight about the local Taiwanese insurance...
$198M in Property at High Risk from Chelan Wildfire in Washington
Aug 26 2015 // The massive Chelan wildfire in Washington poses a significant risk to roughly 634 homes with a total reconstruction cost of more than $198 million, an analysis of the ongoing fire issued Wednesday shows. The analysis by...
