Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
USGS Offers Earthquake Research Grants
Mar 18 2008 // The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will award up to $3.4 million in grants and cooperative agreements for earthquake research in 2009. Interested researchers can apply online at www.grants.gov under the funding opportunity...
Tornado, Storms Slam Atlanta, Gov. Declares State of Emergency
Mar 17 2008 // A severe weather system moved into Georgia March 14 resulting in numerous injuries and major destruction and damage to areas of Atlanta and Fulton County, Ga. The system produced one tornado, injuring at least 20 people...
Some in Connecticut Shook by Small Earthquake
Mar 13 2008 // Scientists say it was a small earthquake that shook houses in Chester, Connecticut and surrounding towns earlier this week. The U.S. Geological Survey says it recorded a 2.0 magnitude earthquake early Tuesday morning three...
2007 Cat Losses Top $70 Billion Swiss Re <em>sigma</em> Study Finds
Mar 12 2008 // Swiss Re’s latest sigma study – “Natural Catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2007” – examines catastrophe-related economic losses from natural and man-made disasters last year, which...
Texas FAIR Plan, Windstorm Association Elect Officers for 2008-2009
Mar 12 2008 // Both the Texas FAIR Plan Association and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) have elected new officers for 2008-2009. For the Texas FAIR Plan, James Langford, vice president, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance...
Conflicts Arising in Federal Rulings in Louisiana Hurricane Cases
Mar 11 2008 // Conflicting rulings by federal judges in New Orleans and in Lake Charles, La., are having major effects on how much money homeowners can collect on damage from the 2005 hurricanes, and there is no quick end to the conflict...
Windstorm Liability Limits Increased for Certain Property in Texas
Mar 11 2008 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin recently signed an order increasing the maximum limits of liability from $3,390,000 to $4 million for a commercial or government building insured for wind and hail by the Texas...
AIG Expands Hurricane Service for High Net Worth Clients
Mar 11 2008 // AIG Private Client Group said it will begin offering its Hurricane Protection Unit service to some of it high net worth policyholders in New York, New Jersey and Florida. The service provides a hurricane mitigation...
Storm Losses Blamed on Coastal Growth, Not Global Warming
Mar 10 2008 // A hurricane that hit Miami in 1926 would cause up to $157 billion in damage if it were to strike today, according to a recent study. U.S. storm costs are rising because of higher populations and wealth on the coasts, not a...
For Florida Politicians, Property Insurance Just Won’t Go Away
Mar 10 2008 // Property insurance wasn’t supposed to be the big issue in the 2008 Florida Legislature. To the chagrin of many lawmakers, it just won’t go away. Legislators thought they’d largely taken care of the issue...
Study Reports on Costly 2007 Wildfire Season
Mar 10 2008 // With a potential $2.5 billion in insured losses in California alone, last year ranks as one of the costliest wildfire seasons in recent history, according to Risk Management Solutions’ (RMS) and ImageCat Inc.’s...
Swiss Re Supports Indian Quake Safety
Mar 7 2008 // Swiss Re has participated in a workshop in New Delhi – “Integrating Earthquake Risk Mitigation into Hospital Facilities Planning” – organized by US-based NGO GeoHazards International and the Delhi...
Storms’ Intensity Remains Tough to Predict, Says U.S. Hurricane Chief
Mar 6 2008 // The new head of the National Hurricane Center says the big challenge for forecasters is predicting the intensity of hurricanes. Bill Read says there’s been a lot of improvement in track models in recent years. But he...
World Bank Approves New Catastrophe Loan Facility
Mar 5 2008 // The World Bank launched a new catastrophe loan facility on Tuesday, March 4, and revised an existing contingency credit line designed to help increase its business with middle-income countries. The World Bank board...
AIR Assesses Damages from European Windstorm Emma
Mar 4 2008 // Boston-based AIR Worldwide is assessing the damages caused by windstorm Emma, which swept across Western and Southern Germany, as well as Austria and the Czech Republic on Saturday, March 1. No damage estimates have yet...
RMS Ups UK Quake Loss Estimates: $30 to $60 Million
Mar 3 2008 // Risk Management Solutions has given updated estimates of the likely insured losses caused by the earthquake that struck Market Rasen in Lincolnshire in Northeast England on Thursday (See IJ web site –...
Feds Open Center in Southern Ky. to Help Tornado Victims
Feb 29 2008 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened a center in southern Kentucky about a mile from where a winter storms tore apart homes and killed four people earlier this month. FEMA workers are at a Mobile Disaster...
Ga. Official Says Tornadoes, Storms Caused $15 Million Damage
Feb 29 2008 // Thunderstorms and tornadoes that raced into Georgia from the west Tuesday morning caused about $15 million damage to some 1,300 homes, a state official said Wednesday. Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine earlier estimated...
Earthquake Strikes England; No Deaths Reported, Initial Damages $20 Million
Feb 28 2008 // The British Geological Survey (BGS – http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/) recorded an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 (ML) on the Richter scale near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire at 00:56 GMT, yesterday, Feb. 27. While...
Best Holds Stable Reinsurance Outlook
Feb 28 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has issued an analysis of the global reinsurance sector, indicating that it will maintain an overall “stable outlook” for 2008 for the second consecutive year. “The affirmation of the...
