Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
The Anatomy of Terrorism from BBC Correspondent Fergal Keane
Jun 2 2014 // BBC correspondent Fergal Keane, who’s been reporting from the world’s hotspots for 25 years, told delegates in his keynote speech at the recent European Insurance Forum in Dublin that the terrorist mind set,...
Pacific Ocean Is Key to Atlantic Hurricane Season
Jun 2 2014 // The Pacific Ocean holds one of the keys that forecasters say will determine how many hurricanes and tropical storms develop in the Atlantic this year. The size of the six-month storm season, which started June 1, may...
Professional Sports Teams Looking for Terrorism Insurance Win in Congress
Jun 2 2014 // Renewal of a U.S. terrorism insurance plan is gaining momentum in Congress, thanks to some big-league backing from a coalition that includes professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey leagues. The sports...
Flights Resume to Australian City of Darwin as Indonesian Volcano Calms
Jun 2 2014 // Flights resumed to and from Australia’s northernmost city of Darwin on Sunday after they were suspended for more than a day due to clouds of ash from an Indonesian volcano. Friday’s eruption of Sangeang Api...
U.S. Report: Climate Change Here, Deal With It
Jun 2 2014 // Climate change is in the here and now, according to a massive new report. The White House’s National Climate Assessment report is part of President Barack Obama’s effort to prepare the nation for the impacts of...
1 Year Later, Moore Is Study in Resilience
Jun 2 2014 // Just over one year ago, a deadly EF5 tornado ripped through Moore, Okla., making it the third most violent storm in less than 15 years to pummel the small city, which was struck by an EF5 tornado in 1999, and an EF4 in...
California’s Next Mega Fire, This Could Be the Year
Jun 2 2014 // When Thomas Jeffery visits states like California, he likes to take some time out to drive around and take a hard look at the conditions and the landscape. As a scientist, Jeffery feels this helps put first-person...
NOAA: Near- Or Above-Normal Central Pacific Hurricane Season
Jun 2 2014 // Climate conditions point to a near-normal or above-normal hurricane season in the Central Pacific Basin this year with patterns possibly affected by an El Nino weather pattern, NOAA’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center...
Hurricane Forecasts’ Consensus Is for Near-or-Below Normal Season
Jun 2 2014 // In its 2014 Atlantic hurricane season outlook, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has forecast a near-normal or below-normal season. NOAA said the main driver of this year’s outlook is the anticipated development...
CEA: Policy Sales Spiked Following California March Temblor
May 30 2014 // California Earthquake Authority insurance policy sales jumped following the March 29 magnitude 5.1 La Habra earthquake by nearly as much as the spike in policy sales following the March 11, 2011, magnitude-9.0 Tohoku...
Will the NFIP Survive this Year’s Hurricane Season?
May 30 2014 // This Sunday, June 1, marks the start of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season. And though experts are predicting a relatively quiet one this year, our dutiful representatives in Congress have done their darnedest to ensure...
Weather Service: North Dakota Tornado Was EF-2
May 30 2014 // A rare North Dakota tornado that critically injured a 15-year-old girl and hurt eight other people at a workers’ camp in the heart of the state’s booming oil patch packed winds that peaked at 120 mph, the...
Understanding Wildfire Risk: A Closer Look at the Wildland-Urban Interface
May 30 2014 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. More than 21,500 fires have burned nearly 700,000 acres so far in 2014 (as of May 29, 2014), and these fires have been caused by both lightning strikes and more...
Florida Benefits As Yield-Thirsty Investors Line Up for Hurricane Bonds
May 30 2014 // In 2008, Florida’s government-run property insurer paid Warren Buffett $224 million to agree to buy its debt if a major storm struck. Six hurricane-free years later, the state is turning investors away. With...
Various Factors Contributing to Stability in Property/Casualty Insurance Market
May 29 2014 // The federal terrorism risk insurance backstop, in place in one form or another since 2002, will likely be reauthorized by Congress, and in the absence of a major catastrophe — man-made or otherwise — the current...
New Texas Windstorm Rules Establish Method for Issuing Bonds
May 29 2014 // New rules posted by Texas insurance regulators on May 23 implement a process by which bonds may be issued on behalf of the state’s wind insurer of last resort for properties along the Texas coast. The Texas...
California Wildfire Zone Treated to Calmer Weather
May 29 2014 // Weather looks to be friendlier for firefighters today as they hope to fully contain a Central California wildfire that led to the destruction of two homes. Some 50 residents were allowed to return to their homes Wednesday...
New York Tornado Almost Hit Stored Fireworks
May 29 2014 // The tornado that touched down in rural eastern New York last week nearly caused a big bang. The owner of a fireworks business said the EF3-rated twister narrowly missed steel storage containers with thousands of pounds of...
Falling Reinsurance Rates by Cat Bond Competition Eroding Primary Prices: Zurich
May 29 2014 // A slide in reinsurance rates under competition from catastrophe bonds is starting to weigh on prices that companies like Zurich Insurance Group AG charge their own customers. The decline in the cost of reinsurance is...
New York City Officials Launch Hurricane Awareness Campaign
May 28 2014 // New York City officials are launching a hurricane awareness campaign to help residents prepare for the upcoming storm season. “Know Your Zone” is being billed as a “one-stop-shop” for hurricane...
