Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AIR Tracking Typhoon Kompasu, Tropical Cyclones
Aug 31 2010 // According to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, the sixth, seventh, and eighth named storms of the northwest Pacific season are approaching the Asian mainland bringing high winds and expected heavy...
Sumatra Volcano Erupts after 400 Dormant Years
Aug 30 2010 // A volcano in western Indonesia on the Island of Sumatra spewed hot lava and sand high into the sky early Sunday in its first eruption in 400 years. Government volcanologist Surono, who uses only one name, said Mount...
Best Affirms ‘A++’ Ratings of French Gov’t. Reinsurer Caisse Centrale
Aug 30 2010 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A++’ (Superior) and issuer credit rating of “aa+” of French government backed reinsurer Caisse Centrale de Réassurance (CCR), both...
Earl Now Major Hurricane, Headed Toward East Coast
Aug 30 2010 // Hurricane Earl has strengthened into a major Category 3 storm Monday and could arrive off the East Coast of the U.S. by the end of this week. It is currently rocking the Caribbean’s Northern Leeward Islands. The...
5 Years After Katrina Gulf Coast Building Codes Still Inadequate
Aug 30 2010 // Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina caused an estimated 1,300 tragic deaths as well as $41.1 billion in insured losses across six states. Louisiana and Mississippi suffered the brunt of Katrina’s wrath followed by...
Illinois Town Marks 20th Anniversary of Deadly Tornado
Aug 30 2010 // Survivors of a deadly tornado that roared across the northern Illinois village of Plainfield have marked the storm’s 20th anniversary. About 200 people gathered Aug. 28 for a ceremony that was held near downtown...
Stormy Danielle, Earl, Frank Strengthen But No Landfall Expected
Aug 27 2010 // The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued advisories on Hurricane Danielle, Tropical Storm Earl and Hurricane Frank. No watches or warnings of possible landfall have been issued. Danielle, a Category 4 hurricane, is...
Hurricane Katrina Changed the Market in Gulf States
Aug 27 2010 // Writing about the landfall of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, essayist Ellis Anderson of Mississippi likened the communities along the gulf to a string of pearls. “Then, in August 2005, in the course of a single...
Danielle Again a Category 2 Hurricane; TS Earl Forms in Atlantic
Aug 26 2010 // Hurricane Danielle has recovered some strength, and is once again a “category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale,” according to the most recent bulletin from the National Hurricane Center...
Hurricane Danielle Headed East of Bermuda
Aug 26 2010 // The U.S. National Hurricane Center is reporting that Hurricane Danielle is still a category two hurricane, with sustained winds of 105 miles per hour, and that it is expected to strengthen somewhat in the next 24 hours. As...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Assoc. Chief Favors Gradual Rate Hikes
Aug 26 2010 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association recently filed for 5 percent increases in both its residential and commercial rates, effective Jan. 1, 2011. While indications are those hikes won’t bring the rates for the...
Danielle Weakens; 90% Chance of Another Tropical Storm
Aug 25 2010 // The latest bulletin, issued at 5:00 a.m. AST by the National Hurricane Center in Miami, notes that Hurricane Danielle has weakened slightly, with “maximum sustained winds near 85 mph, 140 km/hr. with higher...
Big Quakes More Frequent Than Thought on San Andreas Fault
Aug 24 2010 // Southern California is overdue for a major earthquake, according to UC Irvine and Arizona State University researchers who have charted temblors along the San Andreas fault stretching back 700 years. The findings, to be...
Hurricane Danielle Reaches Category Two Strength
Aug 24 2010 // Yesterday Danielle was still classified by the National Hurricane Center in Miami as tropical storm. But the NHC’s latest bulletin, issued at 5:00 a.m. AST, confirms that it has now strengthened into a category 2...
Tropical Storm Danielle Continues to Strengthen in Atlantic
Aug 23 2010 // On Saturday morning the National Hurricane Center in Miami issued its first bulletin on “Tropical depression Six.” By Monday morning the depression had morphed into Danielle the fourth named storm of the...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Seeks 5% Rate Increase
Aug 20 2010 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has filed for 5 percent increases in both its residential and commercial rates, effective Jan. 1, 2011. The state’s insurer of last resort provides wind and hail coverage in...
Report Suggests Gulf Coast Properties Not Much Safer Since Katrina
Aug 18 2010 // Louisiana has done a good job upgrading its building code requirements in the five years since Hurricane Katrina, but Alabama and Mississippi have not, according to a new report from the Institute for Business and Home...
Alabama Becomes First State to Sue BP, Others for Gulf Oil ‘Catastrophe’
Aug 15 2010 // Alabama is suing BP Plc, Transocean and Halliburton for “catastrophic harm” caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the state’s attorney general said Friday. Alabama is the first state to sue BP for...
Tropical Cyclone Heads for Northern Gulf of Mexico
Aug 15 2010 // An area of low pressure moving over the Florida Panhandle was expected to track southward into the northern Gulf of Mexico by early Monday and had a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours,...
Mississippi Gets Hurricane-Resistant Development
Aug 11 2010 // Officials say a community of hurricane-resistant homes is being built in Gulfport. The Sun Herald reports that the modular concrete homes will be built by Royal Concrete Concepts in Okeechobee, Fla., and sold through the...
