Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AIG and P/C Underwriting Post Profit for Q4
Feb 13 2020 // American International Group reported fourth quarter 2019 net income of $922 million compared to a net loss of $622 million in the prior-year quarter. The results reflected improvement in its closely-watched General...
National Weather Service Confirms Five Tornadoes Hit Maryland
Feb 13 2020 // The National Weather Service has confirmed that five tornadoes ripped through parts of Maryland on Friday. Multiple news outlets report that the tornadoes were confirmed in Carroll, Cecil, Montgomery and Frederick...
Report: 2019 Was 7th Year in Last Decade with 10 or More Disasters of $1B-Plus
Feb 12 2020 // Last year was a particularly hazardous one, with natural catastrophes causing excessive damages in what appears to be an ongoing trend of higher losses in the past decade, while also posing a danger in many U.S....
Texas Windstorm Insurance Board to Meet Feb. 18 in Austin
Feb 11 2020 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) board of directors will hold its quarterly meeting on Feb. 18, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. in Austin. The agenda for the meeting is posted on TWIA’s website. All meetings of...
California Utilities’ Wildfire Prevention Plans Call for More Blackouts
Feb 11 2020 // California utilities plan to continue shutting off power to customers during dry and windy conditions to prevent sparking deadly wildfires, but they aim to make outages more targeted to avoid widespread blackouts,...
Storm Ciara Batters Europe with Hurricane-Force Winds, Killing at Least 5 People
Feb 11 2020 // A strong winter storm that has battered Europe with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains and killed at least five people moved eastward Monday, causing severe travel disruptions across the continent. After striking...
AM Best: Florida Insurers Brace for Challenging June Reinsurance Renewals
Feb 11 2020 // Although the 2019 hurricane season did not have a significant impact on Florida, loss creep from prior storms continues to weigh on reinsurers, leading to a likely rise in rates for the upcoming June renewal period. As...
Minor Earthquake Confirmed in California High Desert
Feb 10 2020 // A minor earthquake struck the Southern California high desert on Saturday and was was felt across the region, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The USGS reports the 3.9-magnitude earthquake hit an area about 13 miles...
Tsunami Sirens in Southern California Beach City Were False Alarm
Feb 10 2020 // Tsunami warning sirens wailing early Friday morning in the Southern California city of Huntington Beach were a false alarm, authorities confirmed. “There is no current threat to our community and we are working to...
Australian Insurers Declare Catastrophe for Losses from East Coast Flooding
Feb 10 2020 // The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe for property losses caused by storms and flooding along the east coast since February 5. Insurers said they have received 10,000 claims with the value of...
Wine ‘Smoke Taint’ Disputes Linger 2 Years After California Wildfires
Feb 7 2020 // Recent wildfires in California Wine Country, particularly those that devastated parts of Napa and Sonoma counties in October 2017, have focused attention on whether insurance covers smoke taint damage to grapes and...
Arkansas’ Benton County to Appeal FEMA Denial of Aid for Tornado Damages
Feb 6 2020 // Benton County plans to appeal the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to not help pay for the costs to clean up damages from two tornadoes that struck in October, officials said. The county was notified of...
A Tale of Two Californias: Managing Wildfire Risk in the Year 2030
Feb 6 2020 // For most of the 20th century, the insurance industry considered wildfires to be little more than a benign nuisance. They occurred frequently but rarely resulted in more than a handful of claims, and underwriters priced for...
Commentary: It’s Time to Reform the Florida Cat Fund, Give Consumers Rate Relief
Feb 5 2020 // Floridians currently pay the highest homeowner’s insurance rates in the nation, and no one should be surprised by this. Florida is a long relatively narrow large peninsula jutting out into bodies of warm water prone...
Crews Removing Overturned Cargo Ship in Georgia Port Rush to Beat Hurricane Season
Feb 4 2020 // The salvage team in charge of removing a cargo ship that overturned on the Georgia coast nearly five months ago wants to surround it with a giant mesh screen to contain any loose debris as the vessel gets cut into...
Kansas Offering Public Access to Earthquake Investigation Information
Feb 4 2020 // The Kansas Corporation Commission has approved opening general investigation dockets to allow the public access to information gathered during investigations into seismic activity in Reno and Rooks counties. The dockets...
2019 Natural Hazard Report Highlights Long Tail of Financial Recovery
Feb 4 2020 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Preparing for a catastrophe is a science. This science involves models built from data and analytics that can capture the worst-case scenario for businesses and...
Chubb Launches Non Damage Terrorism Product for Businesses
Feb 4 2020 // Chubb has launched an insurance coverage aimed at bridging gaps in traditional terrorism business interruption policies. Chubb’s Non Damage Terrorism Solutions is a single policy offering non damage business...
W.R. Berkley Reports Underwriting Income Up, Catastrophe Losses Down
Jan 31 2020 // W.R. Berkley Corp. reported that its gross premiums written grew by more than 10 percent in the 2019 fourth quarter, thanks in part to accelerated rate increases. But net income dipped compared to the same period a year...
Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to Hurricane Irma Disaster Assistance Fraud
Jan 31 2020 // A Florida woman has pleaded guilty to lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma. Deannajo White, 39, pleaded guilty in Jacksonville federal court Friday to one count of disaster assistance fraud, according to court...
