Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
How Oil in Gulf Region Could Complicate Hurricane Recovery
Aug 10 2010 // If a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast and whips up oil from BP’s massive spill, cleanup workers will not be able to swoop into action to fix the mess. A new Obama administration edict requires that the oil be tested...
August Begins Busiest Phase for Hurricane Season
Aug 10 2010 // Record high ocean temperatures and the development of a climate phenomenon known as La Nina will keep the Atlantic hurricane season on track to be the busiest since 2005, according to government forecasters. The National...
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...
