Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oklahoma Seeks Assistance Following Deadly April Storms
May 7 2012 // Oklahoma’s request for federal assistance to individuals and businesses affected by an April 15 tornado that killed six in Woodward was denied but the governor is continuing with her quest for help from the U.S....
Solution for Disaster Recovery? House in a Box, Maybe
May 7 2012 // Designed to Be Catastrophe Resistant, Too In one of the New Orleans neighborhoods hit hardest by flooding in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, developers have built a prototype house that’s aimed at providing a...
Earthquake Hazard in Washington to Be Studied
May 7 2012 // The federal government is going to take another look at the potential earthquake hazard at Hanford in Washington. The seismic assessment will update the Department of Energy’s last comprehensive analysis in 1996. The...
Fewer Storms for 2012 Hurricane Season?
May 7 2012 // The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season is projected to be less active than in recent years with 11 tropical storms, six of which will intensify into hurricanes, according to Andover, Md.-based private forecaster Weather...
Meteorologist: Tornado Near Stockton, Calif., not Unusual
May 7 2012 // The National Weather Service says the tornado that struck five miles outside of Stockton, Calif., last month was not unusual for the time of year. The twister on farmland near Interstate 5 left a path of damage about a...
Burned Couple Settles Wildfire Suit For $6M
May 4 2012 // A badly burned Santa Barbara couple has settled their wildfire lawsuit against a property owner for $6 million. Lance and Carla Hoffman were overtaken by flames and nearly killed in the November 2008 Tea Fire, which was...
AIG Q1 Profit More Than Doubles to $3.21 Billion
May 4 2012 // American International Group Inc. reported $3.21 billion net income for its 2012 first quarter, a 147 percent increase from $1.30 billion net income posted during the same period one year ago. The insurer’s profit...
Aon Benfield’s April Global Cat Reports near $1 Billion in Tornado Losses
May 4 2012 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc, has released its latest edition of its Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide...
New Tool for Texas Wildfire Risk Assessment Now Available
May 4 2012 // Officials with Texas Forest Service and the Texas A&M University System announced that new tools are available to help homeowners and communities determine wildfire risk — and take measures to mitigate potential...
Florida’s Citizens Issues Largest Catastrophe Reinsurance Bond on Record
May 3 2012 // Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has entered the catastrophic bond market in a big way by issuing $750 million in bonds, making it the largest insurance-linked security deal of its kind. Citizens Property...
Willis Capital Reports Strong Growth in Cat Bond Market; $1.3 Billion in Q1
May 2 2012 // The latest Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) Market Update from Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA), part of global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, notes a “record issuance in the catastrophe bond...
South Carolina Coast Bracing for Next Wildfire
May 2 2012 // Pat Henry will long remember that April night when the western horizon glowed an eerie red, smoking embers cascaded from the sky, and she and her husband escaped their home driving through their subdivision of flaming...
More Families Building Their Own Tornado Shelters
May 2 2012 // When deadly twisters chewed through the South and Midwest in 2011, thousands of people in the killers’ paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time:...
Southern Arizona Science Project Sparks Wildfire
Apr 30 2012 // A science project at a southern Arizona school sparked a 15-acre wildfire and led to the school’s evacuation. The project involved model rockets being launched behind Elgin School. One of the rockets landed in the...
Colorado Wildfire Ambushed Crews, Surprised Residents
Apr 30 2012 // Outside the windows of Steve Foster’s pickup, Armageddon was coming. A rampage of smoke – white and streaked with black – crested the ridge to his left and bore down. It began blocking the sun, turning daylight...
Regulation, Reputational Risk Top Concerns of Risk Managers: Lloyd’s
Apr 30 2012 // A heightened focus on insurance regulation as well as exposures related to reputational risk are top concerns for insurance executives today, reports a new survey. Nearly a third of executives responding to a survey...
UK Terrorism Reinsurer Pool Re Has over $7 Billion for Olympic Games Coverage
Apr 30 2012 // Pool Re, the state-backed British reinsurer that covers terror attack-related commercial property losses, has £4.5 billion ($7.327 billion) of assets to cover the Olympic Games and is not jacking up premiums for the...
Rate Hike Proposal Sent to Board of Texas Windstorm Insurer
Apr 27 2012 // In advance of the start of hurricane season, the actuarial underwriting committee of Texas’ property insurer of last resort for coastal counties is recommending a rate increase. The committee on April 20 voted for a...
Liberty Mutual Profit Soars 26% in Q1
Apr 27 2012 // Global insurer Liberty Mutual Holding Co. Inc. and its subsidiaries reported a 26 percent jump in net income for the three months ended March 31 due to higher premiums and lower catastrophe losses. The company reported a...
GOP: Set Up Panel To Pay Colo. Wildfire Victims
Apr 26 2012 // Republicans want to create a commission to pay victims of a wildfire southwest of Denver, Colo. that killed three people and damaged two dozen homes, lawmakers said. A bill expected to be introduced this week would...
