Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tornado Hits South Florida
Aug 10 2010 // Meteorologists say a small tornado caused minor damage in Boca Raton. Robert Molleda, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the tornado formed Saturday with winds likely reaching an estimated 70 miles per...
RMS Terrorism Risk Model Includes More International Cities
Aug 10 2010 // Newark, Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions has enhanced its terrorism risk model, adding in more details for international cities and higher resolution hazard information and refinements to human exposure and building...
Colin Weakens to Tropical Storm West of Bermuda
Aug 9 2010 // Tropical Storm Colin weakened to a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean Sunday as it passed west of Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, adding the system could dissipate later in the day. Colin became...
Markel Underwriting Loss Tied to Chile Earthquake, Deepwater Horizon
Aug 9 2010 // Specialty insurance company Markel Corp. reported that its combined ratio for the second quarter of 2010 was 103 percent, compared to 99 percent for the second quarter of 2009. The combined ratio was 102 percent for the...
Berkshire Hathaway Profit Down on Derivatives But Insurance Way Up
Aug 9 2010 // Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Friday second-quarter profit fell 40 percent, as declining stock prices depressed the value of his derivative contracts. Operating profit nevertheless soared 73 percent,...
New Greensburg, Kan., School to Replace One Hit by Tornado
Aug 9 2010 // Greensburg, Kan., students will move this fall to a new $50-million facility that replaces the one destroyed in 2007, when a massive tornado steamrolled the south-central Kansas town and killed 13 people. The new school...
Alabama Buys Hurricane Policy
Aug 9 2010 // Alabama will pay $800,000 annually for three years to an insurance company as a hedge against heavy damage to state property on the coast from a major hurricane. Under the deal that took effect last month, global insurer...
Tropical Storm Colin Reforms, Heads for Bermuda
Aug 6 2010 // Tropical Storm Colin reformed over the Atlantic Ocean Thursday and was moving northwest on a path that could take it close to Bermuda, where authorities issued a tropical storm warning, the U.S. National Hurricane Center...
Mitsui O.S.K. Chief: Terrorism a Possibility in Damaged Tanker
Aug 6 2010 // The head of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd said he does not rule out the possibility that terrorism was behind an explosion that damaged a Japanese supertanker, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday. “We do not have the...
Moscow Choked by Wildfire Smoke, Heatwave; Villages Burn; Planes Diverted
Aug 6 2010 // Dense clouds of acrid smoke from peat and forest fires choked Russia’s capital on Friday, seeping into homes and offices, diverting planes and prompting exhausted Muscovites to wear surgical masks to filter the foul...
NASA Begins Hurricane Study with High Hopes
Aug 6 2010 // Starting August 15, NASA will begin a six-week study to better understand how hurricanes form and intensify, information that should allow for better hurricane prediction. Weather experts are pretty good at tracking a...
Active Hurricane Season Predicted
Aug 6 2010 // Government forecasters say record high temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean will keep this hurricane season on track to be the busiest since 2005. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday said 14 to 20...
75% Chance of Major Hurricane Hitting Atlantic Coast, Says Forecaster
Aug 5 2010 // The Colorado State University forecasting team Wednesday maintained its 2010 Atlantic hurricane season forecast of 18 named tropical storms, 10 expected to become hurricanes. It predicted five of the hurricanes would be...
S.C. Officials Announce Hurricane Meeting
Aug 5 2010 // Emergency officials on South Carolina’s north coast are holding a town hall meeting to help people prepare for hurricanes. Wednesday’s meeting is being held at St. Michael Catholic Church in Garden...
Study Changes Picture of U.S. Quake Hazards
Aug 5 2010 // The risk of earthquakes in the U.S. Midwest may be more widespread than geologists have believed, but a “big one” may be less likely at Missouri’s New Madrid fault, researchers said Aug. 4. They found...
Allstate Operating Income Rises in Q2; Capital Losses Hurt Net Income
Aug 5 2010 // The Allstate Corp., headquartered in Northbrook, Ill., reported that second quarter 2010 operating income rose to $441 million compared to $297 million in the same period of 2009, reflecting improved results in both...
Montana Twisters Are More Frequent, Powerful in 2010
Aug 4 2010 // Tornadoes in Montana this year have been more frequent and more powerful than at any point over the past decade, as evidenced by twisters that destroyed an arena in Billings and killed two people in the state’s...
Utilities Market Still Softening Despite ‘Mega’ Claims: Willis
Aug 4 2010 // Insurance rates in the power sector are expected to soften further in 2010, despite the existence of many of the conditions that would normally presage a hardening market, according to the latest Power Market Review from...
Miami Has Greatest Hurricane Risk of Florida Cities
Aug 4 2010 // Perhaps not surprisingly, Miami is Florida’s most vulnerable major city to strong hurricane winds, according to Florida State University researchers who developed a new tool to estimate the frequency of extreme...
State Auto Reports Net Loss of $26.2M in Q2 2010
Aug 4 2010 // State Auto Financial Corp. has reported a second quarter 2010 net loss of $26.2 million versus a net loss of $3.2 million for the second quarter of 2009. State Auto’s combined ratio for the quarter was 115.2 versus...
