Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Weather Service in Oklahoma Runs Social Media ‘Tornado Drill’
Mar 13 2014 // Melody Holeman has no TV and lives in such a rural part of the Oklahoma Panhandle that she can’t even pick up a signal on the weather radio that the Red Cross gave her. When powerful storms barrel through the area,...
Alaska Earthquakes Felt In Communities
Mar 13 2014 // Seismologists say two Alaska earthquakes were felt in communities this week. One earthquake occurred at 12:43 a.m. Wednesday in the Cook Inlet region of the state. The 4.6 magnitude quake was centered 62 miles southwest of...
Genstar Capital in Northern California Creates Earthquake Insurance Platform
Mar 12 2014 // Mid-market private equity firm Genstar Capital Management LLC has partnered with an insurance industry veteran to create a new platform company, Palomar Insurance Holdings, which will initially serve as a provider of...
Study To Review Texas Hurricane Protection Ideas
Mar 11 2014 // A new $4 million study will look at two ideas that have been proposed as ways to protect the Houston area from hurricane storm surges that could cause billions of dollars in damage and wreak havoc on the largest...
M6.9 Quake Strikes off Northern California Coast
Mar 10 2014 // A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Eureka in Northern California, shaking regions as far away as San Francisco and parts of Oregon, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake, which...
Oklahoma Kids Get Helmets for Tornado Protection
Mar 10 2014 // As many as 34,000 students and workers in the Moore school district in Oklahoma soon will have access to helmets to protect them during severe weather. Moore Helmets for Schools, a group of volunteers headed by the mother...
Kansas Researcher Seeks Clue to Some Tornadoes’ Paths
Mar 10 2014 // Weather officials in Kansas will be watching major thunderstorms this year for a clue about wind speeds that may help indicate the path of potential tornadoes. The research stems from tornadoes last year in Kansas and...
A Buyer’s Market for Reinsurance
Mar 10 2014 // For insurance companies, now is a good time to buy reinsurance. Prices are down and terms and conditions are favorable, according to Mathew Wulf, vice president, state relations and assistant general counsel, for the...
Oklahoma Congressman’s Proposal Would Extend Lead Time for Tornado Warnings
Mar 10 2014 // An Oklahoma congressman has proposed legislation that would make the protection of people and property a priority for federal weather forecasters and extend the lead time for tornado warnings. Oklahoma Insurance...
National Weather Service Warns Accuracy of Forecasts in Danger Over Damaged Buoys
Mar 7 2014 // The National Weather Service is set to start repairing 70 towering buoys used to track El Nino and La Nina patterns, whose damage has led scientists to warn the accuracy of forecasts is in danger. The Tropical Atmospheric...
February Stoms Caused $1 Billion Insured Losses: Aon Benfield’s Cat Report
Mar 6 2014 // Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has released its latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that...
Aon Benfield Securities Completes Quake Protection for Israeli insurer I.D.I.
Mar 5 2014 // Aon Benfield Securities, the investment banking division of global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor Aon Benfield, announced that it has “successfully completed a ‘Cat in the Box’ transaction...
Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting Releases Updated European Windstorm Model
Mar 5 2014 // Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has launched its new European windstorm model. The model, which has been in development for the last three years, “offers an...
University Of Nevada Earthquake Lab Now World’s 2nd Biggest
Mar 4 2014 // There’s a whole lot of shakin’ going on at the University of Nevada, Reno. UNR’s seismic-simulation facility became the largest in the United States and second largest in the world this week with an...
Alabama Churches Destroyed by Tornado in 2011 Reopen Their Doors
Mar 4 2014 // Two Alberta churches that were destroyed by the tornado that decimated that section of the city on April 27, 2011, have reopened their doors after being displaced for nearly three years. “The fact that this is home...
Oklahoma Congressman’s Proposal Would Extend Lead Time for Tornado Warnings
Mar 3 2014 // An Oklahoma congressman has proposed legislation that would make the protection of people and property a priority for federal weather forecasters and extend the lead time for tornado warnings. Oklahoma Insurance...
Texas Seeks Comments on Rule Extending Time to File Windstorm Claims
Feb 28 2014 // The Texas Department of Insurance is seeking informal comments on a draft rule outlining how a policyholder with the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association may request additional time for filing a claim with TWIA. Insurance...
Guy Carpenter Launches Satellite-Based Catastrophe Evaluation Service
Feb 25 2014 // Guy Carpenter & Co., the global risk and reinsurance specialist and member of Marsh & McLennan Companies, has announced the launch of its new satellite-based catastrophe evaluation service, GC CAT-VIEWSM. It has...
What Might Terrorists Do Next?
Feb 24 2014 // The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks created an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty. No one knew how many more large-scale attacks were in the pipeline. Might more Mohammad Attas already be in the country making the...
Report Blames ‘Reckless’ Captain for Sinking ‘Bounty’ Off North Carolina Coast in 2012
Feb 24 2014 // A captain’s “reckless decision to sail into the well-forecasted path of Hurricane Sandy” was the probable cause of the sinking of a tall ship off the North Carolina coast in October, 2012, the National...
