Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Cleanup Continues in Wisconsin After 4 Tornados Hit
Apr 13 2011 // The sounds of chain saws filled the air on April 11 in several central Wisconsin towns as people cleared downed trees and other debris from streets and damaged homes after thunderstorms and at least four tornados hit the...
Record $1 Billion Catastrophe Bonds Issued in Q1
Apr 13 2011 // Attractive market conditions as a result of strong investor demand resulted in a record issuance of $1 billion catastrophe bonds in the first quarter of 2011, compared to $650 million in the same quarter last year. This is...
Cleanup of Tornado-Swept Iowa Town to Take Months
Apr 12 2011 // Tom Sanford stepped carefully through his tornado ravaged home in Mapleton, Iowa, his work shoes crunching on broken glass and wood splinters scattered across the floor. In the living room, next to his busted television,...
Wide Tornado Cuts a Swath Through West Iowa Town
Apr 11 2011 // A large tornado flattened a grain elevator and destroyed homes and buildings on its weekend rampage through the small western Iowa town of Mapleton. Authorities reported no serious injuries. “It was huge, just...
Tokyo Rethinking Its Earthquake Plan After Japan Disaster
Apr 11 2011 // More than 10,000 people dead, hundreds of thousands injured, nearly one million buildings destroyed, millions forced to evacuate and a fifth of Japan’s economy wiped out. That’s the scenario forecast if a huge...
Strong Earthquake Shakes Japan’s Ruined Northeast Coast
Apr 7 2011 // Another Strong Earthquake Shakes Japan’s Ruined Northeast Coast A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.4 shook the northeast of Japan late on Thursday, and a tsunami warning was issued for the coast already devastated by...
Wildfire Danger Critical in Oklahoma, Texas
Apr 7 2011 // Bulldozers and airplanes have been put on alert as Texas faces an increased threat for wildfires. In Oklahoma, that state has experienced the driest four month stretch the Dust Bowl and thousands of acres have burned in...
Transatlantic Holdings Estimates Q1 Cat Losses at $355 Million
Apr 7 2011 // Transatlantic Holdings (TRH) announced that it expects to incur total net catastrophe costs (net of reinstatement premiums and reinsurance) in the first quarter of 2011 of approximately $355 million, net of tax, based on...
‘Above Average’ 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast
Apr 7 2011 // The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season will be above average with nine hurricanes, five of them major, with a more than 70 percent chance that at least one of them will hit the U.S. coastline, Colorado State University...
Aon Benfield Launches Cyprus Earthquake Model
Apr 7 2011 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp., has launched an earthquake model for the island of Cyprus, following requests from insurers seeking “to increase their understanding...
Reinsurance Rates Rising, But Few Agree Where, How Much
Apr 6 2011 // Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the...
Reinsurance Rates Are Rising, but Few Agree Where
Apr 6 2011 // Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the...
Japan Quake Reveals Cracks in Insurance System – Part II
Apr 6 2011 // The first part of this article appeared on the IJ’s web site on April 5. PRICE PRESSURE Earthquakes may not be linked to each other, but they are linked to the financial markets, as anyone who has invested in...
Japan Quake Reveals Cracks in Insurance System – Part I
Apr 5 2011 // Michael Korn is a popular person these days, which is perhaps not too surprising considering what he does for a living and where he lives. Korn is an insurance broker in earthquake-prone San Francisco. “We’re...
XL’s Japan Quake/Tsunami Loss Estimates – $190 to $290 Million
Apr 5 2011 // XL Group plc announced that its preliminary net loss estimates for the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, pretax and net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, “range from approximately $190 million...
Amlin Estimates Claims from Q1 Catastrophes
Apr 5 2011 // Specialist insurer Amlin plc has released initial estimates of the impact of the 2011 New Zealand earthquake, the Japanese earthquake and the 2011 Queensland floods. The bulletin described the 2011 New Zealand earthquake...
Calif Tsunami Damage Estimate Increases
Apr 5 2011 // California’s damage estimate from last month’s tsunami has increased. California Emergency Management Agency spokesman Brad Alexander said the most recent damage estimate was $48 million, $4 million more than a...
More Than 300 Homes Evacuated in Colorado Wildfire
Apr 4 2011 // Strong winds fueled a wildfire in canyon country west of Fort Collins, Colo., forcing the evacuation of 335 homes, authorities said April 3. There have been no reports of any injuries or damage to any of the dwellings, but...
Crunching Japan’s Disaster Numbers: Final Bill May be Staggering
Apr 4 2011 // Japan’s government expects last month’s earthquake and tsunami to cost up to $300 billion in material damage, but the ultimate cost will be far higher. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), operator of the crippled...
Aon Benfield Report: Despite Catastrophes, Reinsurance Rates Remain Stable
Apr 4 2011 // Aon Benfield’s most recent evaluation of the state of the reinsurance market, as of April 1, concludes that it performed “as intended through recent events,” and that it continues “to provide...
