Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tornado in Colorado Forest Area Damages Campground
Jul 24 2015 // Tornado damage at a Pike National Forest campground has crews clearing felled trees in a six-acre area. KMGH-TV reported the Devil’s Head campground was hit by a tornado that the National Weather Service confirms...
Chubb Reports Q2 Results
Jul 24 2015 // The Chubb Corp., which on June 30 agreed to be acquired by ACE Limited for $28 billion, reported net income in the second quarter of 2015 totaling $494 million, just a notch below the $499 million achieved in the second...
Officials Say Washington Wildfire Was Human-Caused
Jul 23 2015 // Officials say a wildfire that has burned one home and torched nearly 6 square miles in southeastern Washington was likely human-caused. Fire spokeswoman Sarah Foster says the cause is under investigation, though officials...
Allied World Reports Decreases in Q2 Net and Operating Income
Jul 23 2015 // Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG has reported net income of $9.5 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2015 compared to net income of $151.9 million, or $1.52 per diluted share, for the...
4.4M Northern Oklahoma Earthquake Rattles State
Jul 22 2015 // A magnitude 4.4 earthquake centered in northern Oklahoma has shaken the state, with reports of it being felt hundreds of miles away. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the July 20 quake happened at about 3:20 p.m., with...
Texas Had Costliest U.S. Cat Losses in First Half of 2015: PCS
Jul 22 2015 // Texas had the most catastrophe losses in the United States during the first half of 2015, according to a new report on North American cat losses during the first six months of the year. Seventeen second-quarter catastrophe...
Insured Catastrophe Losses Fell 36% in First Half of 2015
Jul 22 2015 // Property/casualty insurers catastrophe losses in North America for the first-half of this year were down 36 percent to $8.1 billion from 2014’s total of $12.6 billion, making it the lightest catastrophe first half...
Travelers Q2 Profit Up 19% on Lower Catastrophe Costs
Jul 21 2015 // Travelers Cos., the only property/casualty insurer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, said second-quarter profit advanced 19 percent as natural disaster costs dropped. Net income climbed to $812 million, or $2.53 a...
Tornado-Torn South Dakota Town Getting Advice on Insurance, Resources
Jul 20 2015 // South Dakota organizations aiming to aid residents of the tornado-ravaged town of Delmont are encouraging those affected to utilize all the resources available to them. Scott Swier of the Swier Law Firm in Avon and Jesse...
Small Earthquake Strikes Northern California over Weekend
Jul 20 2015 // A small earthquake has struck near the mountain town of Truckee in Northern California. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude-3.5 quake occurred about 6:36 p.m. Saturday. The epicenter was 9 miles northwest of...
Tropical Storm Nangka Batters Japan with Heavy Rain, High Winds: AIR Report
Jul 20 2015 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide’s report on Typhoon Nangka notes that it “made landfall July 16, 2015, at 23:07 Japan Standard Time (JST) (14:07 UTC) with a central pressure of 965 mb near Muroto City,...
Regulator to Lawmakers: Leave Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association Funds Alone
Jul 20 2015 // Michigan’s top insurance regulator has taken a stance against a bill that would allow lawmakers to appropriate money for road projects from the state-created mechanism to reinsure unlimited medical benefits for auto...
San Andreas Movie: Facts Within Fiction
Jul 20 2015 // Released in late spring 2015, the movie San Andreas tells the story of massive earthquakes devastating California as a helicopter pilot and his (formerly estranged) wife try to find and rescue their daughter. Having...
Tornado-Torn Arkansas Town to Build Shelter with Grant Money
Jul 17 2015 // An Arkansas town damaged by an April 2014 tornado will receive more than $1 million in federal grant money to build a safe room that will shelter more than a thousand people. Arkansas Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton and...
Insure Against Risk of Climate Catastrophe: Peter Orszag in Bloomberg View
Jul 17 2015 // “Go Set a Watchman” isn’t the only book this year that brings new perspective to an old story line. “Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet” should shift our narrative on...
Q2 Cat Bonds Issuance Nearly $3 Billion: Aon Securities Report
Jul 16 2015 // Aon Securities, the investment banking division of global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor Aon Benfield, has released its latest report –”Insurance-Linked Securities Second Quarter 2015 Update”...
AIR Estimates Typhoon Chan-hom Insured Losses Less than $354 Million
Jul 16 2015 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, insured losses in China from Typhoon Chan-hom are unlikely to exceed CNY 2.2 billion [$354.3 million]. “Typhoon Chan-hom made landfall in the coastal city of...
Typhoon Nangka Continues on Course towards Japan: AIR Analysis
Jul 15 2015 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has released an analysis of Typhoon Nangka, which is currently a Category 3 storm “with a central pressure of 950 mb and maximum 10-minute sustained wind speeds of 80 knots...
Michigan Bill Calls for Transparency from Catastrophe Claims Assn.
Jul 14 2015 // A bill introduced in Michigan would require transparency and detailed financial and actuarial information from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) to be published on the association’s website. House...
High Winds, Tornadoes Damage Parts of Midwest
Jul 14 2015 // Several Midwest states have been hit with damaging winds, tornadoes and flooding over the past several days. Forecasters say at least four unconfirmed tornadoes may touched down in western Minnesota when strong storms...
