Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Second Largest Wildfire Year in History for Alaska
Aug 12 2015 // This summer’s fire season has officially become the second biggest on record in Alaska. More than 5,081,000 acres, or 7,940 square miles, have burned this year. That surpasses the nearly 5.05 million acres burned in...
Arizona Wildfire That Forced Evacuations Now Partial Contained
Aug 11 2015 // A wildfire in Arizona that has grown to more than 6,000 acres and forces hundreds to evacuate is now 40 percent contained, fire officials say. The Willow fire in Mohave Valley is being battled by more than 300 firefighting...
Evacuations Ordered in Southern California Wildfire
Aug 11 2015 // A wildfire in rural Riverside County, Calif. has surged to about 500 acres, forcing evacuations and leaving one person burned and three firefighters with minor injuries. The blaze off State Route 74 near Anza started as a...
California Wildfire That Erupted Near Massive Blaze Expands
Aug 11 2015 // A wildfire that erupted near a destructive blaze in Northern California’s rural, rocky hills expanded farther. The blaze had burned 9 square miles by Monday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire...
Estimates for 1stHY 2015 Puts Cat Economic Losses at $37 Bn: Swiss Re Study
Aug 11 2015 // A new sigma study from Swiss Re estimates that “total economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters reached $37 billion in the first half of 2015. The global insurance industry covered nearly 45...
Typhoon Soudelor Hits Taiwan and China with Rains, Floods & Wind: AIR Report
Aug 11 2015 // A report from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, states: “Typhoon Soudelor has weakened over eastern China after making landfalls in Saipan, Taiwan, and China. The storm made landfall in Taiwan at 21:00 UTC on...
Arizona Wildfire Sees New Evacuation Orders
Aug 10 2015 // Worsening conditions at a wildfire in northwestern Arizona prompted authorities to issue a second evacuation order over the weekend. The decision Sunday to order an additional 700 homes evacuated brings the number of...
Below-Normal Atlantic Hurricane Season Now Even More Likely: NOAA
Aug 10 2015 // The U.S. Climate Prediction Center’s updated 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook calls for a 90 percent chance of a below-normal hurricane season. A below-normal season is now even more likely than predicted in...
Typhoon Soudelor Kills at Least 9 in China After Lashing Taiwan, Killing 5
Aug 10 2015 // At least nine people were killed in China’s eastern Zhejiang province as the remnants of Typhoon Soudelor dumped the heaviest rainfall in a century on the mainland after killing five in Taiwan. About 645 millimeters...
Louisiana to Host Post-Katrina/Rita Insurance Market Summit
Aug 7 2015 // The Louisiana Department of Insurance is hosting an event to discuss the property/casualty insurance market as the state marks the 10 years that have passed since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused more than $28 billion in...
UPDATE: Typhoon Soudelor Nears Taiwan; China Next: AccuWeather Report
Aug 7 2015 // AccuWeather has reported that “powerful Typhoon Soudelor will bring both flooding rainfall and damaging winds to Taiwan as the storm remains on a collision course with the island.” The report noted that...
Munich Re Q2 Net Income Rises to $1.14 Billion on Lower Catastrophe Claims
Aug 6 2015 // Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, raised its full-year profit target after net income beat analyst estimates on lower catastrophe claims. The shares rose. Net income rose to 1.07 billion euros [$1.14 billion]...
UPDATE: from AIR: Typhoon Soudelor Nears Taiwan as Season’s Strongest
Aug 6 2015 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Typhoon Soudelor is “the strongest tropical cyclone anywhere on earth thus far in 2015 based upon estimated wind speed.” The storm is continuing on its path...
New Rules Limit Amount of Wastewater in Oklahoma Disposal Wells
Aug 5 2015 // The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is imposing new guidelines on oil and natural gas disposal well operations in response to a rise in earthquake activity in northern Oklahoma and southern Logan counties. The commission...
Firefighters Make Progress Against Raging California Wildfire
Aug 5 2015 // Firefighters are reporting some progress against a Northern California wildfire that has charred more than 100 square miles of terrain, destroying buildings, threatening many others and sending thousands of residents...
10 Business Insurance Lessons and 1 Owner’s Advice from Katrina
Aug 5 2015 // Nearly 10 years ago, wind and storm surges as a result of Hurricane Katrina caused $41 billion in insured losses and $108 billion in total economic losses. Many of the lawsuits filed as a result of the fifth hurricane of...
Super Typhoon Soudelor Threatens China & Taiwan: AccuWeather Report
Aug 5 2015 // AccuWeather has reported that Typhoon Soudelor “rapidly intensified on Monday, becoming a super typhoon and reaching the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic or Eastern Pacific...
Texas Seeks Comment on Rules for Changes to Windstorm Insurer
Aug 4 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance is seeking public comment on drafts of rules for implementing legislation that alters funding mechanisms for the state’s property insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the...
Wet Weather Helps in Battling Massive California Wildfire
Aug 4 2015 // Cooler, wetter weather helped crews make inroads Monday against a massive Northern California wildfire that tore through two dozen homes, threatened thousands more and forced 12,000 people to flee the flames. The largest...
Cooler Conditions Help Firefighters Battle Southwest Oregon Wildfire
Aug 4 2015 // Clouds and the end of triple-digit heat helped firefighters battling the Stouts wildfire in southwest Oregon. Fire spokesman Dave Wells says the blaze is only 3 percent contained, but crews made good progress on the fire...
