Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Major Hurricane Joaquin Could Hit East Coast
Oct 1 2015 // Joaquin became a major hurricane as it tears toward the Bahamas and government forecasters said they can’t rule out a strike on the U.S. East Coast as early as Sunday. The 10th storm of the Atlantic season had top...
UPDATE: Joaquin Now a Major Hurricane; Nearing Bahamas
Oct 1 2015 // Joaquin is now classified as a “major hurricane,” according to the most recent bulletin from the National Hurricane Center. The storm’s “maximum sustained winds are near 120 mph (195 km/h) with...
Update: Joaquin’s U.S. Path Unclear But East Coast Already Under Flood Watch
Sep 30 2015 // Joaquin is forecast to become a major hurricane by Saturday as it strengthens in the Atlantic, triggering hurricane warnings and watches for the Bahamas. Its course after crossing the island chain is still uncertain, the...
Oklahoma School District Looking to Repair Earthquake Damage
Sep 30 2015 // Structural engineers are assessing the damage caused by a July earthquake at Crescent Public Schools buildings in Oklahoma. The 4.5 magnitude earthquake hit Crescent on July 27. Superintendent Mickey Hart told the Enid...
California Draws $10M From Reserves to Remove Wildfire Debris
Sep 30 2015 // California Governor Jerry Brown last week directed $10 million from the state’s budget reserve to help pay for the removal of huge amounts of burned debris left in the wake of two massive wildfires, the...
Hurricane Joaquin Keeps Forecasters Guessing on Its Path
Sep 30 2015 // Tropical Storm Joaquin jumped in strength and is forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane by Wednesday, even as computer models disagree on where it will end up. Joaquin’s top winds reached 65 miles (105 kilometers)...
AIR Analyzes Taiwan, China Damages, Losses from Typhoon Dujuan
Sep 30 2015 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reports that Typhoon Dujuan made landfall on northeast coast of Taiwan with high winds and heavy rain near Nan’ao Township in Yilan County, late afternoon on Monday, September...
Hurricane Warnings Issued as Tropical Storm Joaquin Gains Strength
Sep 30 2015 // The National Hurricane Center’s latest bulletin, issued at 5:00 EDT, notes that the “government of the Bahamas has issued a Hurricane Warning for the central Bahamas, including Cat Island, the Exumas, Long...
Forecasters Watching Tropical Storm Joaquin as It Churns in Atlantic
Sep 29 2015 // Forecasters are watching Tropical Storm Joaquin as it churns in the Atlantic near the Bahamas to see if it will become a threat to the U.S. East Coast later this week. Joaquin was about 385 miles (620 kilometers) northeast...
PERILS Lowers Windstorm Niklas Insured Loss Estimate to $927 Million
Sep 29 2015 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has released its third loss estimate for windstorm Mike-Niklas, which, lowers the estimated property insurance...
Typhoon Dujuan Nears Taiwan with Rain, Wind; Airlines Cancel Flights
Sep 28 2015 // Typhoon Dujuan lashed Taiwan with rain and wind as it neared the island on Monday, forcing schools to shut and disrupting land and air traffic. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. canceled or delayed about 30 flights Monday and...
Tornado Damages 10 Homes in South Carolina Neighborhood
Sep 28 2015 // A tornado quickly blew through a neighborhood on the South Carolina coast early Friday and blew out windows, knocked down trees and heavily damaged ten homes. The tornado touched down around 1 a.m. with maximum winds of...
Earthquakes Knock Out Power in Oklahoma Town
Sep 27 2015 // Two earthquakes — including one of magnitude 4.0 — rattled Cushing, Okla., and caused power outages, but no injuries or significant damage is reported. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 4.0 magnitude quake struck at...
Expert: Kansas Fracking Restrictions Coincide with Less Intense Quakes
Sep 25 2015 // A limit on the injection of saltwater into the ground by oil producers coincided with less intense earthquakes in south-central Kansas, according to a state geologist. The reduction in the magnitude of earthquakes mirrored...
Dujuan Strengthens; Threatens Ryukyu’s, Japan,Taiwan, China: AccuWeather
Sep 25 2015 // AccuWeather has reported that Tropical Storm Dujuan is on track to strengthen into a powerful typhoon with Japan’s Ryukyu Islands in its path and mainland Japan, Taiwan and eastern China on alert for potential...
CoreLogic Adds Probabilistic Flood Model to Risk Management Program
Sep 25 2015 // CoreLogic, a residential property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, has released an expanded version of its natural catastrophe risk management program, which features a probabilistic flood model...
Southwest Louisiana Town Still Struggles a Decade after Hurricane Rita
Sep 24 2015 // Vacant slabs, weed-choked lots and solitary stairs to nowhere permeate Cameron, a tiny town in southwest Louisiana. All that remains of the Klean-N-Kruise car wash is a rusted white sign overlooking an empty, overgrown...
Treasury Names 9 to Panel on Private Insurance Market for Terrorism Risk
Sep 24 2015 // The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the appointment of nine people to serve as members of the Advisory Committee on Risk-Sharing Mechanisms (ACRSM) to spur the private market for terrorism insurance. The...
California Blazes Destroy 2,000-plus Homes, Curb Insurer Appetites
Sep 23 2015 // A pair of massive California wildfires that have destroyed more than 2,000 structures are now considered among the most damaging fires in state history, and they could change the way insurers view risk or conduct...
Obama Declares Major Disaster in California Wildfire
Sep 23 2015 // President Barack Obama declared a major disaster Tuesday in a Northern California wildfire that has destroyed at least 1,200 homes and killed at least three people. The declaration issued for the fire that broke out in...
