Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Authorities Work to Contain Wildfire at Lake Okeechobee
May 7 2008 // Florida officials are working to contain a wildfire at Lake Okeechobee. The state Division of Forestry says about 4,000 acres of muck and grass are burning on the dry lake bed near Moore Haven, about 80 miles west of West...
Tornadoes Hit Tennessee, Demolish Mobile Homes, Injure 4
May 6 2008 // The National Weather Service said four weak tornadoes were spawned by a storm system that moved through Tennessee’s Montgomery County in the early morning hours of May 4. One struck Clarksville’s fairgrounds...
Illinois Creates Seismic Safety Task Force to Prepare for Earthquakes
May 6 2008 // Illinois has decided to create a panel aimed at improving earthquake preparedness. The Illinois Seismic Safety Task Force will assess how high-risk portions of the state have prepared to minimize earthquake damage. The...
Small Earthquake Hits St. Louis County
May 6 2008 // There are no reports of damage after a small earthquake shook parts of the St. Louis, Mo., area on Monday, May 5th in the morning. The magnitude 2.7 quake at 6:25 a.m. was centered in Fenton in southwest St. Louis County....
Insurers not Impressed with Florida’s Revamped Insurance Package
May 5 2008 // While many Florida lawmakers claim to be opposed to gambling, they don’t mind taking a chance on Mother Nature. They rolled the dice again on May 1, signing off on a new insurance bill that does little to alleviate...
Illinois School Damaged by Earthquake
May 5 2008 // The 5.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the Midwest last month has caused damage to a gym at an elementary school in East Alton,. Ill. Officials at Eastwood elementary School have roped off the gym with yellow caution...
California Earthquake: Damage Predictions of ‘Big One’ Get Bigger
May 5 2008 // A new report is predicting that a repeat of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake would damage more than 90,000 buildings and cost $150 billion to repair. According to the report, “When the Big One Strikes...
On Shaky Ground
May 5 2008 // There have been a lot of rumblings lately — with scientists recording earthquakes in Nevada, Oregon and throughout the Midwest ranging from magnitudes 4.7 to 5.4. The U.S. Geological survey recently noted that...
Survey: Majority of October’s California Wildfire Claims Settled
May 5 2008 // A new survey of insurance companies estimated that nearly 90 percent of claims stemming from the devastating October 2007 fire and wind storms in California have been settled. A poll by the Insurance Information Network of...
Earthquakes Raise Questions of Future Shocks, Public Readiness
May 5 2008 // Just weeks after earthquakes rattled Nevada, the Midwest and the coast of Oregon, and on the heels of the 102nd anniversary of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake, the public, government officials and insurance industry...
Earthquakes Shake Reno, Bigger Quake Could be Coming
May 5 2008 // Two moderate earthquakes shook the Mogul-Somerset area just west of Reno, Nev., on April 24, 2008, according to the Nevada Seismological Laboratory. While there were no immediate reports of damage, the laboratory predicts...
Earthquake Raises Questions About Coverage, Construction Codes
May 5 2008 // Weeks after a 5.2 level earthquake rocked the Midwest from Cairo, Ill., to Atlanta, Ga., geologists and the insurance industry are still discussing the impact of the quake — such as increases in the purchase of...
S&P Reports on the ‘Evolving World of Property/Casualty Securitizations’
May 2 2008 // A report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services analyzes the catastrophe bond and reinsurance sidecar markets, which, S&P concludes, have “experienced sharp surges of activity after 2005.”...
Hurricane Season Looming, Mississippi Commissioner Says Be Prepared
May 2 2008 // With the 2008 hurricane season less than a month away, Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney encourages all coastal residents to protect their lives and property by making preparations now. One of the first...
Virginia’s Had Worse Tornadoes than Most Recent Outbreak
May 1 2008 // Only one other tornado outbreak in Virginia’s history caused more injuries than this Monday’s, although several others have been more prolific and deadly, according to the Virginia Department of Emergency...
Magnitude-5.2 Earthquake Hits Northern California
May 1 2008 // A moderate earthquake hit a mountainous region of Northern California on Tuesday night. There are no immediate reports or injury or damage. The magnitude-5.2 temblor struck at 8:03 p.m., centered about 11 miles southeast...
Earthquake Expert Honored in Utah for Lifetime of Service
May 1 2008 // A University of Utah earthquake expert received a lifetime achievement award from the Western States Seismic Policy Council. Walter Arabasz got the award last week at a national earthquake conference in Seattle. He is...
Coast Strongly Influences Louisiana, Texas Property Markets
May 1 2008 // Louisiana and Texas share a lot. Besides sharing a common border, they share the Gulf of Mexico — both its bounty and its battering, in the form of tropical storms and hurricanes. The latter greatly influences the rates...
Wildfire Near Los Angeles Forces 1,000 to Evacuate Homes
Apr 30 2008 // Crews overcame a threatening flare-up Monday and worked to halt a wildfire east of Los Angeles that has sent 1,000 people fleeing their homes. Water-dropping aircraft were back in the air April 28 to complement ground...
Experts Say Potential for Arizona Wildfires Extreme
Apr 30 2008 // Wildland fire officials are warning of a potential disaster in southeastern Arizona. Fire behavior analysts with the Eastern Arizona Incident Management Team say the potential for extreme wildfire conditions are the worst...
