Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oklahoma Leaders Ask ‘What Have We Learned’ from May Storms?
Jul 23 2013 // With thousands of destroyed houses, 46 deaths and damage estimates topping the $5 billion mark, victims of Oklahoma’s two EF-5 tornadoes are asking the same question: What have we learned? The answers are almost as...
Tornado Hits Ohio’s Ursuline College; No One Hurt
Jul 22 2013 // A tornado packing 110 mph winds hit Ursuline College in northeast Ohio early on July 20, collapsing a wall of the school’s athletic center and damaging other buildings but causing no injuries, officials said. The EF1...
Earthquake in China’s Gansu Province Kills 56, Injures 392, Xinhua Says
Jul 22 2013 // An earthquake in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu killed at least 56 people and injured 392, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The 6.6-magnitude quake struck at 7:45 a.m. local time in the city of Dingxi,...
Wildfires, Hail Take Toll on Colorado Homeowners Insurance
Jul 22 2013 // It’s safe to say there’s a lot going on in the homeowners insurance scene in Colorado, where homeowners insurance rates are likely to be on the rise for some time. Insured losses from the recent Black Forest...
Industry Told TRIA Won’t Be Renewed Until 2014
Jul 19 2013 // The property/casualty insurance industry should not count on Congress reauthorizing the federal terrorism reinsurance program this year or in time for January renewals, according to a key insurance lobbyist working on the...
Louisiana Clarifies Insured Loss Estimate from Hurricane Katrina
Jul 18 2013 // A recent report by financial website Kiplinger rated Louisiana as the most disaster prone state in the nation. News reports on this story have cited loss estimates of $3 billion for Hurricane Katrina and $2 billion for...
Montana Tornado Damages Property, No Injuries
Jul 18 2013 // Roosevelt County officials are assessing the damage done by a tornado that touched down about 20 miles north of Poplar, Mont. Emergency services coordinator Dan Sietsema says at least two farm sites were hit by the tornado...
Alabama Officials Practice for Hurricane Season
Jul 18 2013 // Alabama Emergency Management Agency officials received an early wake-up call Tuesday and were told that a hurricane named Juliet had made landfall about 2 a.m. near Pascagoula, Miss. Hurricane Juliet wasn’t real, but...
Report: Arizona Wildfire Grew Quickly, Was Erratic
Jul 17 2013 // A new report shows an Arizona wildfire that began with a lightning strike and caused little immediate concern because of its remote location and small size quickly grew into an inferno, leading officials to rapidly order...
MTA Plans Catastrophe Bond Sale Linked to Storm Damage, S&P Says
Jul 16 2013 // The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to use bonds designed to help New York City’s subway operator guard against storm surge damage after suffering $4.8 billion in wreckage from Hurricane Sandy.A Nov. 5,...
North Carolina Residual Market Issues $500 Million in Cat Bonds; Rate Hikes Go Into Effect
Jul 16 2013 // North Carolina’s two residual homeowners insurance markets have jointly issued $500 million in pre-event catastrophe bonds to ensure they have enough money on hand to quickly pay claims following hurricanes and other...
ACE Expands Catastrophe Capacity in North America
Jul 15 2013 // The ACE Group has increased catastrophe limits to $30 million across all its North American retail and wholesale broker-distributed commercial property lines of business. This capacity will be offered through ACE’s...
North Carolina Begins Surveying Outer Banks Residents on Evacuation
Jul 15 2013 // State and federal emergency officials will survey hundreds of Outer Banks residents to find out if they would ever evacuate for a hurricane so they can estimate how crowded roads will be when people are told to leave ahead...
‘SharkNado’ Impact on Los Angeles $100B!
Jul 12 2013 // It was a doozy. Flying, biting killer sharks literally whipped into a frenzy by freak tornadoes wreaked havoc on Los Angelenos. The catastrophe played out on the Syfy Channel on Thursday night, lighting up Twitter as the...
Taiwan Braces for Direct Hit as Typhoon Soulik Approaches
Jul 12 2013 // Taiwan is bracing for a direct hit by Typhoon Soulik early tomorrow, prompting precautionary evacuations due to the risk of landslides, and airlines predicting high winds that would disrupt flights. Soulik may make...
Wildfires, Hail Take Toll on Colorado Homeowners Insurance
Jul 11 2013 // It’s safe to say there’s a lot going on in the homeowners insurance scene in Colorado, where homeowners insurance rates are likely to be on the rise for some time. Insured losses from the recently doused Black...
Europe’s Floods Top Aon Benfield’s List of June’s Catastrophes
Jul 11 2013 // The latest report from Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, which reviews the natural disasters that occurred worldwide during June 2013, highlights the $22 billion in...
Taiwan Sounds Sea Warning as Severe Typhoon Soulik Approaches
Jul 11 2013 // Taiwan told people to clear the seas as a storm with winds gusting as fast as 227 kilometers (141 miles) per hour loomed off its eastern coast. Typhoon Soulik, a severe typhoon, approached Taiwan at 22 kilometers per hour...
Wildfire Nears Las Vegas Area
Jul 10 2013 // Fire crews burned forest undergrowth near homes in the mountains northwest of Las Vegas to protect them from one of two large Nevada wildfires while local casino owners offered rooms to evacuees. The wildfire burning...
Chubb Estimates Q2 Catastrophe Losses at $240M
Jul 10 2013 // The Chubb Corp. estimates that catastrophe losses in the second quarter will be approximately $240 million before tax, or $156 million after tax ($0.60 per share after tax). The company said that about $175 million of the...
