Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
More Hurricane Drones to Fly Into Atlantic This Season
May 18 2015 // Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are planning to send more drones flying into hurricanes that develop during the upcoming Atlantic storm season. NOAA first launched the 13-pound...
The Value of Hurricane Forecasts
May 18 2015 // While state of the art of hurricane forecasting has improved over the last two decades, coastal exposures and populations at risk have also increased, offsetting those gains. Given the importance of forecasts to the...
Texas Senate Passes Property Claim Litigation Bill
May 18 2015 // The Texas Senate on April 30 passed a bill aimed at stemming the onslaught of property claim litigation that has been occurring with increasing frequency in the state following natural catastrophes. Advocates of Senate...
Fracking, Earthquakes and Insurance: A Collision Course?
May 18 2015 // There is increasing information suggesting that hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking,” is not all it’s cracked up to be. While it is clear that the resurgence of oil and gas production in the...
Florida’s Hurricane Insurance Fund Replenished and Ready After 9 Quiet Years
May 15 2015 // Florida’s nine-year streak of avoiding hurricanes is helping the state reach a historic milestone: for the first time ever, the state-created fund designed to help pay out claims after storms has enough cash and...
South Dakota Tornado Damaged 84 Structures
May 14 2015 // Officials have confirmed damage to 84 structures from the tornado that ripped through the southeastern South Dakota town of Delmont on May 10. State Public Safety spokesman Tony Mangan says six of the structures were in...
Willis Re Launches $400M Reinsurance Facility to Cover Catastrophic Liabilities
May 14 2015 // Willis Re, the reinsurance division of Willis Group Holdings plc, has established a syndicated reinsurance facility providing the broadest protection available for insurers against catastrophic and systemic loss...
Fitch Upgrades Citizens to ‘AA-‘, Outlook Stable
May 14 2015 // Fitch Ratings has upgraded the rating on the following senior secured bonds of the Citizens Property Insurance Corp., FL, PLA/CLA to ‘AA-‘ from ‘A+’: –$1.1 billion series 2012A-1; –$200...
Coalition Wants Well Moratorium in Oklahoma Earthquake Areas
May 12 2015 // A coalition of environmental and grassroots organizations is calling for a moratorium on the use of wastewater disposal wells by the oil and natural gas industry in areas where they may trigger earthquakes. Members of the...
Iowa, South Dakota Towns Assessing Tornado Damage
May 12 2015 // Residents of the tornado-ravaged Iowa and South Dakota towns are beginning to assess property damage after twisters hit on Sunday. In South Dakota, the Tripp-Delmont School District called off classes on May 11 because...
5 Dead After Twisters Hit Texas, Arkansas
May 12 2015 // Emergency responders on May 11 searched through wreckage in parts of the states of Texas and Arkansas after a line of tornadoes battered several small communities, killing at least five people, including a young couple...
Super Typhoon Noul Delivers Glancing Blow to the Philippines: AIR Analysis
May 12 2015 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Super Typhoon Noul “made a brief landfall along the mountainous northeastern tip of the main Philippine island of Luzon near the small city of Santa Ana, late...
Earthquake in Nepal Kills at Least 41, Injures Many, on Heels of April Temblor
May 12 2015 // An earthquake in Nepal on Tuesday killed at least 41 people and injured more than 1,000, a little over two weeks after thousands died in an even more powerful temblor. The 7.3 magnitude quake at 12:35 p.m. Indian time was...
A.M. Best: Australia’s Nat Cat Losses Will Challenge Underwriting Profits
May 12 2015 // A string of recent major natural catastrophe events in Australia is expected to materially affect non-life insurers’ upcoming earnings for the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2015, according to an A.M....
Wild Weather Leaves 1 Dead in Texas; Tornados, Flooding Reported
May 11 2015 // Several tornadoes ripped through the northern part of Texas, leaving one person dead and others unaccounted for in a sparsely populated area over the weekend, authorities said. One of the tornadoes on Saturday shattered...
Toward Sensible Risk Management of Earthquake Risk in Energy Production
May 11 2015 // Underground disposal of waste water produced from oil and natural gas wells has been blamed for triggering thousands of small earthquakes in Oklahoma and a number of other U.S. states since 2009. Heightened seismic...
$952 Million: PERILS Initial Loss Estimate for Windstorm Mike-Niklas
May 11 2015 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has given an initial estimate for windstorm Mike-Niklas (Lentestorm in the Netherlands) of €853 million [$952...
North Carolina Debt Option Proposed by Lawmakers to Pay Catastrophic Claims
May 11 2015 // The state-sanctioned property insurance program in North Carolina coastal counties could borrow to pay for extreme catastrophic losses from hurricanes in legislation making its way through the General Assembly. The House...
Update: North, South Carolina Coastline Warned on Subtropical Storm Ana
May 8 2015 // The National Hurricane Center issued a Tropical Storm Warning from South Santee River, South Carolina to Surf City, North Carolina due to subtropical storm Ana. A Tropical Storm Watch remains in effect for Edisto Beach,...
Nepal Quake Impact ‘Minimal on Global Reinsurers;’ Locally Severe: A.M. Best
May 8 2015 // A.M. Best’s analysis of the damages caused by the earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, describes the “significant property damages and fatalities in the Himalayan country.” However, no accurate...
