Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Twenty Years Later Big Lesson From Northridge Quake Lost
Jan 17 2014 // Twenty years ago today a big one hit the Los Angeles area, killing several people and injuring thousands, damaging tens of thousands of properties, shutting down businesses, putting out of operation some of the...
PERILS Initial Loss Estimate for Windstorm Xaver is $925 Million
Jan 17 2014 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, announced that its initial loss estimate for windstorm Xaver, which affected Western and Northern Europe on 5 and 6...
Threats from Cyber Crime, Terrorism Under-Rated by Captives: Aon Report
Jan 17 2014 // Aon Global Risk Consulting, the risk management consulting arm of Aon plc has conducted further research to understand more about organizations’ attitudes to the top threats they face in today’s hyper connected...
Southern California Wildfire Prompts Evacuations
Jan 16 2014 // A wildfire burned out of control near homes in the dry foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains early Thursday, fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds that spit embers into neighborhoods in the city below. Evacuations were ordered...
Cat Bond Coverage Reaches Record $20 Billion: Aon Benfield ILS study
Jan 14 2014 // In its latest report Aon Benfield Securities, the investment banking division of global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor Aon Benfield, noted that the fourth quarter of 2014 continued to see more...
Virginia Tech, USGS Install Seismic Stations in Central Va. for Earthquake Study
Jan 13 2014 // Researchers are preparing to conduct a two-month study of earthquakes in central Virginia, a region that has a history of seismic activity. Twenty seismic stations are being installed for the study by researchers from...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Releases Questionable Emails to Attorney
Jan 13 2014 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) announced it has released to a litigator what it calls “potentially offensive” emails as part of discovery in a lawsuit against the insurer brought on behalf of...
Tennessee Survived 36 Tornadoes in 2013
Jan 8 2014 // Tennessee had 36 tornadoes in 2013 with no fatalities. According to National Weather Service Meteorologist Bobby Boyd, in the Nashville office, 25 of the state’s tornadoes took place in January. March and June saw...
Europe Hit by $2.25 B Economic Loss: Impact Forecasting December Cat Report
Jan 8 2014 // Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has issued its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report for December 2013. It highlights the impact on Europe of a series of...
Aon Benfield Securities Places $250 Million Cat Bond for QBE’s VenTerra Re
Jan 7 2014 // Aon Benfield Securities, the investment banking division of global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor Aon Benfield, announced that it has successfully underwritten and placed a $250 million catastrophe bond...
Munich Re’s Review of 2013 Cat Losses Focuses on Weather-Related Events
Jan 7 2014 // In its annual review of loss events in the past year, Munich Re emphasized the “exceptionally high losses from weather-related catastrophes in Europe and Supertyphoon Haiyan,” which, the report said,...
$1.5B in Louisiana Hurricane Recovery Aid Remains Unspent
Jan 3 2014 // Louisiana has yet to spend $1.5 billion of federal disaster recovery aid provided by Congress after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike ravaged the state in 2005 and 2008. The flexible block grant rebuilding and...
Lloyd’s Underwriters Warn of Rising Danger from Cyber Terrorism
Jan 3 2014 // An article on the Lloyd’s website notes that “industrial facilities from nuclear plants to dams are increasingly coming under attack from cyber terrorists bent on causing physical damage and disruption from...
Joplin, Missouri Publishes Book Featuring Tornado Experiences
Jan 2 2014 // Joplin has published a collection of stories that chronicle the 2011 tornado that devastated the southwest Missouri city. The book, titled “Joplin Pays It Forward,” can be downloaded for free at the...
Second Suicide Bomber in Russia’s Volgograd Kills 14 on Bus
Dec 31 2013 // A bomb ripped a bus apart in Volgograd on Monday, killing 14 people in the second deadly attack blamed on suicide bombers in the southern Russian city in 24 hours and raising fears of Islamist attacks on the Winter...
Reinsurance Rates Down by 11% for January Renewals: Guy Carpenter Survey
Dec 30 2013 // Guy Carpenter & Co. has reported that reinsurance rates-on-line fell at the January 1, 2014 renewal in nearly all classes and regions. The reinsurance broker’s global renewal report pointed to “strong...
Terrorism Insurance Extended to Four Airlines
Dec 29 2013 // U.S. government insurance that guarantees airlines are covered against terrorism and war was extended for four carriers, including Virgin America Inc., that otherwise would have lost coverage at the end of the...
CoreLogic Acquires Catastrophe Modeling Firm Eqecat
Dec 29 2013 // CoreLogic, an Irivine, Calif. company that provides the insurance, financial services and real estate industries with data and analytics, has acquired catastrophe modeling firm Eqecat from ABS Group. Alyson Austin,...
Oklahoma Homes Earthquake Shaken On Christmas
Dec 27 2013 // It wasn’t Santa and his reindeer landing on roofs that shook some central Oklahoma homes early Christmas morning. A small earthquake struck near Spencer at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the U.S. Geology...
In Rural Mississippi, Recovery Uneven a Year After Tornado
Dec 27 2013 // A year after a strong tornado hit Mississippi’s rural Pearl River County, residents are recovering unevenly. Sue Hubbard’s family has a new metal roof on their new house, thanks in part to insurance payments....
