Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Georgia Estimates $250M in Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael
Oct 23 2018 // The Georgia Department of Insurance has estimated insured property losses from Hurricane Michael will reach $250 million, according to a statement Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens. In figures released Oct. 18,...
Timber Industry Suffers $1.3B in Losses from Hurricane Michael
Oct 22 2018 // Trees brought down by Hurricane Michael’s ferocious winds took a heavy toll on life, property and the timber industry in the heavily forested Florida Panhandle, where $1.3 billion in timber was lost, authorities said...
After Catastrophic Flooding, Austin Issues First Ever City-Wide Boil Water Notice
Oct 22 2018 // Early Monday morning, Austin Water issued a boil water notice for all of its customers due to elevated levels of silt from last week’s flooding. The water system is “the most recent infrastructure to struggle...
As Tornadoes Shift Eastward, Scientists Explore Why
Oct 22 2018 // Over the past few decades tornadoes have been shifting — decreasing in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas but spinning up more in states along the Mississippi River and farther east, a new study shows. Scientists aren’t...
Everest Re and Argo Report Net Catastrophe Loss Estimates for Q3 2018
Oct 19 2018 // Everest Re Group Ltd. and Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. announced their preliminary pre-tax catastrophe loss estimates for the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, 2018. Bermuda-based Everest Re’s estimated...
AIG Estimates Q3 Catastrophe Losses Will Be $1.5 Billion
Oct 18 2018 // American International Group said it expects to report third quarter 2018 catastrophe losses of approximately $1.5 to $1.7 billion. These losses are largely from multiple events in Japan, including Typhoons Jebi and Trami,...
CoreLogic & Academic Institutions: The Future of Catastrophe Risk
Oct 18 2018 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. First on the Market Ten years ago, CoreLogic® (at the time, EQECAT) introduced the use of global Atmosphere-Ocean-General-Circulation Models (AOGCM) for...
Travelers Q3 Profit More than Doubles on Lower Catastrophe Losses, Higher Premiums
Oct 18 2018 // Third quarter profit more than doubled at Travelers Corp. due to higher premiums and investment income and lower catastrophe losses, the insurer reported. Net income came in at $709 million, up from $293 million for the...
RenaissanceRe Estimates Q3 Claims Costs of $155M from Natural Catastrophes
Oct 18 2018 // RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. announced it currently estimates that the cost of claims from third quarter 2018 catastrophe events will have an estimated net negative impact of approximately $155 million on its third quarter...
Swiss Re to Post ‘Large’ Q3 Losses from Italy Bridge Collapse, Natural Disasters
Oct 18 2018 // Swiss Re AG said it will post relatively “large” losses from claims in the third quarter, as man-made disasters including the collapse of a bridge in Italy add to damage from storms. Natural disaster claims,...
Texas Windstorm Insurer’s Request to Hike Liability Limits Denied
Oct 18 2018 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan has declined to approve the request by the state’s property insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast to increase maximum limits of liability for...
Regulators, Industry Seek to Keep Florida AOB Abuse In Check After Michael
Oct 18 2018 // Haley Nelson inspects damages to her family properties in the Panama City, Fla., spring field area after Hurricane Michael made landfall in Florida’s Panhandle on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald...
A Drive Through the Panhandle After Michael
Oct 17 2018 // You know that Hurricane Michael came through the Florida panhandle as a powerful Category 4 storm. In fact, when it made landfall, it was just 2 mph from being considered a Category 5 storm. It is the most powerful...
Latest Storms May Finally Shift Focus to Disaster Mitigation by Local Communities
Oct 17 2018 // Hurricane Michael’s devastation could spur policymakers to better prepare vulnerable communities for the effects of climate change. The images of entire towns in Florida’s panhandle all but erased by storm...
Florida Red Tide Not Diminished by Hurricane Michael
Oct 17 2018 // Hurricane Michael failed to break up a patchy and toxic algae bloom that has lingered in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s shoreline for the last year, experts said Monday, meaning the red tide outbreak could continue...
Weaker Building Codes in Florida Panhandle Scrutinized After Michael
Oct 17 2018 // Unlike in South Florida, homes in the state’s Panhandle did not have tighter building codes until just 11 years ago; it was once argued that acres of forests would provide the region with a natural barrier against...
Hurricanes Behind Cuts in Earnings Estimates for AIG, Chubb, Other S&P 500
Oct 16 2018 // The S&P 500 has plummeted more than 5 percent since early October. The culprit: slowing earnings growth stemming from rising interest rates and oil prices, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. That straightforward...
ShakeOut an Opportunity to Sell Earthquake Policies in California and Beyond
Oct 16 2018 // Millions of people are expected to drop, cover and hold on at 10:18 a.m. PST on Thursday, which should be a good opportunity for insurance agents to try and sell some policies, according to the head of the California...
Florida Orders Insurers to Halt Rate Hikes; Sets Up Hurricane Michael Claims Village
Oct 16 2018 // Florida’s insurance regulator has issued an emergency order that ensures “additional protections” to Florida policyholders – including freezing any rate hikes for 90 days – to support recovery efforts...
California Utility Cuts Power to Dampen Wildfire Threat
Oct 15 2018 // California’s largest public utility cut off electric power to about 60,000 customers in an unprecedented move to prevent wildfires such as those that erupted in the state’s wine country last fall, as high winds...
