Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wildfire Forces Home, Hospital Evacuations in California’s Napa Valley Wine Area
Sep 28 2020 // A wind-driven wildfire erupted on Sunday in the heart of northern California’s Napa Valley wine country to spread across nearly 2,000 acres (809 hectares), forcing the evacuation of a hospital and hundreds of homes,...
Louisiana Utility: Hurricane Laura Repair Costs Now at $1.4B
Sep 28 2020 // A Louisiana utility says the cost to restore electricity and repair power lines damaged in the state during Hurricane Laura is now up to $1.4 billion. Entergy Corp., the New Orleans-based utility serving many of the areas...
Western Wildfires Taint Vineyards With Taste Of Smoke
Sep 25 2020 // Smoke from the West Coast wildfires has tainted grapes in some of the nation’s most celebrated wine regions with an ashy flavor that could spell disaster for the 2020 vintage. Wineries in California, Oregon and...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Seeks More Data on Rate Adequacy, Hurricane Modeling
Sep 24 2020 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s actuarial and underwriting committee is seeking more data from TWIA staff and an actuarial consulting firm on rate adequacy and catastrophe modeling for potential hurricane...
As Wildfires Spread, Public Safety Tech Startups Lack Venture Capitalists’ Backing
Sep 24 2020 // Silicon Valley’s innovation engine has been slow to produce useful new tools to help firefighters like Dave Winnacker extinguish the deadly blazes that each year fill California’s skies with smoke. Winnacker, a...
Oregon Issues Insurance Emergency Order for Wildfire Victims
Sep 23 2020 // The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services’ Division of Financial Regulation has issued an insurance emergency order for people affected by the state’s wildfires. Insurance companies must...
Few Resources, Old-Growth Forest Allowed Growth of California Wildfire
Sep 23 2020 // A lack of firefighting resources in the hours after it was sparked allowed a fast-moving wildfire to make an unprecedented run through Southern California mountains and eventually find fuel in old-growth trees to become...
Insurer Impact from Sally Expected to be Moderate; Losses Estimated at $1B to $3B
Sep 23 2020 // Insured losses from Hurricane Sally could reach as much as $3 billion, according to catastrophe modelers, but ratings agency Moody’s expects a moderate impact on property & casualty insurers and...
Catastrophe Losses Driven Higher by Secondary Perils – And Climate Change
Sep 23 2020 // Secondary perils, exacerbated by climate change, are driving catastrophe insurance losses, warn a growing chorus of reinsurers and brokers. Indeed, broker Aon reveals that more than 60% of 2020’s insured catastrophe...
Rainy Beta Lands on Texas Coast as Tropical Storm
Sep 22 2020 // Slow-moving Tropical Storm Beta made landfall on the Texas coast on Sept. 21 at around 10 pm near the Matagorda Peninsula, packing heavy rains and sustained winds of around 45 mph. Beta is the ninth named storm to hit the...
California Wildfire Threatening More Than 1,000 Homes
Sep 22 2020 // A wildfire burning through brush and timber from the mountains to the desert northeast of Los Angeles threatened more than 1,000 homes on Tuesday as crews across the West battled dozens of other major blazes. The Bobcat...
California Burnin’ – a Warning Against One-Party Rule: Opinion
Sep 22 2020 // “California, folks, is America fast forward.” Thus said Governor Gavin Newsom, hoarsely, amid brown smoke at the North Complex Fire on Sept. 11. “What we’re experiencing right here is coming to a...
Frequent Wildfires Decimating Forests Becomes Concern Worldwide
Sep 22 2020 // Wildfires among ponderosa pines and Douglas firs of the U.S. West have long been part of nature’s cycle of renewal, as much as the changing of the seasons. But as climate change makes the region more arid, wildfires...
Judge Allows Great Smoky Mountains Wildfire Lawsuits to Move Forward
Sep 21 2020 // U.S. park officials have failed to show enough was done to keep the public updated as a deadly wildfire spread from Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2016, a judge ruled. The decision earlier this month by U.S....
Hurricane Sally Adds to Mounting Losses in Historic Gulf Coast Storm Season
Sep 21 2020 // Hundreds of thousands of people were without power Friday along the Alabama coast and the Florida Panhandle in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally as officials assessed millions of dollars in damage that included a broken...
Well Repairs Off Texas Coast Halted Due to Tropical Storm Beta
Sep 21 2020 // Repairs to a leaking gas well just off the Texas coast have been halted because of Tropical Storm Beta, according to the city of Corpus Christi. “Due to deteriorating weather conditions, offshore repairs are...
Slow-Moving Storm Beta Set to Drench Texas, Louisiana Coasts
Sep 21 2020 // Beta, a slow-moving tropical storm, will bring flooding rains to Texas and Louisiana as well as raking offshore energy fields with high winds, but may not reach hurricane strength. Beta’s winds will likely hold at 50...
Utah’s Wildfire Costs Soar with Human-Caused Blazes
Sep 21 2020 // Utah’s wildfire season has broken records for the number of human-caused fires and the costs to taxpayers. During a presentation of the Utah State Legislature’s powerful Executive Appropriations Committee, the...
Declarations
Sep 21 2020 // Common Digital Theme “I do think the industry has learned from the pandemic and if there is one common theme, it is the power and value of digital capabilities.” — Maryland Insurance Commissioner Kathleen...
Social Inflation, Low Interest Rates, Rising Catastrophes: Recipe for a Hard Market
Sep 21 2020 // Even before the coronavirus crisis hit, the reinsurance industry was in a period of significant rate hardening, which will likely continue over the next two years, or even longer, according to Munich Re. Such price...
