Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Forecasters See Calm Hurricane Season
Apr 20 2015 // The Atlantic hurricane season in 2015 will see fewer than the average number of storms, according to Colorado State University researchers. Researchers Philip Klotzbach and William Gray said that cooler ocean temperatures...
Chubb Estimates Q1 Catastrophe Losses of $250M
Apr 20 2015 // The Chubb Corporation announced on April 7 that it estimates the impact of losses from catastrophes for the first quarter of 2015 to be approximately $250 million before tax ($0.69 per share after tax). The Warren, New...
Philippines Eyes Catastrophe Bonds to Cut Post-Typhoon Rebuilding Costs
Apr 17 2015 // The Philippines suffered $13 billion of damage when Super Typhoon Haiyan tore through the country in 2013, a year after another storm killed 1,067. Now, the nation is looking at defraying the costs of future calamities...
$1B Bond Sale to Bolster Florida’s Citizens ‘Just In Case’
Apr 16 2015 // Florida hasn’t been hit by a hurricane since 2005, the longest stretch in more than a century. Its state-run property insurer isn’t taking any chances. Even though forecasters predict this year will produce the...
Catastrophe Bond Issuance Breaks New Q1 Record: Aon Benfield Report
Apr 16 2015 // Catastrophe bond issuance for the first quarter reached a record $1.7 billion – higher than any other first quarter issuance in the history of the insurance linked securities sector (ILS), according to a report published...
Penn.: Fracking Exclusion Not Allowed in Homeowners Earthquake Endorsements
Apr 15 2015 // The Pennsylvania Insurance Department issued a notice telling insurance companies that earthquake endorsements to homeowners insurance policies in Pennsylvania cannot exclude coverage for earthquakes that may be caused by...
Pacific Northwest Study Says More Could Survive Tsunami if They Can Just Walk Faster
Apr 15 2015 // About 5,500 more people could survive a major tsunami hitting the Pacific Northwest if they just walk a little faster to higher ground after roads are knocked out, a new study shows. The report published Monday in the...
Texas, Louisiana Improve Building Code Rankings; More Work Needed
Apr 14 2015 // Source: Jocelyn Augustino/FEMA Texas doesn’t have the worst score in a recent ranking of state building code systems but it’s pretty close to the bottom, according to a national organization committed to...
M3.5 Earthquake Felt Across Los Angeles Area
Apr 14 2015 // A small earthquake was felt across a wide area of Los Angeles on Sunday night, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injury. The magnitude-3.5 quake struck at 9:17 p.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said. Los...
U.S. Judge Upholds Liability of Arab Bank for Terrorist Financing
Apr 13 2015 // A U.S. judge on Wednesday rejected Arab Bank Plc’s bid to overturn a jury verdict finding it liable for knowingly supporting terrorism efforts related to a series of attacks in the Middle East. The Jordan-based bank...
Alabama Implementing New Weather Service for More Precise Tornado Warnings
Apr 10 2015 // As tornado season begins in the Tennessee Valley, the National Weather Service is implementing a warning system designed to give more specific information on approaching storms. Piloted last year in the Midwest, the...
Midwest Storms Continue; At Least 1 Killed in Illinois Tornado
Apr 10 2015 // One person was reported killed and several others injured when a large tornado swept through Northern Illinois on April 9. The Illinois towns of Fairdale, Rochelle and Kirkland sustained major damage. Fairdale, a community...
RMS Releases Updated Europe Windstorm, North Atlantic Hurricane Models
Apr 10 2015 // RMS, the Newark, Calif.-based catastrophe risk management firm, has released updated RMS Europe windstorm models and North Atlantic hurricane models. The 15.0 RMS Europe Windstorm Models’ hazard and vulnerability...
Why Homeowners Should Worry Despite ‘Calm’ Hurricane Forecast
Apr 10 2015 // The Colorado State University hurricane forecast for the Atlantic Ocean came out Thursday and called for seven named storms. That would be the fewest since 1997. The CSU forecast will be followed soon by a host of others,...
How Another Country’s Insurance Industry Is Facing Climate Change
Apr 9 2015 // Tim Grafton, chief executive of the Insurance Council of New Zealand, lives in a country surrounded by risk on all sides, and he’s unabashed in his efforts to use flooding events, frequent storms or other...
Calm Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast Due to Cooler Seas, El Nino
Apr 9 2015 // The Atlantic Ocean may have one of its quietest hurricane seasons in decades because of cooler water in the Atlantic and an El Nino in the Pacific, Colorado State University forecasters said. William Gray and Phil...
Windstorm Niklas Was Costliest Non-U.S. Event in Q1 2015: Impact Forecasting
Apr 9 2015 // Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team, released the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide...
Chubb Estimates Q1 Pre-Tax Catastrophe Losses of Approximately $250M
Apr 8 2015 // The Chubb Corporation announced Tuesday that it estimates the impact of losses from catastrophes for the first quarter of 2015 to be approximately $250 million before tax ($0.69 per share after tax). The Warren, New...
CEA Says It’s Seen No Fracking-Related Earthquake Claims
Apr 8 2015 // The California Earthquake Authority, the state-run insurance pool that is the primary source of residential earthquake coverage in the Golden State, says it hasn’t received any claims that assert human-caused...
Spring Forecast Warns of Severe Thunderstorms, Hail, Tornadoes
Apr 8 2015 // It’s again the time of year when a mix of cool air from Canada, warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and a touch of energy off the Pacific can all wrap together to unleash storms across the U.S. Midwest and...
