Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Swiss Re 2015 Economic Cat Loss Initial Estimates = $85Bn; $32Bn Insured
Dec 18 2015 // Swiss Re’s latest sigma report preliminarily estimates that total economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters will reach approximately $85 billion in 2015. Insured losses, however, were just $32...
Insurance Council of Australia Declares Sydney Storms a Catastrophe
Dec 17 2015 // The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe after storms struck New South Wales, in particular Sydney’s eastern and southern suburbs. The ICA’s bulletin notes that the “storms...
Typhoon Melor Hits Philippines with Fierce Winds and Flooding: AIR
Dec 16 2015 // A report from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, describes Super Typhoon Melor, known locally as Nona, as having struck the Philippines on Monday, December 14, 2015, at around 3:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. local time) near...
Kansas Sees More, but Mostly Weak, Tornadoes in 2015
Dec 15 2015 // Meteorologists say Kansas saw more tornadoes than normal this year, but all but a few were weak and short-lived. The Wichita Eagle reports there were 108 tornadoes in Kansas by the end of August, 18 more than normal for...
Report: Southeast States Unprepared for Future Risks from Climate Change
Dec 11 2015 // Source: States at Risk Many states across the country, particularly in the Southeast, are unprepared to face the risks posed from extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland flooding, coastal flooding and other extreme...
Energy Companies Want Oklahoma Judge to Toss Earthquake Suit
Dec 10 2015 // Two energy companies asked a judge on Dec. 9 to throw out a lawsuit by an Oklahoma woman who claims she was injured in an earthquake caused by the injection of wastewater deep into the ground — a long-used method to...
India Floods Top Aon Benfield/Impact Forecasting’s November Cat Recap
Dec 8 2015 // Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team, has issued the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluates the impact of natural disaster events that occurred...
Insurance Executive Sees Problems, Opportunities in L.A.’s Earthquake Law
Dec 7 2015 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Who’s going to pay? It’s a big question in front of landlords of thousands of Los Angeles properties early next year. When the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted in...
Karen Clark Adds US Earthquake Reference Model to Modeling Platform
Dec 7 2015 // Karen Clark & Company (KCC) has released a new US earthquake Reference Model as part of the RiskInsight open loss modeling platform. The earthquake model is based on the latest 2014 US Geological Survey (USGS) report...
Oklahoma Shutting Down Disposal Wells after Series of Earthquakes
Dec 7 2015 // In response to an increase in larger earthquakes in certain oil production areas of the state, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission said it’s working to have some disposal wells shut down and volume reduced at other...
Report: Southeast States Not Prepared for Future Risks from Climate Change
Dec 7 2015 // Many states across the country, particularly in the Southeast, are unprepared to face the risks posed from extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland flooding, coastal flooding and other extreme weather events, according to...
King Appointed to Texas Windstorm Insurance Board
Dec 3 2015 // Texas Commissioner of Insurance David Mattax has appointed Deborah King to the board of directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). King of Highland Village is vice president and chief actuary at...
Hurricane Season Ends: Atlantic Stayed Below Normal; Pacific Set Records
Dec 1 2015 // The Atlantic, eastern and central Pacific hurricane seasons officially ended yesterday, and as NOAA predicted, the Atlantic season stayed below normal with 11 named storms, while the eastern and central Pacific were above...
Florida Marks 10 Years Without Major Hurricane, Sets Record
Dec 1 2015 // The state of Florida is marking a big milestone with the official end of the 2015 hurricane season – 10 years without a major hurricane making landfall in the state. The Miami Herald reports that the hurricane-free...
Terrorist Activity Boosts Interest in Travel Insurance
Nov 25 2015 // There has been a rise in demand for travel insurance due to recent terrorist attacks, according to an online seller of the coverage. Travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip said that since the attacks occurred in...
State-Backed Terrorism Reinsurance Fund Likely to Aid Paris Firms in Recovery
Nov 24 2015 // Parisian businesses struggling after the Nov. 13 attacks are likely to be able to make successful insurance claims, helped by a state-backed fund set up in the wake of the Sept. 11 2001 attacks in New York. The carnage in...
Tornadoes, Heavy Rain Cause Damage in 10 Mississippi Counties
Nov 20 2015 // At least two tornadoes and heavy rainstorms in Mississippi destroyed a mobile home, partially tore a roof off a house, and left a truck driver injured after he drove into a downed tree, state officials said...
Tornadoes in North Texas Damage Homes, Businesses
Nov 18 2015 // Multiple tornadoes hit North Texas late on Nov. 16 and early on Nov. 17, causing property damage. The National Weather Service says at least five tornadoes touched down in the Pampa, Texas, area Monday night. Forecasters...
UK’s Chancellor of Exchequer to Double Budget to Fight Cyber Terrorism
Nov 17 2015 // Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced he’ll double funding to strengthen the U.K.’s cyber defenses, while refusing to confirm that budget cuts to be announced next week would spare...
Global Acts of Terrorism Cost $52.9 Billion in 2014 – Highest Price Since 9/11
Nov 17 2015 // In the wake of Friday’s massacre in Paris, a new report says the world is paying the highest price for terrorism since the 2001 attack on New York’s Twin Towers. In 2014, acts of terror cost the world $52.9...
