Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Catastrophes: The time to act is now
Sep 24 2007 // Two years have passed since America’s most shocking wake-up call regarding the devastation that follows the force and fury of Mother Nature. Since that time, a variety of legislative proposals have been offered at...
Catastrophes: The time to act is now
Sep 24 2007 // Reports show that the typical taxpaying American family paid more than $800 to cover costs associated with Hurricane Katrina. That is an enormous nationwide catastrophe tax. Two years have passed since America’s most...
Montana’s wildfire suppression funding process convoluted, analysts say
Sep 24 2007 // Montana legislative analysts agreed that more money is needed to fight fires in Montana but called the state’s current system for funding wildfire suppression “convoluted” and raised concerns about some...
Editor’s Note: The natural disaster dilemma
Sep 24 2007 // What to do about natural disasters? We can’t really prevent them, and while many people are skeptical about dire predictions regarding climate change as the probable cause of an increase in weather-related...
Lloyd’s America’s Baker: Time for action on climate change is now
Sep 24 2007 // For an insurer, understanding climate change is a matter of understanding trends in risk and changes in those trends. For Wendy Baker, president of Lloyd’s America Inc., staying on top of those trends in the United...
IISS Sees Increasing Terrorist Threats
Sep 24 2007 // While global warming may ultimately prove to be the biggest crisis the world’s people have ever faced, it’s not as immediate a threat as that posed by global terrorism. After Sept. 11 and the Madrid and London...
The problem of natural disasters
Sep 24 2007 // What to do about natural disasters? We can’t really prevent them and while many people are skeptical about dire predictions regarding climate change as the probable cause of an increase in weather-related...
Citizens Opens Emergency Operations Center For Fla. Tornado Vicitms
Sep 22 2007 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has established a mobile emergency operations center in Eustis, Fla., to help homeowners in the area with property damaged by the tornado that struck the area last week. Citizens has about...
AIR Estimates Typhoon Wipha Insured Losses under $250 Million
Sep 21 2007 // AIR Worldwide Corporation estimates insured losses from both wind and precipitation-induced flooding from Typhoon Wipha (See IJ web site Sept. 18, 19) are unlikely to exceed $250 million (RMB 1.85 billion). “The...
EQECAT Releases New Hurricane Model Software
Sep 21 2007 // EQECAT, Inc., a subsidiary of ABSG Consulting Inc., announced the release of its “3.10” catastrophe management software, which includes its next generation model for Atlantic basin hurricanes. “The storms...
House Approves Terrorism Insurance Backstop Extension
Sep 20 2007 // The House of Representative approved by a vote 312-110 H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 (TRIREA), legislation that extends and revises the federal terrorism insurance backstop for...
SoCal Wildfires Near Containment, Ahead of Windy Forecast
Sep 20 2007 // Fire crews were bracing for strong winds as they sought to finish surrounding a wildfire that forced hundreds of people to flee this mountaintop community in the San Bernardino National Forest, authorities said. Winds in...
Industry Confident in Terror Reinsurance Renewal Despite White House Veto Threat
Sep 20 2007 // Insurance industry lobbyists are confident there is enough backing in Congress for renewal of the federal terrorism reinsurance program and enough support to override a threatened presidential veto if necessary. The...
Wipha Misses Shanghai; RMS Predicts Some Damage
Sep 19 2007 // Shanghai, China’s financial hub, has been spared the full impact of Typhoon Wipha, as the storm’s center passed around 60 miles (100 kms) to the west of the densely populated area. Wipha weakened substantially...
Bush Signals Veto of Terrorism Reinsurance Program
Sep 18 2007 // The Bush Administration believes that the federal backup for terrorism reinsurance should be phased out in favor of a private market for terrorism insurance and “strongly opposes efforts to expand the federal...
Typhoon Wipha Threatens Shanghai
Sep 18 2007 // Typhoon Wipha, the season’s 13th named storm in the Western Pacific, is on a course to come ashore on the Chinese mainland early Wednesday morning, local time. The storm is currently over open water north of Taiwan....
Texas AG Warns Against Price Gouging After Hurricane
Sep 18 2007 // Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott warned Gulf Coast residents to be wary of price gouging, charity scams and other fraudulent attempts to bilk consumers in the aftermath of Hurricane Humberto. The AG released the warning...
Climate Change Expert Predicts Hawaii Hurricanes To Get Stronger
Sep 18 2007 // Nobody can say how many hurricanes will hit Hawaii each year, according to a climate change expert, but there’s no doubt they’ll get worse. “I can’t tell you there will be more of them,”...
Federal Officials Okay Individual Aid for Tornado Victims in Northwood, N.D.
Sep 17 2007 // Federal officials have approved individual aid to residents of Northwood, N. D. to help them recover from an Aug. 26 tornado that killed one person, injured 18 and left much of the town in ruins, Gov. John Hoeven and the...
Cleanup Begins in Texas, Louisiana After Hurricane Humberto
Sep 17 2007 // Utility crews restored electricity Sept. 14 to half of the homes and businesses left without power after Hurricane Humberto, while experts estimated total damages from the storm would cost less than $500 million. Humberto,...
