Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

Be Careful What You Wish For…

Dec 5 2005 // Last month Congress had to bail out the Federal Emergency Management Agency with an $18.5 billion loan so the agency could settle flood insurance claims for this year’s unprecedented storms. This after FEMA simply...

Experts Predict More Advances Soon in Ability to Predict Hurricanes

Dec 5 2005 // Researchers On the Verge of Predicting How Strong and Big a Hurricane Will Become Hurricane Wilma was briefly the most intense Atlantic storm on record as it moved through the Caribbean toward the Gulf Coast. That was the...

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale Serving Eighth Term

Dec 5 2005 // In public and in an interview with Insurance Journal, Misissippi Insurance Commis-sioner George Dale comes across as a laid-back Mississippi farm-boy, but the commissioner, who has been reelected for eight terms, has...

Preparing for Worst, Cat Modelers Say More Destruction Ahead

Dec 5 2005 // Florida has survived eight hurricanes in 15 months, but more destruction is coming, according to risk modeling companies and economists who spoke at the National Catastrophe Insurance Summit in Burlingame,...

No Rate Change for TWIA; Some Question Why

Dec 5 2005 // Texas Insurance Commis- sioner Mike Geeslin recently ordered residential rates for windstorm coverage from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to remain the same, but allowed for a 5 percent increase in commercial...

Preparing for Worse

Dec 5 2005 // Florida has survived eight hurricanes in 15 months, but more destruction is coming, according to risk modeling companies and economists who spoke at the recent National Catastrophe Insurance Summit. It’s just a...

States Urged to Prepare for Catastrophes by Enforcing Smarter Land Use

Dec 5 2005 // The country needs to better consider where and how it builds if it wants to avoid the worst effects of another Hurricane Katrina or Sept. 11 attack, according to experts at the recent National Conference of Insurance...

Insurance Commissioners Announce Framework for National Cat Program

Dec 5 2005 // Insurance regulators from California, Florida, Illinois and New York, on the heels of the National Catastrophe Insurance Summit held in November, are peddling the framework for a national catastrophe insurance program that...

SAFECO SEES AFTER-TAX LOSSES FROM WILMA AT $29 MILLION

Dec 5 2005 // Seattle-based Safeco has announced estimated after-tax catastrophe losses from Hurricane Wilma of $29 million, or $0.23 per diluted share. Pretax catastrophe losses from the storm are estimated at $45 million. Those...

Editor’s Note: Preparing for Worse

Dec 4 2005 // Florida has survived eight hurricanes in 15 months, but more destruction is coming, according to risk modeling companies and economists who spoke at the recent National Catastrophe Insurance Summit. It’s just a...

News Briefs

Dec 4 2005 // Greenberg Will Not Face Criminal Charges: Additional civil charges against former American International Group Inc. Chairman and CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg are possible, but no state criminal charges are...

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale Serving Eighth Term; Hurricane Katrina Wasn’t Much, Compared to the After

Dec 4 2005 // In public and in an interview with Insurance Journal, Misissippi Insurance Commis-sioner George Dale comes across as a laid-back Mississippi farm-boy, but the commissioner, who has been reelected for eight terms, has...

Editor’s Note:

Dec 4 2005 // Last month Congress had to bail out the Federal Emergency Management Agency with an $18.5 billion loan so the agency could settle flood insurance claims for this year’s unprecedented storms. This after FEMA simply...

Illinois Duo Seeks to Radio Midwesterners of Region’s Earthquake Threat

Dec 4 2005 // Harvey Henson knows people might not fret much about Midwest earthquakes. But since this region has one of the nation’s most active underground faults, that lack of preparedness makes him tremble. “It’s...

Citizens Board Agrees to Increase Florida Rates; OIR Approval Necessary

Dec 4 2005 // Home insurance rate increases as high as 31 percent for some properties, were approved Nov. 17 by the board of governors of Citizens Property Insurance Co., Florida’s insurer of last resort, and now have to go to the...

Preparing for Worst, Cat Modelers Say More Destruction Ahead

Dec 4 2005 // Florida has survived eight hurricanes in 15 months, but more destruction is coming, according to risk modeling companies and economists who spoke at the National Catastrophe Insurance Summit in Burlingame,...

States Urged to Prepare for Catastrophes by Enforcing Smarter Land Use

Dec 4 2005 // The country needs to better consider where and how it builds if it wants to avoid the worst effects of another Hurricane Katrina or Sept. 11 attack, according to experts at the recent National Conference of Insurance...

News Briefs

Dec 4 2005 // New Online License Service Available for Wash. Agents and Brokers Insurance agents, brokers and other insurance professionals licensed to transact business in Washington can now print copies of their licenses from their...

Insurance Commissioners Announce Framework for National Cat Program

Dec 4 2005 // Insurance regulators from California, Florida, Illinois and New York, on the heels of the National Catastrophe Insurance Summit held in November, are peddling the framework for a national catastrophe insurance program that...

Experts Predict More Advances Soon in Ability to Predict Hurricanes

Dec 4 2005 // Hurricane Wilma was briefly the most intense Atlantic storm on record as it moved through the Caribbean toward the Gulf Coast. That was the last thing Gulf residents wanted to hear. Two months earlier, Hurricane Katrina...