Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Today’s Commercial Property Market in ‘Better Place’ Brokers Assess 4 Current Trends: Vacancies, Alternatives, Valuations, Wildfires
Apr 7 2025 // Commercial property insurance rates continue to fall for most accounts after most property insurers saw profitable books in 2024. That’s good news for insureds, commercial property brokers say, as clients begin to...
An Insurance Journalist’s Perspective on Southern California’a Wildfires
Apr 7 2025 // PART ONE OF A TWO-PART SERIES It was pitch black in the house and the power was off. The Santa Ana winds were howling. As planned, my wife, Jenny, gathered our two dogs and cat and scurried them into her car as I shuttled...
Early CSU Hurricane Season Forecast Calls for ‘Above-Average’ Activity
Apr 3 2025 // The team of hurricane researchers at Colorado State University has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season for 2025. CSU’s initial forecast of the hurricane season issued April 3 calls for 17 named...
Severe Storm Threatens Central US With Heavy Rains, Tornadoes
Apr 2 2025 // Heavy rain, severe thunderstorms and the risk of tornadoes are threatening more than 40 million people from Michigan to Texas as a slow-moving cold front hovers over the region. There’s a rare high risk for damaging...
Verisk Buy of Nasdaq Subsidiary Gains Access to Hundreds of Catastrophe Models
Apr 2 2025 // Verisk said today it has acquired Nasdaq subsidiary Simplitium Limited, the owner and operator Nasdaq Risk Modelling for Catastrophes (NRMC). NRMC is a software-as-a-service platform that supports an open ecosystem where...
Viewpoint: Smoke Damage from LA Wildfires Leaves Questions to Be Answered
Apr 2 2025 // The question has come up wondering if smoke damage is covered for those homes that were impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires but were not damaged by the actual fires. A cloud of smoke from a fire is larger than the actual...
As Wildfire Season Arrives, Budget Woes and Federal Uncertainty Put States at Risk
Mar 31 2025 // Budget woes, combined with cuts to the federal wildfire-fighting workforce and President Donald Trump’s tariff and sovereignty threats against Canada, have made it more difficult for state officials to plan for the...
Department of Labor Award Continues Disaster-Relief Jobs for Maui Wildfires
Mar 31 2025 // The U.S. Department of Labor is awarding $2.5 million to Hawaii to continue employment and training services and support disaster-relief jobs for people in communities affected by the wildfires that swept across the island...
State Farm Has Paid Out $2.5 Billion for LA Wildfires
Mar 28 2025 // State Farm has reported paying out $2.5 billion for the Los Angeles wildfires in January, more than double what the carrier reported paying out weeks earlier. “As of March 28, we’ve received more than 12,300...
California Agency Issues Guidelines for Healthcare Providers Affected by LA Wildfires
Mar 27 2025 // The California Department of Managed Health Care issued an all-plan letter designed to provide flexibility for health plans to assist healthcare providers impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires. Related: LA Municipal...
Hannover Re Renews Cloud Outage Catastrophe Bond, Structured by Parametrix
Mar 27 2025 // Hannover Re has renewed a cyber catastrophe bond that provides $20 million worth of retrocessional protection against the accumulation of losses caused by a sustained cloud-outage event during 2025-2026. Cumulus Re II is...
Unusually Active Hurricane Season in Store for the Atlantic: AccuWeather
Mar 27 2025 // Another above-average hurricane season will threaten the Atlantic this year, with as many as six storms affecting the US, AccuWeather Inc. said. Between 13 and 18 storms will at least reach tropical storm strength, and...
Catastrophe Experts Tap AI to Tackle Soaring Insured Losses
Mar 26 2025 // Insurers are betting on a suite of new AI-driven techniques to better predict surging losses from climate-driven weather catastrophes ranging from unprecedented wildfires to hurricanes and floods. Less than three months...
Crews Battled Helene-Fueled Wildfires for Another Day in the Carolinas
Mar 26 2025 // Firefighters in North and South Carolina were battling multiple wind-driven wildfires Monday in rugged terrain that complicated containment efforts, officials said. Millions of trees knocked down by Hurricane Helene last...
South Korea Battles Wildfires as Death Toll Rises to 18
Mar 26 2025 // Wildfires ravaging South Korea over the past week have killed at least 24 people, making it the country’s worst forest fire disaster in about three decades, as firefighters struggled to contain multiple blazes that...
Wildfires in Western Japan Damage Homes, Forcing Evacuations
Mar 25 2025 // Wildfires have hit several regions in western Japan, injuring at least two people, forcing dozens of residents to evacuate and damaging a number of homes as hundreds of firefighters battled the widening blazes in the...
Wildfires in Carolinas Prompt Evacuations
Mar 25 2025 // Wildfires forced a mandatory evacuation Sunday in a North Carolina county still recovering from Hurricane Helene, and South Carolina’s governor declared an emergency in response to a growing wildfire in that state....
As Mountain Glaciers Melt, Risk of Catastrophic Flash Floods Rises for Millions
Mar 24 2025 // In mountain ranges around the world, glaciers are melting as global temperatures rise. Europe’s Alps and Pyrenees lost 40% of their glacier volume from 2000 to 2023. These and other icy regions have provided...
North Carolina Lawmakers OK Another $524M for Hurricane Helene Recovery
Mar 24 2025 // RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina lawmakers agreed Wednesday to spend another $524 million on still-pressing needs from Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding nearly six months ago, with an emphasis on home and...
ZestyAI: More Than $2 Trillion in US Homes at High Risk of Wildfires
Mar 24 2025 // While Western wildfires have dominated disaster news for decades, new analysis using artificial intelligence shows millions of homes across the country—even in the swampy Southeast—are at risk for wildfires. ZestyAI...
