Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Nix the Tape on Home Windows, Say Hurricane Officials
Mar 29 2012 // Officials with the National Hurricane Center had a message this week for residents living in hurricane-prone areas: Don’t tape your windows. Center officials are joining with a consumer advocate group at the National...
Alabama Insurance Commission Backs Catastrophe Savings Accounts
Mar 29 2012 // A commission put together by Gov. Robert Bentley has made its first recommendations about the availability and affordability of homeowners’ insurance. The Affordable Homeowners Insurance Commission said it decided to...
Lloyd’s Posts $822 Million Overall Loss for 2011
Mar 28 2012 // The loss, announced today by Lloyd’s of London, shows just how severe the second costliest year for catastrophes on record for the insurance industry actually was. Lloyd’s announced a loss of £516 million...
$370 Billion Econ. Losses for 2011; $116 Billion Insured, Says Swiss Re
Mar 28 2012 // Although everyone is more or less aware that 2011 was a very bad year for losses from natural catastrophes, the figures compiled by Swiss Re evince just how bad they actually were. In its latest sigma study the reinsurer...
FEMA Director: Private Sector Needs ‘Seat at the Table’ in Disaster Response
Mar 28 2012 // The private sector should be engaged early and often in preparing for and responding to natural disasters like hurricanes, the top U.S. emergency management official says. Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal...
It’s Tsunami Preparedness Week, Now Go Sell a Policy
Mar 27 2012 // It’s Tsunami Preparedness Week, and that means states that border the Pacific Ocean may be hearing more buzz about the rare but deadly act of nature that poses catastrophic risks to coastal regions. If you’re...
Agents Inundated with Customer Calls Following Texas Wildfires
Mar 27 2012 // When wildfires began breaking out across Texas last year in April, homeowners began contacting their insurance agents about their coverage or in some cases lack of coverage. Agents located near many of the fires were...
AIR Analyzes Chile Quake: No Tsunami; Minimal Damages Reported
Mar 27 2012 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide’s report on the earthquake that struck central Chile on Sunday night concludes that, although the quake was a strong tremor – magnitude 7.1 – minimal damages are expected,...
Alabama Has Not Yet Addressed Home Insurance Costs, Availability
Mar 26 2012 // Gov. Robert Bentley has not yet kept a campaign promise he made in 2010 to have the Legislature address the rising cost and declining availability of homeowners’ insurance in Alabama. Almost a year has passed since...
Kentucky Lawmakers Working on Tax Break for Tornado Victims
Mar 21 2012 // Leaders of both parties in the Kentucky Legislature are working together to provide sales tax relief to residents of the 21 counties declared disaster areas by President Barack Obama following March 2 tornadoes. Rep. John...
Tornadoes Injured at Least 8 in San Antonio Area
Mar 21 2012 // Officials say at least two tornadoes in the San Antonio area on March 20 damaged about 30 structures and injured at least eight people. Medina County Judge Jim Barden said that four people were hospitalized after the...
Michigan Fire Chief: 207 Homes Damaged by Tornado
Mar 21 2012 // Officials now say 207 homes were damaged in last week’s tornado in Dexter, Mich., and about 20 will need to be demolished. Dexter Area Fire Chief Loren Yates provided the figures on March 19. Officials initially said...
AIR Assessing Damage Picture from Mexico’s Earthquake
Mar 21 2012 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has issued a bulletin analyzing the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck southwestern Mexico yesterday. Dr. Tao Lai, Principal Engineer at AIR Worldwide, explained that the...
Websites Reunite Tornado Victims with Lost Belongings
Mar 20 2012 // There were a yellow football jersey, wrinkled prom photos, canceled checks and a birth certificate. There were wedding photos and pages from a scrapbook that elementary students made for their teacher. When the deadly...
Michigan Catastrophic Injury Premium to Go to $175 Per Car
Mar 19 2012 // Michigan drivers will pay $30 more for auto insurance starting July 1 to care for accident victims who have brain damage, paralysis or other catastrophic injuries, raising the annual fee to $175 per vehicle. The Michigan...
A Role for Characteristic Event Methodology in Catastrophe Risk Management
Mar 19 2012 // When catastrophe models were first introduced in the late 1980s, they provided insurance and reinsurance companies with an improved methodology to estimate potential catastrophe losses from hurricanes. While the models...
Tornado Response
Mar 19 2012 // Branson, Mo., city officials said they were mostly happy with the emergency response to a tornado that hit the tourist city on Feb. 29. Police Chief Kent Crutcher said emergency response was mostly positive in the hours...
Insurance Claims from Recent Tornadoes May Top $1B
Mar 19 2012 // March came in like a very large and powerful lion, spawning severe weather across the Midwest, South and southeastern United States. Insured losses from the tornadoes, hail and high winds that struck in late February and...
Liberty Mutual Posts $284M Q4 Income, Diversifies Business
Mar 19 2012 // Liberty Mutual Group reported $284 million in net profit for its 2011 fourth quarter — down 50.7 percent compared to the same period one year ago. The insurer said the quarterly operating results were hurt especially by...
Indiana Tornado Mobile Home Deaths
Mar 19 2012 // A family of five in New Pekin, two men in Holton and a Scott County man all were in mobile homes when they died or were fatally injured in southern Indiana tornadoes on March 2. The Courier Journal reported that nearly...
