Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
The Aftershocks of Vulnerable Supply Chains
Jun 20 2011 // The massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March has led to supply chain disruptions around the world, sending a wakeup call to companies that do not have viable business continuity plans in place for themselves...
Hurricane Season Could Bring Rate Relief
Jun 20 2011 // Property and casualty insurers craving respite from a long-running drop in prices eyed the start of the U.S. hurricane season on June 1 in the hope that summer windstorms will finally turn the market. The June 1 to Nov. 30...
Florida Approves RMS Hurricane Model
Jun 20 2011 // Florida’s residential property insurance market is bracing for even more volatility after the state’s modeling commission approved the use of the new Risk Management Services (RMS) catastrophe model. The...
Massachusetts Digs out After Deadly Tornadoes
Jun 20 2011 // Homeowners in western Massachusetts have filed $90 million in insurance claims for damage caused by deadly tornadoes that ravaged Springfield and several smaller communities earlier this month. The state Division of...
Massachusetts Tornado Claims Now Up to $140 Million
Jun 17 2011 // The financial toll from tornadoes that ravaged Springfield and several smaller communities has risen dramatically. The state’s Division of Insurance estimated Thursday that residents have filed 8,200 insurance claims...
Homeowners Insurance Assessments Haunt Florida’s Citizens, Officials
Jun 17 2011 // Two weeks into a new hurricane season, Florida officials are continuing to express their concerns over possible policyholder assessments by Citizens Property Insurance despite the relative financial strength of the...
Florida Drought Conditions Match Devastating 1998 Wildfire Season
Jun 17 2011 // Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said drought conditions are the same as in 1998 when wildfires devastated Florida. Putnam told Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Cabinet colleagues Thursday that drought covers 93 percent of...
Texas House Approves Windstorm Insurance Changes
Jun 17 2011 // The Texas House approved widespread changes on June 15 to the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the organization that insures people who live along the coast. The House passed the bill on a 99-41 vote. The bill must...
Another Insurer, State Farm, Reports Major Spring Storm Losses
Jun 17 2011 // State Farm claim representatives said it has paid nearly $1.75 billion to its customers from the destructive storms of April and May. The total claim payments have nearly doubled in less than three weeks. Earlier this...
New Zealand Quakes Drive Insurance Market Changes
Jun 16 2011 // A string of earthquakes in New Zealand is sending tremors through the global insurance market with some companies delaying underwriting policies and others turning to capital markets to offset the risk of pile-on damage...
Allstate’s April-May Catastrophe Losses Top $2 Billion
Jun 16 2011 // Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, said it lost $2 billion in April and May from severe tornadoes and thunderstorms, nearly equaling its catastrophe losses for all of 2010. The...
Latest Christchurch Quake Caused Significant New Damage
Jun 15 2011 // Christchurch, New Zealand, still recovering from two previous earthquakes that struck in September 2010 and February 2011, was shaken by a series of strong tremors on Monday afternoon that caused significant new damage to...
FEMA Tallies Hawaii Damage from Japan Tsunami at $6.2 Million
Jun 14 2011 // Federal aid has been approved for those in Hawaii affected by tsunami waves from the March earthquake in Japan. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that so far the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved 14...
Cincinnati Financial Expects Up to $290M in Storm Losses for Q2 2011
Jun 14 2011 // Cincinnati Financial Corp. reported that The Cincinnati Insurance Companies’ property casualty group expects its second quarter 2011 results to include pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, of approximately...
Record Wildfire Season Affecting Arizona, Rest of U.S.
Jun 14 2011 // As Arizona continues to battle several wildfires, every state in the country now has the potential for a wildfire, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The Center said nearly every state in the U.S. has...
FEMA Awards $1.2M Tsunami Grant to Oregon County
Jun 13 2011 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced a disaster relief grant of nearly $1.2 million to Oregon’s Curry County to help repair and replace public infrastructure damaged by the tsunami waves from the...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Purchases Reinsurance
Jun 10 2011 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) announced it has purchased $636 million in reinsurance protection. The policy will cover losses that exceed the $1.6 billion in funds estimated to be available from the...
P/C Insurance Industry Wins, Loses in Scott’s First Session
Jun 10 2011 // It is axiomatic in Florida that when it comes to the legislature and insurance issues, the power brokers play for the last 72 hours. No matter how many committee meetings, no matter how many press conferences, no matter...
Travelers to Post Q2 Loss, Limit Share Buybacks Due to Storm Losses
Jun 10 2011 // Travelers Companies Inc. is slowing down its share buybacks and will post a second-quarter operating loss because of more than $1 billion in catastrophe losses, the property insurer said Friday. The company also warned of...
Oklahoma Contractor Charged With Fraud After Tornadoes
Jun 9 2011 // An Oklahoma construction contractor has been charged with taking payments to repair roofs damaged by recent tornadoes and strong storms, then failing to perform the work. Six felony counts of violating the Oklahoma...
