Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Midwest Tornadoes, High Winds Damage Homes, Businesses
Apr 22 2011 // The National Weather Service says at least five tornadoes were part of the storms that battered Ohio early on April 20. Hours before, a tornado measured as an EF3 hit near Girard, Ill., about 20 miles south of Springfield...
Northeast Insurers Say Winter Storms Hurt Q1 Profits
Apr 22 2011 // Pennsylvania-based insurer Harleysville said severe winter storms over the last few months will hurt its first quarter profits. “We experienced unusually severe winter weather throughout much of the Mid-Atlantic and...
Newly Elected Officials Must Learn Hurricane Response: FEMA
Apr 22 2011 // Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate this week stressed how important it is for newly elected public officials to learn how to respond during hurricanes and other powerful storms and that a bad economy...
Wildfires Continue in Texas; More than 1.8M Acres Burned This Year
Apr 21 2011 // Wildfire approaching McDonald Observatory near Ft. Davis, Texas. Photo by: Frank Cianciolo / McDonald Observatory As wildfires continue to rage in almost every region of the state, the Texas Forest Service reports that...
Third Hailstorm in Two Weeks Pounds North Texas Area
Apr 21 2011 // A severe line of thunderstorms extending 100 miles pounded portions of north central Texas this week producing hail as large as tennis balls. The line extended from Denton to Hillsboro. The communities of Itasca and...
Munich Re Ups Dividend, Comments on Impact of 2011 Disasters
Apr 21 2011 // Munich Re’s annual general meeting (AGM) produced some good news for the shareholders of the world’s largest reinsurer. It announced a dividend increase to €6.25 [$9.138] per share for the financial year...
Oklahoma Governor Seeks Federal Declaration for Atoka Tornado
Apr 20 2011 // Gov. Mary Fallin is seeking a federal disaster declaration for Atoka County in the wake of a deadly tornado that swept through the southeastern Oklahoma town of Tushka. Two people were killed and 43 others were injured...
Tremblor Shakes SF on Anniversary of 1906 Quake
Apr 20 2011 // A small earthquake centered near San Francisco rattled the area hours after a ceremony was held to mark the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed much of the city. The U.S. Geological Survey says the...
How P/C Insurance Industry Fared Financially in 2010
Apr 20 2011 // U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes rose to $34.7 billion in 2010 from $28.7 billion the year before, with insurers’ rate of return on average policyholders’ surplus increasing to 6.5...
Catlin Estimates Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Losses at $200 Million
Apr 20 2011 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited announced that its initial estimate of the financial impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated areas of northeast Japan, are expected to be around $200 million,...
Storm Losses Largest in North Carolina and Virginia
Apr 19 2011 // The massive, weekend storm system that killed dozens of people, and destroyed buildings, livestock and other property as it swept east across the country, produced the most significant insured losses in North Carolina and...
CORRECTION: S&P RMS Cat Bond CreditWatch
Apr 19 2011 // Standard & Poor’s has issued a corrective statement concerning one of the cat bond ratings listed in the bulletin it issued on April 18. The Series 2011-1 Class A notes, rated BB+ (sf)/Watch Neg BB+ (sf) issued...
Summary of Re/Insurers’ Loss Estimates from Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami
Apr 19 2011 // Some of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers have issued initial estimates of how much the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 will cost them and more are expected do so over the next few weeks. Risk...
Wisconsin Officials Up April 10 Tornado Count to 12
Apr 18 2011 // The storm system that hit northern and central Wisconsin on April 10 produced a record number of tornados for one day in April. The National Weather Service reported there were 12 tornadoes, surpassing the record of 10 for...
S&P Puts 17 Cat Bonds on CreditWatch/Negative Due to RMS Model Change
Apr 18 2011 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has placed its ratings on 17 natural peril catastrophe bonds (listed below) on CreditWatch with negative implications. S&P explained that it took the action following...
Indiana Tornado Siren Spooks Horses, Spurs Lawsuit
Apr 18 2011 // A tornado siren placed near an Indiana horse farm has prompted a lawsuit by the owners, who say the device spooks their animals every time it sounds and that local officials have refused to relocate it as promised. Jody...
US Nuclear Regulator Monitoring Plant after Tornado
Apr 18 2011 // The U.S. nuclear safety regulator said Monday it was monitoring a Virginia nuclear power plant in southeastern Virginia operated by Dominion Resources after a tornado cut its electrical power. The Nuclear Regulatory...
ABIR Reports 2010 Results for Bermuda’s Re/Insurers; $11.4 Bn Net Income
Apr 18 2011 // The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) has released the 2010 global underwriting results for its 22 member (re)insurers – companies that write insurance and reinsurance from underwriting centers in...
Tallying Tsunami Losses
Apr 18 2011 // Damage estimates from the March tsunami resulting from the Japanese 9.0 magnitude earthquake have increased. California Emergency Management Agency spokesman Brad Alexander said the most recent damage estimate was $48...
Japan’s Tragedy a Reminder of Need for Business Interruption Insurance
Apr 18 2011 // The human, social and economic devastation in Japan from the massive earthquake and tsunami is overwhelming and business losses are just beginning to be tallied. Companies in the United States that purchase products or...
