Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Guy Carpenter Tapped for California Wildfire Fund Reinsurance Program
Aug 22 2019 // Guy Carpenter & Company LLC has been named the sole reinsurance intermediary for the newly formed California Wildfire Fund, which is currently being administered by the California Earthquake Authority. Guy Carpenter...
Wildfires Making Insurance Harder to Find, California Department of Insurance Says
Aug 21 2019 // Severe wildfire seasons have made it harder for homeowners to find insurance in high wildfire-risk areas, according to new data collected by the California Department of Insurance. The data released this week from the CDI...
Top 15 Earthquake Insurance Companies
Aug 21 2019 // Earthquake coverage is available mostly from private insurance companies. In California homeowners can also get coverage from the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), a privately funded, publicly managed organization....
Spain Reports Progress in Battling Canary Island Wildfire
Aug 21 2019 // The wind dropped overnight in the Canary Islands, allowing firefighters to make progress Tuesday against Spain’s biggest wildfire so far this year. Canary Islands President Angel Victor Torres said 16 water-dropping...
May Tornadoes Losses Among Highest Insured Losses in Ohio History
Aug 21 2019 // Insured losses from Memorial Day tornadoes that ravaged parts of Ohio will be among the largest in the state’s history. The Columbus Dispatch reports Ohio Insurance Institute data puts the total insured losses from...
Pacific Northwest Earthquake-Warning System Gets Funding Boost
Aug 21 2019 // The U.S. Geological Survey is greatly increasing funding for the region’s seismic network, putting it on track to send public alerts of impending earthquake shaking within the next two years. The Seattle Times...
Texas A&M Forest Service Activates Airtanker Base to Help Combat Wildfires
Aug 21 2019 // In response to rising wildfire activity across the state, the Texas A&M Forest Service is opening the Austin Airtanker Base at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Significant fire activity has increased recently,...
PG&E Will Face Jury Over Billions in Damages from Massive California Wildfire
Aug 20 2019 // Victims of the second-most destructive fire in California history will get a chance to try and persuade a jury that PG&E Corp. should pay them as much as $18 billion in damages. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali on...
Number of Wildfires Down in Louisiana Over 10-Year Period
Aug 20 2019 // The number of wildfires in Louisiana has dropped significantly over the past decade, agriculture and forestry officials say. According to records, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) firefighters...
PG&E Shares Dive on Risk of up to $18B in Wildfire Lawsuit Costs
Aug 19 2019 // PG&E Corp. shares plunged Monday after a judge ruled that a jury can determine whether it should pay as much as $18 billion in damages to wildfire victims. The California utility giant fell as much 28%, to $10.22, at...
Edison International to Face Trial Over Woolsey Wildfire Claim in April
Aug 19 2019 // The first trial to determine if Edison International’s Southern California utility is liable for damages from the Woolsey wildfire that tore through Malibu last year will begin on April 27, a judge said. California...
Flooded Mississippi River Still a Threat as Hurricane Season Heats Up
Aug 19 2019 // The river that drains much of the flood-soaked United States is still running far higher than normal, menacing New Orleans in multiple ways just as the hurricane season intensifies. For months now, a massive volume of...
Report: Re/Insurers Are Reconsidering Risk Appetite for California Wildfires
Aug 19 2019 // S&P Global Ratings says 2020 reinsurance pricing in the aftermath of California wildfires will likely rise as re/insurers are finding 2017-2018 losses from wildfires in that state to be higher than expected. The...
One of 86 Victims Of California’s Deadliest Wildfire Identified
Aug 19 2019 // One of 86 people who were killed in the deadliest wildfire in California history has been identified. The Butte County Sheriff’s office said on Friday it positively identified the remains of 68-year-old Judith Sipher...
ISO, Intterra, Western Fire Chiefs Partner to Better Understand Wildfire Risk
Aug 19 2019 // ISO and Intterra are partnering with the Western Fire Chiefs Association to explore new ways of analyzing and understanding wildfire risk. Intterra has worked with the WFCA for several years to develop the Fire Data Lab, a...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Not Filing Rate Hike for 2020
Aug 19 2019 // Texas’ provider of last resort for wind and hail insurance for coastal properties won’t be raising its residential and commercial property rates next year. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) said...
NOAA Ups Hurricane Forecast as El Nino Fades Away
Aug 19 2019 // Forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who are monitoring oceanic and atmospheric patterns say with the demise of El Nino this summer, conditions are now more favorable for above-normal named...
42% of $44 Billion Global Catastrophe Losses in First Half Were Insured: Swiss Re
Aug 16 2019 // Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in the first half of 2019 were responsible for USD $44 billion of economic losses globally, according to Swiss Re Institute’s preliminary sigma estimates. This figure is...
Insured Losses in China from Typhoon Lekima Will Exceed CNY 6 Billion: AIR
Aug 16 2019 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates insured losses in China from Typhoon Lekima will exceed CNY 6 billion. Lekima made landfall in Taizhou, Zhejiang, China, at 2 a.m. on August 10 local time, with...
Outside Inspectors Find Tree Hazards That PG&E Contractors Overlooked
Aug 16 2019 // PG&E Corp.’s court-appointed compliance monitor concluded the utility isn’t trimming trees that pose wildfire threats in high-risk areas of California and didn’t train its contractors properly. The...
