Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
Texas House Committee OKs Changes to Windstorm Insurance Bill
Jun 9 2011 // A Texas House of Representatives committee has approved big changes to the insurance authority that covers coastal properties for wind and hail. The House Insurance Committee passed a bill overhauling the Texas Windstorm...
Homeowners Seek $90M for Massachusetts Tornado Damage
Jun 9 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 last week, state officials said Tuesday. The...
Active Hurricane Season Ups Risk for Mid-Atlantic
Jun 9 2011 // As weather forecasters predict an above-normal number of hurricanes this season, chances also increase that one of the storms will hit the mid-Atlantic states. The News Journal of Wilmington (Delaware) reports that the...
Adrian is First Hurricane of 2011 Pacific Season
Jun 9 2011 // Tropical Storm Adrian strengthened to a hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast, becoming the first hurricane of the 2011 Pacific season, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Mexico’s government issued a storm...
Missouri: 17,000 Insurance Claims Filed So Far From Joplin Tornado
Jun 8 2011 // The major insurance companies serving consumers in the Joplin area have received nearly 17,000 claims so far from residents and business owners with damage from the EF-5 tornado that struck the area on May 22, insurance...
New Aon Terrorist Risk Map Includes Mideast, No. Africa Unrest
Jun 8 2011 // Aon’s annual publication of its Terrorist Risk Map has been expanded. Aon said this year’s version features areas where “political violence, strikes, riots, civil war and war threaten the sustainable...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Issue Added to Special Session
Jun 7 2011 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry has added legislation relating to the operation of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association as an issue to be addressed during the special session of the Legislature that began on May 31. “It...
Marsh Launches Index-Based Insurance Option for Earthquake, Windstorm Risks
Jun 7 2011 // Marsh now offers an option for organizations with significant earthquake and/or windstorm exposures that are unable to purchase enough insurance to adequately protect their assets. The new program is called Country...
Will New Legislation Help Florida’s Property Insurance Market?
Jun 7 2011 // Florida hasn’t been hit by a hurricane since the disastrous years of 2004 and 2005, but the state’s property insurance companies say they are still losing money despite collecting billions in premiums. That has...
Florida Commission Approves RMS Hurricane Model
Jun 7 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...
Late May Storms to Cost Insurers Up to $7 Billion: AIR
Jun 6 2011 // The severe thunderstorms that struck the United States from May 20 to the 27 will result in insured losses to residential, commercial, and industrial properties and their contents, and to automobiles of between $4 billion...
Missouri Capital City Looking to Upgrade Tornado Sirens
Jun 6 2011 // Officials in Missouri’s capital city have decided to look into improving its aging storm warning system, after a deadly tornado hit the state’s southwest. Two of Jefferson City’s 15 warning sirens...
3,500 People Evacuate as Volcano Erupts in Southern Chile
Jun 6 2011 // One of the volcanoes in the Caulle Cordon of southern Chile erupted violently Saturday, billowing smoke and ash high into the sky and prompting more than 3,500 people living nearby to evacuate. There were no reports of...
Risky Decisions
Jun 6 2011 // The percentage of homes covered by typical residential property policies varies by region. All the devastation from natural disasters that have occurred across the nation in recent months illuminates the fact that many,...
Hurricane Season Could Bring Rate Relief
Jun 6 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...
