Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
5 Years After Deadly Indonesia Tsunami, Communities Better Prepared
Dec 23 2009 // Five years after a Sumatra Indonesia tsunami killed 230,000 people, officials say that more communities are taking the threat seriously, implementing warning systems and understanding that swift action is needed if a...
P/C Industry’s Net Income Up; Combined Ratio at 100.7 for Q3
Dec 22 2009 // Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes rose to $16.2 billion through nine-months 2009, partially recovering from the 91.2 percent decline to $4.4 billion through nine-months 2008 from $49.6...
Indonesia’s Next Big Quake Due under Mentawais Islands
Dec 22 2009 // A massive undersea earthquake is long overdue beneath the Mentawai islands in Indonesia and could trigger another deadly tsunami, say scientists mapping one of the world’s most quake-prone zones. Unlike the 2004...
Scientists Update California Tsunami Maps
Dec 21 2009 // Scientists have released updated tsunami maps pinpointing California coasts vulnerable to giant waves generated by an undersea earthquake. Previous hazard maps only covered select coastal communities and focused on...
AAIS Offers New Homeowners Rating Plan for Earthquake Coverage
Dec 21 2009 // The American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) has initiated a countrywide filing of a new earthquake rating plan under its Homeowners Program. The earthquake plan, which consists of self-contained manual...
Equipment Could Help Determine Cause of Oklahoma Quakes
Dec 21 2009 // During a typical year, Jones residents will feel one or two earthquakes. This year there have been 25 since March, and all of them have been felt, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey. “I can tell you...
Truth or Lore? Insurance ‘Factorama’ Explores the Known and Little-Known
Dec 20 2009 // It’s the end of the decade that apparently has no name as yet, but that doesn’t stop those of us at Insurance Journal from looking back at the past 10 years and beyond for known and little-known insurance...
Forecasters Expect More Active Atlantic Hurricane Season Next Year
Dec 20 2009 // Colorado State University researchers are predicting a more active Atlantic hurricane season next year, with six to eight hurricanes, at least three of them major. Philip Klotzbach and William Gray predict 11 to 16 named...
NOAA: United States Better Prepared for Tsunamis
Dec 18 2009 // Five years since the December 2004 Sumatra Indonesia Tsunami k illed 230,000, the United States has acclerated preparation for a potential tsunami along the U.S. coastline and built partnerships for an international...
AIR Analyzes Impact of Tropical Storm Laurence on Western Australia
Dec 17 2009 // According to a report from catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, “severe Tropical Cyclone Laurence made a second landfall this evening [Dec. 16] along the Kimberley coast of north Western Australia State....
Earthquake Early Warning System Possible
Dec 15 2009 // An earthquake early warning system for California is feasible in coming years, according to research being presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco this week. The ongoing study demonstrates that...
Forecasters Expect More Active Atlantic Hurricane Season Next Year
Dec 11 2009 // Colorado State University researchers are predicting a more active Atlantic hurricane season next year, with six to eight hurricanes, at least three of them major. Philip Klotzbach and William Gray predict 11 to 16 named...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Assoc. Posts New Maximum Liability Limits
Dec 10 2009 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) reports that new maximum limits of liability will go into effect Jan. 1, 2010. The new limits are higher than those currently in place for 2009. TWIA recommends that all...
New Board Members Named for Texas Windstorm Insurance Association
Dec 9 2009 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin has announced new board members for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). House Bill (HB) 4409, passed by the 81st Texas Legislature in 2009, changed the composition of...
Karen Clark Launches New Catastrophe Management Service
Dec 9 2009 // Karen Clark & Company, independent experts in catastrophe risk, catastrophe models, and catastrophe risk management, has introduced a new service, Thinking Outside the Black Box Catastrophe Management Operational...
Fraudulent Claims from Hailstorm on the Rise in El Paso
Dec 7 2009 // That fraudulent insurance claims related to a severe hailstorm that hit the city of El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 16 are on the rise comes as no surprise to Ray Niblett. Niblett, an investigator for the National Insurance Crime...
Oregon Bridges Unsafe From Earthquakes
Dec 6 2009 // The outlook is not good for Oregon bridges in a major earthquake. A study released recently concludes that U.S. Highway 101 on the coast would be impassable, all connections from the coast to the Willamette Valley would be...
Swiss Re Obtains $150 Million Backup for Hurricanes, Quakes and Windstorms
Dec 3 2009 // Swiss Re announced that it has entered into a transaction with Successor X Ltd. a Cayman Islands exempted company financed through the offering of insurance-linked securities, to receive up to $150 million of...
SEC Charges Hurricane Restoration Company and Execs in Alleged Fraud
Dec 3 2009 // A Dallas and New Orleans-based hurricane restoration company that has been subject to numerous lawsuits since Hurricane Katrina, and several of the company’s executives, have been charged by the Securities and...
Flagstone Re Buys Retrocessional Coverage from Montana Re Cat Bond
Dec 2 2009 // Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Limited announced that Flagstone Réassurance Suisse SA, has purchased three years of fully collateralized retrocessional coverage from Montana Re Ltd. a special purpose reinsurer...
