Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California’s Next Mega Fire, This Could be The Year
May 13 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...
New Mexico Wildfire Spreading Uncontained
May 13 2014 // An uncontained wildfire in New Mexico is approaching 5,000 acres is threatening several structures, ranches and campgrounds, and has forced some evacuations, according to fire officials. The Signal Fire 10 miles north of...
75 Homes Destroyed in Texas Panhandle Wildfire
May 13 2014 // Emergency officials say about 75 homes are destroyed and hundreds of people have evacuated the area after a wildfire burned up to 2 square miles in the Texas Panhandle. The Texas Department of Public Safety said in an...
Wildfire Season Starts Early Amid Drought; Costs to Top $1 Billion
May 13 2014 // U.S. states plagued by historic drought are bracing for an early wildfire season with a cost that may rise as high as $1.8 billion, or almost $500,000 more than what’s available to control the blazes. Oklahomans...
EF2 Tornado Hammers Missouri Town, State of Emergency Declared
May 12 2014 // Residents in a small northwest Missouri town that took a direct hit from an EF2 tornado were busy on May 11 assessing damage and rescheduling events, like the coming high school graduation. The tornado Saturday evening in...
Insured Disaster Losses Higher in Oklahoma Than in Any Other State in 2013
May 12 2014 // May 20, 2014, marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly tornado outbreak in Moore, Oklahoma, which contributed to the state’s designation as the site of the costliest U.S. natural disasters in 2013, according to...
Mississippi Approves $17M for Tornado Recovery
May 12 2014 // The Mississippi Legislature met in a three-hour session Thursday approved $17 million to help pay for recovery from disasters, including tornadoes that recently pounded the state. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed the...
There’s Devils in Big Data, but Help is Available from Inhance
May 12 2014 // Computer technology has revolutionized the collection and use of massive amounts of data, and yet, somewhat ironically, it’s frequently harder to find what one actually needs. Aphorisms abound – “big...
Swiss Re CFO Warns Cat Bond Yields May Attract Inexperienced Buyers
May 9 2014 // Swiss Re’s new Chief Financial Officer, David Cole, said high yields for insurance-linked securities [ILS], such as catastrophe bonds, may lure inexperienced buyers not prepared for the risks they carry. “The...
Investigators Say Controlled Burn not Cause of Oklahoma Wildfire
May 8 2014 // A stubborn wildfire that has killed one person and destroyed at least 10 homes continued to burn north of Oklahoma City on as investigators narrowed down the cause of the blaze. The wildfire in rural Logan County has...
Mississippi to Hold Special Session to Address Tornado Costs
May 8 2014 // Gov. Phil Bryant has called the Mississippi Legislature into special session starting Thursday to help pay state government’s share of recovery costs after the deadly April 28 tornadoes. The governor said Tuesday...
Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting Highlights U.S. Losses in April Cat Report
May 8 2014 // Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting’s latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, Highlights the “multi-day outbreak of severe weather and flash flooding in the U.S.”, which, the...
April’s Storms in U.S. Take Toll on Economy, Insurance
May 8 2014 // April’s outbreak of severe weather and flash flooding in the U.S. will likely be the first billion-dollar economic loss event of 2014 attributed to convective thunderstorms, according to a report by Aon...
Increase in Oklahoma Tremors a Cause for Concern, Authorities Say
May 7 2014 // The rate of earthquakes in Oklahoma has increased by about 50 percent since October 2013, significantly increasing the chance for a damaging quake in the central part of the state, federal and state agencies said. The U.S....
Mississippi Gov. Bryant Eyes Special Session on Tornado Damage
May 7 2014 // Gov. Phil Bryant may call the Mississippi Legislature into special session to help pay state government’s share of tornado recovery costs. Speaking in Louisville, Bryant told reporters that the state believes that it...
‘Inhance’ Launched to Plug Re/Insurers’ Cat Loss Information Gaps
May 7 2014 // Lloyd’s Old Library was the setting yesterday for the launch of inhance, a new product designed to close gaps in existing models that continue to expose re/insurers – and companies – to unexpected catastrophe...
U.S. Report: Climate Change Here, Deal With It
May 6 2014 // Climate change is in the here and now, according to a massive report issued on Tuesday. The White House’s National Climate Assessment report is part of President Barack Obama’s effort to prepare the nation for...
Deadly Wildfire Spreads in Oklahoma, 1,000 Evacuate
May 6 2014 // Firefighters facing another hot and windy forecast worked on May 5 to battle a large wildfire in central Oklahoma that destroyed at least six homes and left one person dead after a controlled burn spread out of...
AIG Profit Falls 27% in Q1; Hurt by Catastrophes, Severe Losses
May 6 2014 // Global insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG) reported net income of $1.6 billion for the first quarter, a 27 percent drop compared to $2.2 billion for the first quarter of 2013. After-tax operating income was...
Some In Tupelo Say Warning Sirens Never Sounded Before Tornado
May 5 2014 // Some people in Tupelo are saying that warning sirens failed to sound before a tornado struck the city Monday afternoon. Resident LaShona Jamison, who has a siren in her backyard, told WTVA-TV that the siren never...
