Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
News Currents
May 7 2007 // Another report details property/casualty insurers’ 2006 profitability, escape from storms Warns falling prices mean profits are at, or are steadily, approaching the cyclical peak Another report on the insurance...
Tenn. Earthquake Commission to Begin Meeting Next Month
May 3 2007 // Tennessee’s first commission devoted to dealing with a major earthquake is scheduled to begin reviewing disaster preparations next month. The West Tennessee Seismic Safety Commission was established after concerns...
Total Cost of Risk Continues Downward Trend, RIMS Survey Finds
May 2 2007 // The commercial insurance industry continued to experience an overall decline in total cost of risk in 2006 despite coastal property premium hikes, according to the 2006 Annual Benchmark Survey book from the Risk and...
Fla. Renews Tax Break on Hurricane Prep Items
May 2 2007 // Flashlights, gasoline cans, weather radios and plastic tarps are among the storm preparedness items that will be available tax-free as hurricane season begins. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a bill into law making...
Swiss Re Expands Nat Cat Global Asset Protection Services
May 1 2007 // Swiss Re announced from the RIMS Convention in New Orleans that its Global Asset Protection Services (GAPS) are offering new consulting capabilities to improve the management of risks that result from wind and earthquake...
R.I. Staging Massive Hurricane Response to Fake Hurricane Yvette
May 1 2007 // Rhode Island is prepping for the worst hurricane to ever crash into New England — on paper at least. About 250 federal emergency management officials plan to stage a response to the fictional “Hurricane...
Report: U.S. Turned Away Foreign Aid Offered After Hurricane Katrina
May 1 2007 // In the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, the U.S. government failed to take advantage of millions of dollars in foreign aid from its allies, The Washington Post reported. The U.S. has collected about $126...
Additional Federal Funds Approved For Southeast Georgia Wildfires
Apr 30 2007 // Gov. Sonny Perdue said additional federal funds were authorized to assist in fighting the “Kneeknocker Fire” that has flared up again in Georgia’s Brantley County, just outside the city limits of...
Earthquake Hits Southeast England
Apr 30 2007 // A moderate earthquake rattled parts of southeast England Saturday morning, toppling chimneys from houses and rousing residents from their beds. Several thousand people were left without power after the quake in the county...
N.Y., Northeast Small Businesses Face Need for Disaster Insurance
Apr 27 2007 // Many small business owners in New York and the Northeast are still trying to recover from floods caused by as much as eight inches of rain earlier this month. Those who had flood insurance can recoup some of their losses,...
First Quarter Catastrophes Cost U.S. Insurers $1.22 billion
Apr 27 2007 // U.S. property and casualty insurers are expected to pay some $1.22 billion for catastrophic events during the first quarter, including severe tornadoes in several southern states, according to a company that tracks...
Subcommittee Chairman Favors 6 – 8 Year TRIA Extension
Apr 27 2007 // In his opening statement as chair of a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee considering extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski of Pennsylvania said he believes the act should be...
Romney Wants Early Fla. Primary, Backs National Catastrophe Fund
Apr 26 2007 // Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is betting on an early Florida primary and continued his push for support this week, wooing Gov. Charlie Crist and speaking a lot about a top Florida insurance issue. The...
RMS, Weatherflow Launch Parametric Capital Market Index
Apr 26 2007 // Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has teamed up with WeatherFlow Inc., a provider of private weather data, to launch the “WindX(tm) parametric index” (www.windxnetwork.com).” The two companies timed the...
La. Hurricane Safe Rooms Fitted with Pump Automation Systems
Apr 26 2007 // Engineers in Jefferson Parish, La., said recent tests show flood pumps can be turned on automatically by workers holed up in nearby safe rooms during major hurricanes. When a major hurricane threatens the parish, pump...
Real Estate Firms Call for Renewal of Federal Terror Reinsurance
Apr 25 2007 // If the federal government’s terrorism insurance program were allowed to expire, private market terrorism insurance coverage would become largely unavailable and unaffordable, and the gears of commercial real estate...
P/C Insurers to Pay $1.2 Billion in 1st Quarter Home, Business Catastrophe Claims
Apr 25 2007 // Severe tornadoes in several southern states helped push catastrophe losses to more than $1.2 billion during the first quarter of 2007, according to the industry’s Property Claim Services (PCS), a unit of Insurance...
Chubb: 1st Quarter Profit Up 6%
Apr 24 2007 // The Chubb Corp. reported that net income in the first quarter of 2007 was $710 million or $1.71 per share, compared to $672 million or $1.58 per share in the first quarter of 2006. Operating income, which the company...
Bush administration rejects pleas for federal disaster plan
Apr 23 2007 // Warning of another looming hurricane season, lawmakers including Florida Gov. Charlie Crist pleaded this month in Washington for a national catastrophe fund to help stabilize an insurance industry that some say has gone...
Congressional hearings examine the need for national disaster solution
Apr 23 2007 // Some say private market insurance is sufficient, while others claim federal help is needed to solve a ‘national problem’ Two U.S. Senate committees — the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs,...
