Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
North Dakota Tornado Leaves 3 Dead as Powerful Storms Sweep Through Midwest
Jun 23 2025 // Powerful winds — including a tornado — that swept across parts of the upper Midwest left three people dead and a regional airport heavily damaged, while nearly 150 million Americans were under a heat advisory or...
Update: Hurricane Erick Weakens Over Mexico, Leaving Trail of Damage in its Wake
Jun 19 2025 // Hurricane Erick weakened after slamming into Mexico’s southern Pacific coast as a major hurricane on Thursday, leaving a trail of damaged businesses, wrecked boats and flooded streets in the state of Oaxaca as...
Verisk: Q1 Claims Volume Hits 5-Year Low but Severity Up on Wildfire Losses
Jun 19 2025 // The first three months of 2025 brought devastating wildfires to California, significant wind and hail events to Texas, and substantial increases in tornado activity to “Tornado Alley,” but claim volume...
Translating the real meaning of risk in Cotality’s 2025 Hurricane Risk Report
Jun 18 2025 // This post is part of a series sponsored by Cotality. Hurricane risk isn’t exclusive to Florida — or to coastal areas at all, for that matter. Many people, including insurance professionals, do not realize how far...
Storm System Brings Severe Weather and Tornadoes to Central Plains and Midwest
Jun 18 2025 // A powerful storm system brought severe weather across parts of the Central Plains and Midwest early this week, with more storms forecast for Wednesday. A moist and unstable atmosphere led to significant rainfall, hail and...
St. Louis Waives 25% Holdback Rule for Property Claims From May 16 Tornado
Jun 17 2025 // St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer signed an executive order to waive a 25% holdback of insurance payouts for property damage claims related to the May 16 tornado that damaged at least 10,000 properties in the city. The order...
Cotality: Over 33 Million Properties at Risk of Hurricanes, Creating ‘Liquidity Traps’
Jun 16 2025 // Cotality said it has identified more than 33.1 million residential properties from Texas to Maine with a combined reconstruction cost value of $11.7 trillion as being at least at moderate risk of sustaining damage from...
Smoke in the Rearview: Lessons in Wildfire Preparedness from an Agency CEO’s Evacuation Experience
Jun 16 2025 // In 2024, my family and I were forced to evacuate our home due to an approaching wildfire. After two decades in the insurance industry helping countless clients prepare for disasters and the unexpected, nothing compares to...
Missouri DCI Estimates High Uninsured Rates in St. Louis Following Tornado
Jun 16 2025 // The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance released preliminary uninsured estimates for properties in the St. Louis in response to the F3 tornado that struck the region on May 16. DCI Department Director Angela...
California Commissioner Investigating State Farm’s Handling of LA Wildfire Claims
Jun 12 2025 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Thursday said he has launched a formal investigation into State Farm’s handling of thousands of insurance claims from wildfire survivors affected by the Palisades and...
Florida Commission Accepts First Hurricane Models Under New Standards
Jun 12 2025 // The Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology has accepted new loss models from Karen Clark & Co. and Cotality, the first to meet the commission’s latest standards. KCC’s Version 5.0...
Oregon Wildfire Prompts Evacuations and Closes Interstate
Jun 12 2025 // A wildfire in Oregon prompted officials to issue evacuation orders for hundreds of homes and to close nearly 20 miles of an interstate in the Columbia River Gorge. Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the state’s Emergency...
Markets/Coverages: MGA Optio Launches $150M Political Violence & Terrorism Cover
Jun 12 2025 // Optio Group, the London-based, independent specialty MGA, announced the launch of new political violence and terrorism (PVT) binders, backed by 100% Lloyd’s of London capacity. The new product provides a US$150...
The Trump Administration Keeps Denying Disaster Preparedness Aid to States
Jun 12 2025 // The Trump administration is increasingly skipping a form of federal disaster aid that helps states better prepare for future storms, flooding and wildfires. The Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected requests for...
Trump Says FEMA Phaseout to Begin After Hurricane Season
Jun 12 2025 // President Donald Trump said his team will move forward with winding down much of the Federal Emergency Management Agency—but not until after a hurricane season that some projections show could be particularly...
China’s Resort Island Hainan Braces for First Typhoon of Season
Jun 11 2025 // Hainan Island is bracing for the first typhoon of the season in the western Pacific, with the storm expected to dump heavy rain across parts of southern China as the system nears the coast. The tropical depression —...
Wildfire Season Preview: Rest of 2025 Is High-Risk, May Follow LA Wildfires Paradigm
Jun 10 2025 // Following the “paradigm-shifting” Los Angeles wildfires in January, the 2024-2025 wildfire season will be remembered as a turning point for the insurance industry, and a warning that “wildfire is no...
Staff Vacancies Hit Texas Weather Offices as They Prepare for Hurricane Season
Jun 10 2025 // With hurricane season underway and an above-normal activity forecast, some National Weather Service offices like Houston — where as many as 44% of positions are vacant — are operating with staff shortages, prompting...
It Will Take 5 Months to Transport Hawaii Wildfire Debris to Massive Landfill
Jun 10 2025 // Fifty trucks will spend five months hauling Lahaina wildfire debris to a landfill in the center of Maui starting next Monday, Maui County said. There’s enough debris to fill five football fields five stories high....
Hurricane Season Considerations: Generator Edition
Jun 10 2025 // Last week, we answered the question; What do people need to know about hurricane season? In responding to that question, it occurred to me that there is more to the answer and I want to focus on the question of power. For...
