Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
EQECAT Models $260 Mn Windstorm Risk Cat Bond for French Nat’l Power Co.
Aug 15 2011 // Oakland-based catastrophe modeling firm EQECAT has provided risk modeling services to Electricité Réseau Distribution France S.A. (ERDF) for the issuance of a €150 million [$216 million] catastrophe bond transferring...
Tropical Storm Gert Strengthens, Will Brush Bermuda
Aug 15 2011 // Tropical Storm Gert strengthened slowly Sunday on a track toward Bermuda and forecasters said the global reinsurance hub could expect increased winds, rain and surf when the storm passed on its eastern side. Gert, the...
Florida’s Citizens Has Sweet Plan to Cover Hurricane Losses
Aug 15 2011 // Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Insurance Journal’s Satire Issue, August 15, 2011. The content in this issue is not real and is not to be taken seriously. It’s supposed to be humorous....
Florida Windfields to Steer Hurricanes
Aug 15 2011 // Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Insurance Journal’s Satire Issue, August 15, 2011. The content in this issue is not real and is not to be taken seriously. It’s supposed to be humorous....
PR Catastrophe
Aug 15 2011 // Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Insurance Journal’s Satire Issue, August 15, 2011. The content in this issue is not real and is not to be taken seriously. It’s supposed to be humorous....
40 Homes Destroyed in Deadly Okla. Wildfire
Aug 14 2011 // Residents in Pawnee County, Okla. have started to sift through the ashes following a wildfire that destroyed nearly 40 homes and may have done up to $20 million worth of damage, according to official estimates. Dozens of...
Ark. Tornado Survivors Can Appeal Aid Decisions
Aug 12 2011 // People in western Arkansas who were hit by tornadoes and storms might have been turned down for disaster aid on their first try. But officials said that isn’t always the final answer. “A letter that says you...
Tennessee Still Cleaning Up After April’s Tornadoes
Aug 12 2011 // The Rev. Bill Akers stood in a yard in Lookout Valley, pointing across a small valley at two stumps, gnarled remnants rising out of barren dirt in a place once flush with trees. Just a few hundred yards away, brush lined...
Do Flat Premums in Q2 Signal Soft Market Is Near Bottom?
Aug 11 2011 // Renewal premiums in the second quarter were essentially flat, suggesting that the soft commercial lines insurance market may be close to its bottom, risk managers report. Premiums for three of four lines tracked by the...
Oklahoma Wildfire Destroyed 40 Buildings
Aug 11 2011 // The weekend wildfire that swept through a rural swath of Pawnee County, damaging or destroying at least 40 structures and charring thousands of acres, was brought under control Tuesday afternoon but not before it did some...
Private Weather Forecasters in High Demand
Aug 10 2011 // Heat and drought are parching the southern U.S. plains, floods and tornadoes have shattered long-standing records, and the tropical Atlantic is steaming into the traditionally busiest part of the hurricane season. With...
S&P Revises Outlook on Platinum to Negative; Affirms Ratings
Aug 8 2011 // In an announcement that received slightly less notice than the downgrading of the U.S.’ ratings from ‘AAA’ to ‘AA+’, Standard & Poor’s also announced that it has revised its outlook...
April Set U.S. Record for Tornadoes
Aug 5 2011 // The U.S. set a record for the most tornadoes within a month with April’s deadly storms. The final report for the month shows there were 753 twisters across the country, including a super outbreak on April 25-28 that...
AIG Posts Q2 Profit on AIA Stake
Aug 5 2011 // Bailed-out insurer American International Group reported a profit for the second quarter Thursday, as tax benefits and its one-third stake in Asian insurer AIA offset a decline in operating income at its main...
Typhoon Muifa Drops Heavy Rains on Philippines; Moving to China
Aug 5 2011 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide is currently tracking Typhoon Muifa as it moves across the Pacific Ocean towards mainland China, after delivering heavy rain to the Philippines Tuesday and Wednesday. Muifa is...
Tropical Storm Emily Breaks up over Haiti; Still Threatens Rains
Aug 5 2011 // Tropical Storm Emily broke apart over the mountains of Haiti and the Dominican Republic Thursday, but its remnants still packed rains threatening flash floods and mudslides in the neighboring Caribbean countries. The U.S....
Aon Benfield Monthly Report Highlights Increased Global Storm Activity
Aug 5 2011 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp., has released the latest edition of its Monthly Cat Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide during...
Atlantic Hurricane Forecast Revised
Aug 4 2011 // Federal storm watchers issued an updated 2011 Atlantic hurricane season outlook today, raising the number of expected named storms from its pre-season outlook issued in May. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and...
The Hartford Q2 Profit Hit by Asbestos Charges, Tornado Losses
Aug 4 2011 // As it warned earlier, Hartford Financial Services Group saw its profit fall in the second quarter due to large catastrophe losses and a charge to increase asbestos reserves. Overall, The Hartford reported a net profit of...
Tropical Storm Emily on Path toward Haiti
Aug 4 2011 // Tropical Storm Emily brushed past Puerto Rico and set its sights on the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where more than 630,000 people are still without shelter after last year’s earthquake. A “steady shield of...
