Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Busy Wildfire Season Predicted for Wyoming
May 7 2010 // National fire officials say northwest Wyoming could see more wildfires this summer after a season of light snowfall. The National Interagency Fire Center said the light winter in the region means drier fuels in the summer...
Swiss Re Posts $158 Million Q1 Net Income, Despite Natural Catastrophes
May 6 2010 // Swiss Re reported net income of $158 million for the first quarter of 2010, a successful result given the “high natural catastrophe losses in the first quarter.” Swiss Re also noted that the “estimated...
Gulf Coast Oil Spill Compared to Category 5 Hurricane
May 4 2010 // What makes an oil spill really bad? Most of the ingredients for it are now blending in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts tick off the essentials: A relentless flow of oil from under the sea; a type of crude that mixes easily...
California Earthquake Fault Activity Map Shows 50 Additional Fault Lines
May 3 2010 // California geology officials have released an updated state seismic activity map that they hope will improve earthquake preparedness and construction decisions.The map, which had not been updated since 1994, includes more...
Price Scare
May 3 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 RIMS Benchmark Survey fell in...
Who’s In the Path of 2010 Hurricane Season?
May 3 2010 // The North Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and lasts through November 30. Facts from the U.S. Census Bureau highlight the number of people living in areas that could be most affected by these dramatic acts of...
Price Scare
May 3 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 RIMS Benchmark Survey fell in...
Price Scare
May 3 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 RIMS Benchmark Survey fell in...
AIR Enhances Catastrophe Risk Model for Industrial Facilities
Apr 30 2010 // AIR Worldwide (AIR) has enhanced its catastrophe model for estimating property and business interruption losses for a wide variety of industrial facilities. “AIR conducts detailed, site-specific, engineering-based...
Everest Re Posts $22.7 Million Q1 Net Loss; Operating Loss $73.8 Million
Apr 30 2010 // The Bermuda-based Everest Re Group reported a net loss of $22.7 million, or $0.38 per common share, for the first quarter 2010, compared to net income of $108.6 million, or $1.76 per diluted common share, for the first...
ACE Posts $755 Million Q1 Net; Operating Income of $579 Million
Apr 30 2010 // ACE Limited reported from its headquarters in Zurich that net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, totaled $755 Million, compared to $567 million in Q1, 2009. Net income was $2.22 per share, compared with $1.69 per...
Beyond the Flood Zone: Storm Surge Multiplies Coastal Vulnerabilities
Apr 30 2010 // “Homeowners can mitigate against wind damage, but they’re powerless, really, to do anything against storm surge,” says one researcher whose job it is to develop ways to determine the vulnerability of...
Mississippi Could Be Hit with More Severe Weather This Weekend
Apr 29 2010 // Storm-weary Mississippi residents are facing another possible round of severe weather this weekend, only days after tornadoes plowed through the state and left a wide swath of destruction. National Weather Service...
Aon Employs FAConnect Platform to Meet Facultative Chile Quake Demand
Apr 28 2010 // Aon Benfield announced that it is utilizing its “groundbreaking FAConnect placement platform to respond to client demand for expanded Chile earthquake capacity.” The system opens the way for Aon’s clients...
Tornadoes in Mississippi Take 10 Lives; 700 Homes, Many Uninsured, Destroyed
Apr 27 2010 // Tornadoes that killed 10 people in Mississippi destroyed at least 700 homes and did tens of millions of dollars in damage, state authorities said Monday. Homeowners and local authorities began a clean-up operation in some...
Windstorm Claims Adding Up in Texas After Weekend Storms
Apr 27 2010 // Violent thunderstorms packing winds up to 90 miles per hour struck a six-county area southeast of Dallas early on April 24 causing thousands of windstorm claims, the Insurance Council of Texas reports. One fatality...
Zurich Estimates Chile Earthquake-related Losses at $200 Million
Apr 26 2010 // Zurich Financial Services announced that, based on preliminary estimates, it expects aggregate claims payments related to the earthquake in Chile of approximately $200 million before tax. Zurich added that the estimate is...
United Fire & Casualty Earned Premiums Down in Q1, Net Income Up
Apr 26 2010 // Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based insurance company United Fire & Casualty Co. reported a dip in premiums earned in the first quarter of 2010 compared with that in the same period in 2009, but total revenues and net income...
Tornadoes Rip Southern States; 10 Dead; 1,000 Homes Destroyed
Apr 26 2010 // Dozens of tornadoes left a path of destruction more than 50 miles long throughout the southern U.S.—including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee—over the weekend. Ten people were...
Travelers Reports Catastrophe Losses Hurt Profits in Q1
Apr 23 2010 // The Travelers Cos. Inc. reported net income for the first quarter 2010 dropped just $15 million, to $647 million in Q1 2010, compared to $662 million in Q1 2009. Operating income in the current quarter declined as well to...
