Latest Catastrophe Headlines

All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Aon Benfield Cat Report: Severe Winter Causes $1.8bn Econ. Loss in Europe

Apr 5 2013 // The latest catastrophe report for the month of March from Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, highlights the sub-freezing temperatures across Europe, which have...

Report Praises Response To Deadly Colorado Wildfire

Apr 4 2013 // A review of the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history released Wednesday found much to praise and few problems in the way Colorado Springs agencies responded. Investigators say the June 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire on...

Contractor Sued Over Joplin Tornado Waste

Apr 3 2013 // Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is suing a southwest Missouri company for allegedly dumping tornado waste from Joplin into an abandoned mine shaft. Koster on April 1 announced the suit against Bryan Weldon and...

April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii

Apr 3 2013 // Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie named April 2013 Tsunami Awareness Month. Abercrombie held a ceremony at the state Capitol on Monday to sign the proclamation. Several agencies participated in the ceremony, including the...

Forecaster Gray Sees Active Hurricane Season Ahead

Apr 3 2013 // Forecaster William Gray said he expects a very active hurricane season, but he’s not yet giving likely numbers of named storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes. Gray told hundreds of people at the National Hurricane...

AIR Worldwide Announces New Public Risk Services Group

Apr 3 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has announced the availability of Public Risk Services, which it describes as a “new consulting service to support the needs of public sector institutions and stakeholders...

Georgia Residents Recall Tornado of 40 Years Ago

Apr 3 2013 // Like many people who lived in Athens, Georgia at the time, Anne Shepherd clearly remembers March 31, 1973 — the day the tornado hit. Shepherd, owner of downtown’s Chick Music store, had gone out to a house on North...

State Intelligence Report Highlights Threats to Texas

Apr 2 2013 // While organized crime is seen as the most significant public safety threat in Texas, drunk driving, natural disasters, terrorism, industrial accidents and cyber security also are among the major threats that keep lawmakers...

ImpactWeather: Hurricanes in 2013 Will Be More Severe Than in 2012

Mar 29 2013 // Houston-based ImpactWeather predicts that 2013 will bring a series of hurricanes more severe than 2012. In an announcement released by the company, Senior ImpactWeather Meteorologist Chris Hebert provided the following...

Loss from Tennessee Wildfire Estimated at $12 MIllion

Mar 29 2013 // Sevier County, Tennessee authorities estimate the loss in a wildfire earlier this month at about $12 million. The Mountain Press reported the figure includes only the value of the cabins destroyed or damaged in the March...

Earthquake Rattles Central Taiwan; Causes Minor Damage: AIR Worldwide

Mar 29 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reports that a “magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck central Taiwan on March 27, 2013, at 10:03 a.m. local time (02:03:20 UTC). With its epicenter located at 23.840° North latitude...

Tsunami Preparedness Week in Alaska

Mar 27 2013 // Gov. Sean Parnell declared this Tsunami Preparedness Week in Alaska. Parnell, in his proclamation, says Alaska’s vast coastline is home to many communities that are vulnerable to tsunamis. He says the state also...

Insurance Covered Half of U.S. Disaster Costs in 2012: Swiss Re

Mar 27 2013 // Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters caused $186 billion in economic losses globally in 2012 and took approximately 14,000 lives, according to global insurer Swiss Re’s latest sigma study. The United States...

Swiss Re Study for 2012 Losses: $77 Bn Insured; $186 Bn Economic

Mar 27 2013 // Swiss Re has released its latest sigma study, which found that economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters reached $186 billion in 2012. Insured losses amounted to $77 billion, making 2012 the third...

Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #27

Mar 27 2013 // Agency Catastrophe Plans. How to keep a catastrophe from becoming an even bigger catastrophe. I don’t know who said it, but they correctly concluded that the best E&O audit is a natural catastrophe because so...

Texas Windstorm Insurer Board: No Receivership at This Time

Mar 26 2013 // Numerous representatives from Texas coastal counties, cities and business organizations on March 25 spoke before the board of the state’s insurer of last resort urging them to oppose the proposal by state regulators...

Q&A: Congressional Politics and Prospects for Terrorism Insurance Renewal

Mar 26 2013 // The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which was initially enacted in 2002, and amended by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2005 and the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007...

Could Global Warming Change Tornado Season?

Mar 25 2013 // With the planet heating up, many scientists seem fairly certain some weather elements like hurricanes and droughts will worsen. But tornadoes have them stumped. As the traditional tornado season nears, scientists have been...

Turning Tornado Debris Into Better Storm Warnings

Mar 22 2013 // Photos and mementoes that were snatched up and blown hundreds of miles during tornados in the south of the United States two years ago are giving researchers new insight on how debris is carried by the storms and how it...

Oregon City Fears Isolation After Major Earthquake

Mar 21 2013 // Officials in Medford say an emerging state plan for recovering from a major earthquake would keep their region isolated from the rest of Oregon for a lengthy period because repair efforts to get traffic moving north-south...