Latest Catastrophe Headlines

All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.

RMS Sets Parameters for Brit’s Fremantle Sidecar

Jun 25 2007 // Risk Management Solutions has designed the trigger mechanisms and performed the risk analysis for a securitization of multi-peril, multi-event catastrophe risk relating to securities issued by Fremantle Ltd, a Cayman...

Risk Management Solutions Sets Up Multi-Peril Catastrophe Swap

Jun 25 2007 // Newark, Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a risk modeling company, has designed the trigger mechanisms and performed the risk analysis for a securitization of multi-peril, multi-event catastrophe...

UK’s Met Office Predicts 7-13 North Atlantic Tropical Storms

Jun 21 2007 // The Met Office, the UK’s official weather forecasting center, (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk.) has forecast 10 tropical storms in the North Atlantic during the July to November period, with a 70 percent chance of there...

Gallagher (UK), MAP Launch Israeli War & Terrorism Coverage

Jun 21 2007 // Arthur J. Gallagher (UK) Limited in conjunction with MAP, a specialist insurer at Lloyd’s, has launched an insurance facility for terrorism liability. The new product aims to provide coverage for tourist and study...

Hurricane Exit Plans for Alabama’s Elderly, Sick Upgraded

Jun 21 2007 // Some of the people whose lives are at stake during a hurricane are lying helpless in nursing homes and hospitals on the Alabama coast, where emergency computer and phone networks have been enhanced to help them when a...

Damaged Bridge on S.C. Hurricane Evacuation Route to Fully Reopen

Jun 21 2007 // A Beaufort County bridge severely damaged less then two months ago is scheduled to completely reopen this week. Only one lane of the J.E. McTeer Bridge has been open for limited hours since the steel beams under the span...

Wildfire Burns on Colorado’s Western Slope

Jun 21 2007 // The New Castle Fire burning near Glenwood Springs, Colo., has forced the evacuation of about 90 homes with another 100 on high alert, according to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association. In light of the fire,...

Chertoff, Gov. Urge North Carolinians to Prepare for Hurricane Season

Jun 20 2007 // Gov. Mike Easley met with Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to discuss North Carolina’s emergency preparedness for the hurricane season that began June 1. This is the second...

Rain Helps Stop Spread of Wildfires in North Carolina

Jun 19 2007 // Rain has helped stop the spread of wildfires in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest that have been burning for more than a week. Neither the 600-acre-fire at Dobson Knob or the 1,900-acre-fire at Shortoff...

More Arizonans Working to Protect Homes from Wildfires

Jun 19 2007 // Efforts to better safeguard homes from the threat of wildfire have taken off in mountain communities throughout Arizona, with homeowners cutting down trees, removing wood piles, raking leaves and caulking around windows to...

House Bill Renews Federal Terrorism Reinsurance for 10 Years, Expands Definition

Jun 19 2007 // Congress officially has a new bill to reauthorize the federal terrorism reinsurance program. Two Democrats from Massachusetts — U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano and the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney...

News Currents

Jun 18 2007 // R.I. House members forward coastal measures The leaders of a special Rhode Island House commission studying the effects of natural disasters on property insurance costs have introduced legislation they say is aimed at...

Richardson: S.C. went the ‘right way’ with hurricane law

Jun 18 2007 // The South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate recently agreed to changes to coastal omnibus hurricane legislation, which include extending the notice for homeowners whose insurance would be canceled to 90 days...

News Currents

Jun 18 2007 // Slow death for coastal windstorm bill in last days of Texas session In the waning days of the 2007 session of the Texas Legislature, marked by a tumultuous, unsuccessful struggle to oust the current Speaker of the House of...

Poll: Many coastal residents still not ready for hurricanes

Jun 18 2007 // Many people along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts still lack a hurricane survival plan and don’t feel vulnerable to storms, despite Katrina’s dramatic damage and pleas from emergency officials for residents to...

Terrorism Risk Insurance Act Déjà Vu

Jun 18 2007 // It’s becoming a familiar song: the Federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is once again due to expire on Dec. 31, 2007, and as of this writing, no long- or short-term successor program has been decided upon or...

Nephila Capital Launches Gamut Re

Jun 14 2007 // Nephila Capital Ltd., a Bermuda-based investment manager specializing in catastrophe reinsurance and weather risk, announced the closing of its new investment vehicle, Gamut Reinsurance Ltd. Gamut Re, which is domiciled in...

Hurricane Forecasting Satellite Could Fail Anytime

Jun 14 2007 // An aging U.S. weather satellite crucial to accurate predictions on the intensity and path of hurricanes could fail at any moment and plans to launch a replacement have been pushed back seven years to 2016. In a letter...

N.Y. City Urged to be Ready for Major Hurricane

Jun 13 2007 // Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has warned that America’s largest city needs to be prepared for a hurricane powerful enough to cause serious flooding in lower Manhattan and elsewhere. “It’s...

Builder’s Risk Remains Difficult But Manageable, Advises Mercator

Jun 13 2007 // The rest of 2007 will continue to be a difficult time for developers and builders to secure builder’s risk insurance for their projects, according to experts at independent wholesale insurance broker Mercator Risk...