Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hawaii Group Buys Hurricane Insurer Zephyr from Kingsway
Sep 11 2009 // Toronto-based Kingsway Financial Services Inc. has agreed to sell Zephyr Insurance Co., Inc. to Zephyr Acquisition Co., an acquisition vehicle of Ocean Harbor Holding Inc. and MP Holdings LLC, a Hawaiian based investor...
Los Angeles Wildfire Has Destroyed 82 Homes, New Estimate Finds
Sep 11 2009 // Fire officials say a new damage survey shows 82 homes have been destroyed from the blaze burning north of Los Angeles, up four from the previous report. The U.S. Forest Service also increased containment of the fire to 71...
Hurricane Fred Weakens in Atlantic
Sep 10 2009 // Hurricane Fred weakened on Wednesday after briefly flaring into a powerful Category 3 storm in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and was forecast to fizzle as it churned far away from land. Fred’s sustained winds dropped to...
Validus Names Cooper to Head No. Am. Catastrophe Re Underwriting
Sep 10 2009 // Bermuda-based Validus Holdings, Ltd. Has appointed Charles F.A. Cooper as the Head of North American Property Catastrophe Reinsurance Underwriting of Validus’ wholly-owned subsidiary Validus Reinsurance, Ltd.,...
Swiss Re Issues New <em>sigma</em> Report on Insurance-linked Securities
Sep 10 2009 // According to Swiss Re’s new sigma study, “the role of indices in transferring insurance risks to the capital markets”, both (re)insurers and investors benefit when clearly defined and regularly updated...
Fred Now a Category 2 Hurricane
Sep 9 2009 // According to the most recent bulletin (5:00 a.m. AST) from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fred has intensified to a Category 2 hurricane on the Safer-Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds of around 105 mph,...
Aon, Partner Re Release Latest Hazard & Risk Review at Monte Carlo
Sep 9 2009 // Aon Benfield and PartnerRe have released their annual re/insurance industry report, Hazard & Risk Science Review 2009, which showcases the latest developments in the field of natural hazard and risk science. The...
AIR Worldwide Updates Mediterranean Region Earthquake Model
Sep 9 2009 // AIR Worldwide Corporation has updated its probabilistic earthquake risk model for the Mediterranean region. The Boston-based catastrophe risk modeling firm, noted that the model is “used by European insurers,...
Tropical Storm Fred Forms in Eastern Atlantic
Sep 8 2009 // The National Hurricane Center in Miami is tracking the season’s latest potential cyclone, Fred, which Has strengthened into a tropical storm over the “far eastern tropical Atlantic.” The NHC’s 5:00...
Tornado Threat Increases as Gulf Hurricanes Get Larger
Sep 8 2009 // Tornadoes that occur from hurricanes moving inland from the Gulf Coast are increasing in frequency, according to researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This increase seems to reflect the increase in size and...
Florida in Better, Not Perfect, Insurance Shape Should Major Hurricane Hit
Sep 7 2009 // Florida property insurers are warning that a major hurricane is likely this season given the state’s history of storms. At the same time, the industry says, the state-backed catastrophe reinsurance fund, the Florida...
California Wildfire Called Arson
Sep 4 2009 // As of early Friday morning, the Station wildfire that is burning through the hills above Los Angeles was about 40 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention. Fire officials...
Some State-Run Property Insurance Plans in Precarious Financial Situation
Sep 4 2009 // As the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season enters its peak period, the finances of a number of residual market property plans in hurricane-exposed states are on shaky ground. The credit crunch and prolonged economic downturn...
Louisiana Commissioner: Don’t Raise Taxes on Reinsurers
Sep 3 2009 // Now that the hurricane season is well underway, Louisianans remember when Katrina came ashore, late in August 2005, with a storm surge that eventually flooded New Orleans and leveled many Gulf Coast towns, costing more...
Tropical Storm Erika ‘Remains Disorganized’ NHC Reports
Sep 3 2009 // According to the National Hurricane Center’s 5:00 a.m. AST bulletin, the center of “poorly-organized tropical storm Erika” was located about 85 miles, 140 kms, west of Guadeloupe and about 260 miles, 420...
Hurricane Jimena Swirls Past Southern Baja Resorts
Sep 3 2009 // Hurricane Jimena weakened to a Category 2 storm as it bore down on the coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. Jimena’s maximum sustained winds decreased late Tuesday to near 110 mph (175 kph) and the...
AIR Analyzes Strong Indonesian Quake
Sep 3 2009 // A major earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s main island of Java at 2:55 p.m. local time (07:55 UTC) on Wednesday. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) originally issued a preliminary magnitude estimate of 7.4...
Florida Hurricane, Pension Funds Boosted By Financial Markets Upswing
Sep 3 2009 // Florida’s public employee pension and hurricane catastrophe funds are benefiting from an upswing in the financial markets, state investment managers said earlier this week. The State Board of Administration received...
‘Disorganized’ Tropical Storm Erika Forms in the Atlantic
Sep 2 2009 // As of 5:00 a.m. AST, Tropical Storm Erika was located about 280 miles, 455 kms, east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands. The National Hurricane Center in Miami described the storm as “disorganized” with...
Some Texas Windstorm Policyholders Must Buy Flood Coverage
Sep 1 2009 // Some property owners in Texas coastal counties that seek wind insurance coverage from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association will be required to buy flood insurance equal to at least 90 percent of the property’s...
