Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Terrorism 10 Years After
Sep 5 2011 // Ten years after the events of Sept. 11, 2011, terrorism remains a significant risk both globally and within the United States. The need to be vigilant against those who would harm innocent people in the name of whatever...
California Earthquake Authority Bond Issue a ‘First Step’
Sep 5 2011 // Officials with the California Earthquake Authority said that their recent $150-million bond issue is just a first step in diversifying their risk so that they can expand earthquake coverage in the state. “It is just...
Fitch: Hurricane Irene Losses Manageable
Sep 2 2011 // Hurricane Irene, while inflicting severe economic damage, will come in far behind the most severe storms to strike United States in recent years, according to a new report by Fitch Ratings. At over $45 billion of insured...
Typhoon Talas Heading for Japan
Sep 2 2011 // A report from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, notes that Typhoon Talas, which formed in the western Pacific on the 25th of August, is the 12th named storm of the 2011, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency...
Update: Irene State by State Estimates
Sep 2 2011 // Catastrophe modeling company Eqecat, whose software is used by insurers to predict exposure to disasters, estimated the economic losses in the United States from Hurricane Irene at more than $10 billion. Irene was the 10th...
Tornado Has Cost Insurance $2.2B So Far in Joplin, Missouri
Sep 1 2011 // The tornado that devastated Joplin in May is expected to cost insurance companies about $2.2 billion. Property Claims Services, which determines insurance payouts for catastrophes, said that figure includes payouts already...
Gulf Coast Told to Keep Eye on Possible Storm
Sep 1 2011 // A low-pressure system pushing northwest through the Gulf of Mexico has a strong chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next two days and threatening U.S. states on northern coast of the gulf, the National Hurricane...
Customer Satisfaction with Home Insurers Improves, Says J.D. Powers
Sep 1 2011 // Customer satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies this year is up from 2010, but still remains below levels achieved in 2009. Overall satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies averages 769 in...
Alabama Governor Names Tornado Recovery Panel
Sep 1 2011 // Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley chose the president and CEO of Protective Life Corp., Johnny Johns, and the publisher of The Birmingham News, Pam Siddall, this week to lead his Tornado Recovery Action Council. Bentley...
Katia Becomes Hurricane East of Leeward Islands
Sep 1 2011 // Tropical storm Katia has become the second hurricane of the season, as it passes over the warm water of the Atlantic Ocean. The most recent bulletin from the National Hurricane Center in Miami at 2:00 a.m. EDT located the...
Earthquake, Hurricane Keep Maryland Insurance Agents Busy
Sep 1 2011 // First came the earthquake; then the hurricane. Now comes the bill. And with any luck, you have a decent insurance policy that will cover the cost of most, if not all, of the damages sustained in one or both natural...
Irene’s Impact on Private Insurance Markets
Aug 31 2011 // The $7 billion in estimated losses from Hurricane Irene compound the vast damage caused by weather in the United States this year. Yet despite billions they’ve paid out for floods, tornadoes and earthquakes, big...
Irene’s Impact on Fragile U.S. Economy
Aug 31 2011 // The struggling U.S. economy should escape largely unscathed from Hurricane Irene and may even get a boost from reconstruction. Irene, which killed about 40 people when it dumped 5 to 15 inches (12 to 38 cm) of rain over...
Can Federal Flood Insurance Handle Irene Losses?
Aug 31 2011 // The only thing worse than getting flooded out of your home once is getting flooded out of it twice. Or, for that matter, over and over again. Margaret Wert bought her Wayne, New Jersey house in 1999, relying on assurances...
Swiss Re Sigma Study Examines Government/Private Sector Coverage
Aug 31 2011 // Swiss Re’s latest sigma study – “State involvement in private insurance” – examines the increasing symbiosis between governments and the private insurance sector. The report notes that...
Moody’s Sees Stable Outlook for Personal Lines Insurers
Aug 30 2011 // The personal lines insurance sector maintains a stable outlook in the face of a highly competitive environment, 2011 catastrophe losses and sluggish economic conditions, according to a report from Moody’s Investors...
Oregon Wildfires Threaten Homes
Aug 30 2011 // Weather conditions improved for firefighters trying to contain a 45,000-acre grass fire in central Oregon, after red flag warnings expired. A dispatcher at the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville said...
Typhoon Nanmadol Departs Taiwan, Heads for China
Aug 30 2011 // Typhoon Nanmadol headed to southeastern China on Monday after dumping more than 20 inches (half a meter) of rain in southern Taiwan, where wide swaths of agricultural land were flooded and some 8,000 people evacuated. The...
Tropical Storm Katia Forms in Eastern Atlantic
Aug 30 2011 // The Miami-based National Hurricane Center is currently tracking Tropical Storm Katia, which formed earlier today out of tropical depression 12. The latest tropical storm of the already busy hurricane season is...
Pacific Coast Towns Rethink Tsunami ‘Vertical’ Evacuation Options
Aug 29 2011 // When the next devastating earthquake strikes off the Northwest coast, it is expected to send a tsunami so fast that it could leave coastal communities with perhaps 20 minutes to escape the surge of water. For small towns...
