Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Catlin Purchases $225 Million in Cat Bonds; Best’s Ratings
Dec 19 2007 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited announced that Catlin Insurance Company Ltd. of Bermuda has purchased coverage totaling $225 million under a catastrophe swap agreement in the event of severe US natural catastrophes...
Preliminary Swiss Re ‘sigma’ Report Estimates 2007 Cat Losses
Dec 19 2007 // Swiss Re has released a preliminary “sigma” report detailing the extent of 2007’s catastrophe losses. According to its initial estimates, more than 20,000 people were killed by natural and man-made...
California Hosts Industry Summit Addressing Wildfire Survivor Needs
Dec 19 2007 // California Insurance Poizner hosted a roundtable meeting Tuesday with CEOs and executives of leading insurance companies to improve the recovery process for wildfire victims and announce minimum standards to reform the...
National Weather Service says Alabama at High Risk for Wildfires
Dec 19 2007 // National Weather Service forecasters and officials with the Alabama Forestry Commission say Alabama is at an unusually high risk for wildfires, despite a cold snap. The National Weather Service has issued a red flag...
Allstate Incurs More than $300 Million in Southern California Wildfire Losses
Dec 19 2007 // The Allstate Corp. reported that the company has received more than 7,000 claims from the Southern California wildfires in October of this year, resulting in approximately $315 million to $335 million in wildfire-related...
Va. Completes Installation of Hurricane Gates on Highways
Dec 18 2007 // The last of the 440 hurricane evacuation gates between Norfolk and Richmond, Va. have been installed. The Virginia Department of Transportation says the last 298 gates of the $8.7 million project finished a week early and...
S&P Raises RenRe’s Ratings to ‘A’ and ‘AA-‘; Outlook Stable
Dec 17 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its counterparty credit rating on Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. to ‘A’ from ‘A-,’ as well as its counterparty credit and...
Survey of Analysts Projects Healthy Underwriting Profits
Dec 17 2007 // Next year may just go down on record as one of the best insurance industry underwriting performances in the past 80 years, according to an industry survey of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals. Analysts...
Engineer Says Providence, R.I. Hurricane Barrier Needs Repairs
Dec 14 2007 // A hurricane barrier protecting downtown Providence, R.I. from floods caused by major storms needs about $20,000 in repair work. City Engineer William Bombard says a gear broke several months ago, so one of the massive...
Westrope to Offer New Catastrophe Risk Assessment System
Dec 14 2007 // Kansas City, Mo.-based. Westrope has announced that it has selected California-based Risk Management Solutions (RMS) to provide catastrophe risk assessment capabilities through RMS Wholesale Broker RiskBrowser. RMS is a...
White House Repeats Threat to Veto House Terrorism Insurance Bill
Dec 12 2007 // The Bush Administration has reasserted its opposition to a House bill that would extend the federal terrorism insurance program after it expires on Dec. 31, vowing to veto any final measure that differs measurably from the...
Hurricane Forecaster Changes Formula, Predicts Active 2008 Season
Dec 10 2007 // Using a simplified forecasting technique, researcher William Gray is predicting an above-average hurricane season in the Atlantic next year, with seven hurricanes, three of them major. Gray’s team at Colorado State...
RMS Estimates High Level of Hurricane Activity for 2008-2012
Dec 7 2007 // Risk Management Solutions has confirmed its modeled hurricane activity rates for 2008 to 2012, following “an elicitation with a group of the world’s leading hurricane researchers.” The forecast concludes...
RiskMeter Adds Florida Wildfire Report to Natural Hazard Report Service
Dec 5 2007 // Online hazard mapping firm, CDS Business Mapping LLC., added a Florida Wildfire report to its RiskMeter Online natural hazard risk report service. By typing in an address, RiskMeter’s wildfire report will return a...
Storms Threaten Southern California Wildfire Areas with Mudslides
Dec 3 2007 // Southern California’s weather turned from dangerously dry to extremely wet Friday as storms brought the threat of mudslides and flash floods to areas burned by recent wildfires, causing evacuation orders. Residents...
A Nod to Dodd
Dec 2 2007 // Sen. Trent Lott, R- Miss., appears to have quieted down since his Hurricane Katrina claim has been settled, so perhaps people will start listening to other senators in Washington on property insurance and natural disaster...
Catastrophic Events Raise Business Interruption Coverage Questions
Dec 2 2007 // Considering the number of people who lived and worked in the area, the destruction of the World Trade Center complex was the functional equivalent of obliterating a small- to medium-sized city. Several recent and...
A Nod to Dodd
Dec 2 2007 // Sen. Trent Lott, R- Miss., appears to have quieted down since his Hurricane Katrina claim has been settled, so perhaps people will start listening to other senators in Washington on property insurance and natural disaster...
Malibu, Calif., Faces Wildfires, Again
Dec 2 2007 // For the second time in a little more than a month, residents in Malibu, Calif., faced destruction caused by wildfires. The coastal community had been recovering from October’s 4,565-acre Canyon Fire that destroyed...
S&P Report Examines Calif. Earthquake Insurance
Dec 2 2007 // The Golden State got a jolt on Oct. 30 with a 5.6 magnitude earthquake just outside of San Jose. An article published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, “Is California’s Earthquake Insurance...
