Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Safety Experts: Oklahoma Quakes a National Security Threat
Oct 26 2015 // In the months after Sept. 11, 2001, as U.S. security officials assessed the top targets for potential terrorist attacks, the small town of Cushing, Okla., received special attention. Even though it is home to fewer than...
Strong Quake Hits Afghanistan, Pakistan, India; Ongoing Search for Survivors
Oct 26 2015 // Afghanistan’s strongest earthquake in more than six decades shook buildings across South Asia, prompting officials from Kabul to Islamabad to New Delhi to send out rescue teams to search for survivors. More than 130...
Guy Carpenter Says Wildfire Losses May Exceed $1.75B
Oct 26 2015 // A briefing from Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC on Monday shows more than 9 million acres were burned by wildfires so far this year, most of that occurring in the Western U.S, and that insured losses from wildfires could...
Mexico Losses from Hurricane Patricia ‘Won’t Exceed $200 Million:’ AIR Analysis
Oct 26 2015 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses to onshore properties in Mexico from Hurricane Patricia won’t exceed $200 million. This is a surprisingly low estimate, as AIR said: “Six...
Central Texas Wildfire 100% Contained
Oct 26 2015 // Officials say a Central Texas wildfire that burned 7-square-miles is 100 percent contained and under control. Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said that with the widespread rainfall in the area, the fire has been...
Hurricanes not the Only Storms to Hit Texas Coast
Oct 26 2015 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), the state created insurer of last resort for 14 coastal counties and parts of Harris County, reports that nearly 14,000 claims were filed after violent spring thunderstorms...
Hurricane Patricia Targets Mexico; 400K People, Ports, Insurers at Risk
Oct 23 2015 // Hurricane Patricia, the strongest in the history of the Americas, prepared to barrel into Mexico’s Pacific coast Friday, sending guests fleeing hotels in the Puerto Vallarta resort area. About 400,000 people are...
Study: Larger Oklahoma Quakes Caused by Industrial Activity
Oct 23 2015 // A sharp rise in earthquakes in Oklahoma in the past 100 years is likely the result of industrial activities in the energy-rich state, such as oil and natural gas production, a new study suggests. The paper by the U.S....
99.9 Percent Probability of L.A.-Area Earthquake: Study
Oct 23 2015 // There is a 99.9 percent chance of a magnitude-5 or greater earthquake striking within three years in the greater Los Angeles area, where a similar sized temblor caused more the $12 million in damage last year, according to...
Cat 5 Patricia ‘Strongest Eastern North Pacific Hurricane on Record:’ NHC
Oct 23 2015 // Hurricane Patricia has strengthened into a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which is tracking the storm. The NHC’s latest bulletin said Patricia is...
68 Homes Burned in Central Texas; Wildfire 80% Contained
Oct 22 2015 // Residents forced from their homes by a 7-square-mile Central Texas wildfire have been allowed to return to the evacuation zone — some to return to their homes, some to count their losses. The Texas A&M Forest Service...
Washington Wildfire Disaster Declaration Approved by President
Oct 22 2015 // President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster exists in the state of Washington following this summer’s wildfires and mudslides. The disaster declaration makes federal money available to state and local...
NHC Tracking Hurricane Patricia, as It Nears Mexican Coast
Oct 22 2015 // The National Hurricane Center in Miami is tracking Hurricane Patricia, a storm in the eastern Pacific that is moving towards the west coast of Mexico. According to the NHC’s latest bulletin, Patricia is about 255...
P/C Insurers Posted $31B Profit for 2015 1st Half, Highest 1st-Half Income Since ’07
Oct 21 2015 // Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes grew to $31.0 billion in the first half of 2015 from $26.0 billion in the first half of 2014, according to a report today from Verisk Analytics’...
Oklahoma Commissioner to Insurers: Clarify Earthquake Coverage
Oct 21 2015 // In response to a growing number of questions from consumers about earthquake coverage, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak has asked property/casualty insurers in the state to send each policyholder a clarifying...
Willis Capital Market Report Finds Decline in ILS Issues as Growth Stabilizes
Oct 21 2015 // According to the latest ILS report from Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA), part of Willis Group Holdings plc, “$650 million of non-life Rule 144A catastrophe bond capacity was issued across three...
Southeast Missouri Rattled by Small Earthquakes
Oct 20 2015 // A pair of earthquakes hit southeast Missouri on Oct. 16, but there were no reports of damage or injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey said a 3.4-magnitude earthquake, followed 24 minutes later by a 3.2-magnitude aftershock,...
Progress Made Against Central Texas Wildfire
Oct 20 2015 // As of Oct. 19, about 70 percent of a wildfire that has burned thousands of acres in Central Texas had been contained, officials said. Some 275 firefighters were assisted by at least seven aircraft dumping water and fire...
Climate Change Adds Billions to U.S. Hurricane Losses: Study
Oct 20 2015 // Climate change has added billions to the toll of hurricane strikes on the U.S., according to a study that challenges the prevailing scientific view that the rising cost is mainly because more buildings, towns and...
AIR Analyzes Typhoon Koppu’s Heavy Flooding Impact on the Philippines
Oct 20 2015 // A report from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide highlights “widespread flooding, landslides, wrecked roads and bridges, downed trees, and power outages” in the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon...
