Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
May Storms in Oklahoma Caused $1B in Damage
Jun 21 2010 // One of the most destructive weather months in Oklahoma history could end up having the state’s highest insurance loss payout in recent memory, industry experts have said. It will be months before all the claims are...
Lloyd’s Team to Assess Chile Earthquake
Jun 18 2010 // Lloyd’s has confirmed that a team has been sent to Chile to “help the market better understand the impact of February’s earthquake and assist in ensuring the speedy payment of valid claims.” The...
Aon Benfield Report Identifies ‘Mega-Earthquake’ ‘Hotspots
Jun 15 2010 // Aon Benfield has published a new report – “When The Earth Moves: Mega-Earthquakes To Come?” – in conjunction with the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre. The report was prompted by the recent...
Florida Certifies Updated AIR Hurricane Model
Jun 14 2010 // AIR Worldwide (AIR) is reporting the certification of its 2010 U.S. Hurricane Model by the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology. The commission certifies models for use by insurers for developing...
OECD Launches Platform to Coordinate International Terrorism Insurance
Jun 14 2010 // The heads of all the national terrorism insurance programs of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development) member countries met earlier this month at the OECD headquarters in Paris in an attempt to...
Southwest Wildfire Season Poised to Ignite
Jun 10 2010 // Southwestern states could face a particularly troubling fire season this year, particularly in the next few days, according to AccuWeather.com reports. The company said moisture from winter storms has spurred spring growth...
Munich Re: ‘Ever Higher’ Nat Cat Costs; Ups Chile Quake Loss to $1 Billion
Jun 8 2010 // A bulletin from Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, concludes that the “long-term trend towards ever higher natural catastrophe costs” looks set to continue, according to an analysis from its Geo...
Storm Management
Jun 7 2010 // The Atlantic hurricane season forecasts are in and they aren’t pretty. All the major forecasters have predicted the season will be much more active than last season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric...
Florida Hurricane Fund In Better Shape
Jun 7 2010 // The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund is as healthy as ever heading into the 2010 storm season. An advisory council to the fund reported that it has enough cash and bonding ability to pay off more than $25 billion in...
Florida Insurers Head Into Hurricane Season with Fingers Crossed
Jun 7 2010 // Florida’s property insurance companies haven’t suffered hurricane losses for nearly five years, but many claim to be losing money even while collecting hefty premiums. It’s a complex paradigm for almost...
Storm Management
Jun 7 2010 // The Atlantic hurricane season forecasts are in and they aren’t pretty. All the major forecasters have predicted the season will be much more active than last season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric...
Price Scare
Jun 7 2010 // Seven years and running, the soft market shows few signs of loosening its grip on commercial insurance pricing, according to a new industry study. Average premiums in every line tracked by the Risk and Insurance Management...
Aon Scientist Analyzes Insurance Coverage for Volcanic Eruptions
Jun 4 2010 // Volcanic eruptions are right up there with hurricanes and earthquakes on the list of nature’s most formidable catastrophes. The April eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland was but one manifestation...
Guy Carpenter Terrorism Report: Insurance Supply Outpaces Demand
Jun 3 2010 // Guy Carpenter, Marsh’s reinsurance brokerage and risk assessment division, has published “Terrorism: Reinsurers Standing By.” It concludes that “insurers and reinsurers have become increasingly...
Aon Sees Progress Against Terrorism, But Threats are Evolving
Jun 3 2010 // In conjunction with the release of the latest version of its “Terrorism Threat Map,” Aon’s Crisis Management division analyzes the current state of the ongoing efforts to combat terrorist activities. The...
2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season: 76% Chance Major Storm to Hit U.S.
Jun 3 2010 // The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will be even more active than feared, leading U.S. forecasters said Wednesday as they predicted 10 hurricanes, five of them major, with a 76 percent likelihood that a major hurricane...
Florida’s Emergency Chief Hopes Agency Turmoil Is Over
Jun 2 2010 // Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, under a second director since Craig Fugate left a year ago to run its federal counterpart, is getting a jump start on the hurricane season. With the storm season to begin...
CSU Team Increases 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Forecast to 10
Jun 2 2010 // The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to produce 10 hurricanes, five of them major, the Colorado State University hurricane forecasting team said Wednesday, increasing a previous estimate for a “very...
Tropical Storm Agatha Kills 99 in Central America
Jun 1 2010 // The death toll in Central America from landslides and flooding triggered by the year’s first tropical storm surged to 99 on Sunday, as authorities struggled to clear roads of debris and reach cut-off...
AIR Report Analyzes Potential Hurricane ‘Implications’ of Gulf Oil Spill
Jun 1 2010 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide has released a report that examines the implications of the Gulf oil spill on the upcoming hurricane season as well as indications of what this might mean to wildlife,...