Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lockton Study Finds Recent Catastrophes, Changing Models Affecting Property
May 3 2011 // In a new Market Update report insurance broker Lockton cautions that aftershocks from earthquakes in Asia Pacific and new catastrophe models create an uncertain environment for property insurance buyers. In the report...
RMS Expert Explains Role of ‘Social Network’ in Tracking Down Bin Laden
May 3 2011 // The arcane world of spies, informers, terrorists and the people who have to deal with them remains largely a mystery to most ordinary citizens. But when those efforts produce spectacular results, as in the tracking down...
AIR Worldwide Cat Models Now Cover Industrial and Renewable Energy
May 3 2011 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) today announced that its Catastrophe Risk Engineering (CRE) models now cover industrial and renewable energy facilities worldwide. Their expansion is “aimed at helping...
Oregon Lawmakers Consider Governance in Disaster
May 2 2011 // Oregon’s Constitution requires that the state Legislature meet in Salem. So what would happen if disaster struck Oregon and lawmakers needed to urgently approve relief funds in a capital city they couldn’t...
Nearly 7,000 Insurance Claims Filed After St. Louis Tornado
May 2 2011 // Missouri insurance regulators say major homeowners and auto insurance companies in the state have received nearly 7,000 claims from St. Louis residents with damage from the April 22 (Good Friday) tornado. The companies...
United Fire Sees Hike in New Business but Drop in Revenues in Q1 2011
May 2 2011 // United Fire & Casualty Co., headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has reported a slight drop in net premiums earned and total revenues for the first quarter of 2011 compared with that of the same quarter in...
Property Rates Expected to Rise From Catastrophes, Revised Cat Model
May 2 2011 // Property insurance rates could be on the rise thanks to first quarter catastrophe losses, including the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and a revised catastrophe model. During the second quarter, rates for North American...
Weather Service: Deadliest Year for Tornadoes in Virginia
May 2 2011 // Days after a series of tornadoes blew through Virginia, officials still are trying to determine exactly how much damage was done and what to do for those who have lost everything. Initial reports say more than 400 private...
AIR Assesses Catastrophe Risk of Industrial, Renewable Energy Facilities
May 2 2011 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) has expanded its catastrophe risk engineering services to cover industrial and renewable energy facilities worldwide. AIR said the expansion of its Catastrophe Risk Engineering...
Officials Say Oklahoma Tornado Causing Financial Woes
May 2 2011 // President Barack Obama approved a request by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin for federal disaster assistance for Atoka County following an April 14 tornado that devastated the town of Tushka. The EF3 tornado cut a swath four...
A Wild and Crazy April
May 2 2011 // The United States has experienced double the number of tornadoes than “normal” during this year’s spring storm season, and the National Weather Service and catastrophe risk experts see no reason for a...
Business Losses Due to ‘Action’ by Civil Authorities: When Is There Coverage?
May 2 2011 // Virtually all insurance policies contain provisions and exclusions dealing with events that most insureds consider so remote and unlikely that they rarely give any thought to their possible occurrence, much less what...
Declarations
May 2 2011 // Preparation a Must “Just because the economy’s horrible doesn’t mean hurricanes stop.” —Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate, stressing how important it is for newly elected...
A Wild and Crazy April
May 2 2011 // The United States has experienced double the number of tornadoes than “normal” during this year’s spring storm season, and the National Weather Service and catastrophe risk experts see no reason for a...
Overcapacity in P/C Insurance Keeping Commercial Prices Down
May 2 2011 // Most commercial lines insurance prices continued their downward trend in the first quarter, as underwriters’ efforts to hold the line on premiums buckled under the pressure of a highly overcapitalized market. Three...
Texas Wildfires Fueled by High Winds, Drought
May 2 2011 // Firefighters continued in late April to make gradual progress containing massive, wind-whipped wildfires that raged across Texas during the month. West Texas firefighters rushed to finish controlled burns in the Ft. Davis...
Japan Quake Reveals Cracks in Insurance System
May 2 2011 // Michael Korn, managing principal at Integro Insurance Brokers, is a popular person these days, which is perhaps not too surprising considering he is an insurance broker in earthquake-prone San Francisco. “We’re...
Mitigation Consensus
May 2 2011 // The Griffith Insurance Education Foundation recently brought together industry, government and academic leaders – many from disaster-prone coastal states for a symposium at Ohio State University. By the end of the...
Officials, Insurers Begin Tallying Damages from Deadly Storm
Apr 29 2011 // Officials in Southeast states hammered by a storm that killed at least 300 people have begun the task of evaluating the damage. Alabama appears to have suffered the brunt of the storm, where Tornadoes struck particularly...
Tornadoes, Storms Rip South, at Least 228 Dead
Apr 28 2011 // Tornadoes and violent storms ripped through seven southern U.S. states, killing at least 228 people as they flattened neighborhoods, flipped cars and toppled trees and power lines. In the deadliest series of tornadoes in...
