Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Not telling consumers about risks may be an agent’s biggest risk
Aug 21 2006 // Every year, just before daylight savings time rolls around, I get a package in the mail with a 9-volt battery. The package is from my mortgage company, sending me a reminder to change the battery in my smoke detector. That...
Hurricane forecasts lighten up
Aug 21 2006 // Forecasters are saying that the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season should be slightly less active than earlier predicted. The National Hurricane Center and other National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agencies said...
Not telling consumers about risks may be an agent’s biggest risk
Aug 21 2006 // Every year, just before daylight savings time rolls around, I get a package in the mail with a 9-volt battery. The package is from my mortgage company, sending me a reminder to change the battery in my smoke detector. That...
Allstate Drops Alaska Earthquake Coverage
Aug 18 2006 // Nearly 7,000 Alaskans will lose their earthquake insurance as their policies come up for renewal in the coming months. Allstate Insurance Co. is cutting its optional earthquake coverage nationwide, and will drop this plan...
Best Reports on Reinsurers: ‘Humbled, But Most Not Broken’
Aug 18 2006 // In its recently issued global insurance report A.M. Best Co. concludes that “almost a year after three massive hurricanes—Katrina, Rita and Wilma—the global reinsurance industry is still struggling to manage its...
EPI Study Finds Coastal Population Drain Following Hurricanes
Aug 18 2006 // A study conducted by the Earth Policy Institute (http://www.earth-policy.org) concludes that a number of people who evacuated their homes in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma may have left permanently. The EPI...
Hearing Set for Texas Windstorm Pool Reinsurance Request
Aug 18 2006 // The Texas Department of Insurance has scheduled a public hearing for Aug. 22, 2006, at 10:00 a.m., for Docket No. 2643: Consideration of a petition by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) requesting approval of...
La. Governor Meets With Insurers About Hurricane Problems
Aug 18 2006 // Gov. Kathleen Blanco met with representatives of at least a dozen of Louisiana’s largest property insurers on Aug. 17, hoping to ease jitters and keep them in the state after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Blanco wants...
Wildfire Injuries, Deaths on Rise in Georgia, Other Southern States
Aug 17 2006 // Wildfire-related injuries and fatalities are on the rise this season in Georgia and some other states, with sprawling suburban growth, dry conditions and changes in land-use patterns contributing to the problem. With urban...
Tower Report Urges Industry, Gov’t., Public to Rethink Cat Management
Aug 17 2006 // A new research report from the TowerGroup finds that “without a concerted effort by all parties to support a holistic solution to catastrophe management, the dire predictions of insolvency in the insurance sector and...
Floridians Flock to Get Home Hurricane-Preparedness Inspections
Aug 17 2006 // Florida homeowners on Aug. 15 flocked to a new state program that offers free hurricane-preparedness inspections and grants to help cover the cost of improvements. More than 3,500 people applied online within hours after...
State Farm Trying to Improve its Image After Hurricane Katrina
Aug 16 2006 // Representatives of State Farm Insurance Co. are on a media tour in Mississippi to give a more positive image to the company as it and others in the industry fend off lawsuits filed in the aftermath of Hurricane...
FEMA to Repay Nearly $56M to Texas for Hurricane Costs
Aug 16 2006 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse an additional $55.89 million to Houston and the Texas Department of Public Safety for costs associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, officials said. Houston will...
Average Insurance Premiums Remain Flat in Q2 Except in Hurricane Regions
Aug 16 2006 // According to the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc.’s RIMS Benchmark Survey, commercial insurance premiums were flat to slightly lower in the second quarter of this year compared to the prior year. The RIMS...
Arizona Puts the Heat on Insurers for Wildfire Protection
Aug 15 2006 // As wildfire season stretches across the Western states from June through September, Christina Urias, director of the Arizona Department of Insurance, has lit a fire under agents and insurers to work with their clients to...
Best Affirms Glacier Re ‘A-‘ Ratings; Off Review; Outlook Negative
Aug 15 2006 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of “A-” (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” of Swiss-based Glacier Reinsurance AG. Best also removed the ratings from...
Florida’s $250 Million Property Loss Mitigation Program Begins
Aug 15 2006 // Florida has begun My Safe Florida Home program, a $250 million mitigation program to help Floridians strengthen their homes against hurricanes and to reduce property losses. Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial...
Typhoon Saomai Kills 214; $1.4 Billion Damage Estimated
Aug 14 2006 // Authorities now put the death toll from Typhoon Saomai, which struck the southeastern coast of China last week, at 214. The storm, which came ashore near Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province on Thursday, Aug. 10, packed winds in...
Insurers in Louisiana Agree to Extend Hurricane Lawsuit Deadline
Aug 14 2006 // Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon says nearly all of Louisiana’s homeowners insurance companies, including State Farm and Allstate, have complied with his order to extend the prescriptive period for policyholders...
Powerful Typhoon Kills 83 in China
Aug 11 2006 // The most powerful typhoon to hit China in five decades raged across its southeastern coast Thursday, claiming at least 83 lives as it capsized ships, destroyed buildings and forced 1.5 million people from their...
