Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

FIC UNVEILS HURRICANE CENTRAL WEB SITE

Jun 20 2005 // The Florida Insurance Council has unveiled a new Hurricane Central Web site (www.flains.org) as the site to find reliable hurricane-related information. The site is part of the industry’s response to legislation...

HURRICANE MODEL APPROVED

Jun 20 2005 // The Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology has for the ninth consecutive year certified AIR Worldwide Corporation’s 2005 U.S. Hurricane Model. The state requires hurricane models to be certified...

News Briefs

Jun 20 2005 // ALABAMA DOI Lists Insurance Providers A list of insurance companies, agencies and agents writing property insurance in coastal areas of Alabama, including Mobile and Baldwin counties became available June 13, thanks to the...

Renew TRIA Now

Jun 20 2005 // Mr. President, in 2002 I co-sponsored, and Congress passed, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, commonly referred to as TRIA. This important legislation provided a government backstop for the terrorism insurance market that...

PIA of Fla. Broadcasts Web-based Hurricane Panel Discussion

Jun 20 2005 // Florida’s insurance industry survived last year’s record-breaking hurricane season and is prepared to help homeowners weather what may come this year. That was the message during a recent Web broadcast carried...

Editor’s Note: A New Hurricane Season Begins

Jun 20 2005 // Tropical Storm Arlene sailed through the Gulf of Mexico, missing Texas and Louisiana, and causing minimal damage when it came ashore on June 12 in Gulf Shores, Ala. It dropped more than 5 inches of rain and had weakened to...

Allstate dropping most earthquake coverage nationwide

Jun 19 2005 // Allstate Insurance Co. says it is dropping earthquake insurance to most of its 407,000 quake customers nationwide as a part of a larger move to reduce exposure to catastrophic losses. Allstate Spokesman Mike Siemienas in...

News Currents

Jun 19 2005 // Cat model reassessments cause rating and capital changes Last fall’s disastrous hurricanes provided some rough times for the catastrophe modeling industry. Consequently the principal cat modelers – Applied...

No Damages Reported in Recent California Earthquake

Jun 16 2005 // California residents are slowly adding up the number of earthquakes hitting on or off the coast of the Golden State during the month of June. On Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported that a moderate quake of 5.3...

Recent Calif. Quakes a Reminder of Possible Financial Aftershocks

Jun 15 2005 // After two sizeable earthquakes in less than a week, Californians have had a jarring reminder of their unsettled landscape. But with less than 15 percent of California homeowners purchasing earthquake policies, are their...

Jury Selection Completed in Miami Hurricane Frances Fraud Case

Jun 15 2005 // U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga opened testimony Wednesday in a trial in which the defendant, Daniel Bellegarde, a resident of Homestead, Fla., allegedly bilked the Federal Emergency Management Agency of more...

Hurricane Exemptions Successful; Sponsors Plan Its Expansion in 2006

Jun 14 2005 // Although Florida’s sales tax exemptions on hurricane supplies ended Sunday, with no guarantees of reoccurring next year, the event was so popular that several legislators responsible for the event are pledging to...

IIAG Conferees Visited Exhibits, Watched Arlene During 108th Annual Convention

Jun 14 2005 // More than 700 Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia members attending the group’s 108th Annual Convention and Exhibition in Destin, Fla., watched closely as Tropical Storm Arlene sped toward the Florida Panhandle...

After Tropical Storm Arlene: Fla. Panhandle, Alabama Report Only Minimal Damage

Jun 12 2005 // Initial damage reports in Gulf Shores, Ala. were minimal after Tropical Storm Arlene came ashore on Saturday afternoon dropping more than 5 inches of rain and taking basically the same path as Hurricane Ivan last...

NHC Update on Tropical Storm Arlene

Jun 10 2005 // The National Hurricane Center’s latest bulletin on Tropical Storm Arlene indicates that it is following the storm track predicted in previous bulletins (See IJ Web site June 9). They indicate that Arlene will come...

Arlene Moves Inland Northwest of Pensacola, Fla.; Losing Strength

Jun 10 2005 // Tropical Storm Arlene moved inland at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon and proceeded northwest of Pensacola, Fla. Tropical storm and hurricane watches were cancelled all areas but those in the immediate vicinity of the storm....

ICT Issues Reminder on Hurricane Preparations as First Tropical Storm Heads Toward Gulf

Jun 10 2005 // The formation of Tropical Storm Arlene may be an ominous sign for what has been forecasted to be an overly active hurricane season this year. The six-month hurricane season began just days ago and weather experts say 2005...

Some Hawaiian Islands Declared Storm, Tsunami Ready

Jun 10 2005 // The federal government on Wednesday declared the City and County of Honolulu as TsunamiReady and StormReady – designations that could mean insurance savings for residents on Oahu’s flood plains. “We...

Tropical Storm Arlene Opens Season; Will Bring S.E. Rain, Coastal Flooding

Jun 9 2005 // Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named tropical storm of the 2005 hurricane season, is developing in the northwest Caribbean. Tropical storms have top sustained winds of 39 mph to 74 mph. NOAA forecasters predict the storm...

RMS Hurricane Model Gains Recertification from Fla. Commission

Jun 7 2005 // Risk Management Solutions (RMS) announced that the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology (FCHLPM) re-certified the RMS Hurricane model for use in establishing residential insurance rates in the state...