Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hurricane Michael Headed Towards Florida Panhandle, 13 Killed by Storm in Central America
Oct 9 2018 // Florida’s governor mobilized National Guard troops and ordered Gulf Coast residents to head inland or evacuate as Hurricane Michael churned toward shore on Monday, with the storm forecast to strengthen rapidly before...
CoreLogic: 57K Homes in Florida Totaling $13.B RCV At Risk from Hurricane Michael
Oct 9 2018 // At least 57,000 homes along Florida’s Gulf Coast with a reconstruction cost value (RCV) of about $13.4 billion are a potential risk of storm surge damage from Hurricane Michael, according to a data analysis released...
Florida Activates Disaster Fraud Teams Ahead of Hurricane Michael
Oct 8 2018 // The Florida Department of Financial Services Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team (DFAST) has been activated ahead of what is expected to become Hurricane Michael and will be deployed in the affected areas to protect...
Update: Florida Calls Emergency Ahead of Expected Hurricane Michael
Oct 7 2018 // Michael, the tropical storm that’s been chugging toward the Florida panhandle, is now a hurricane, threatening to bring driving rain and high winds to the region’s agricultural and tourism industry. While Gulf...
Indiana Complex Damaged by Tornado Reopens
Oct 5 2018 // A central Indiana apartment complex ravaged by a 2016 tornado has reopened its first renovated units more than two years after that storm. About three dozen one-bedroom units reopened last week in one building at Park...
California Insurance Commissioner Wants Inventory Requirements Eased for 2018 Wildfire Survivors
Oct 4 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones wants insurers to assist wildfire survivors by voluntarily easing detailed personal property home inventory requirements and to follow the lead of other insurers providing at...
Remnants of Tropical Storm Causes Flooding, Traps Arizona Cars
Oct 4 2018 // Remnants of a tropical storm drenched parts of the desert Southwest this week, trapping some drivers on swamped streets of Phoenix, Ariz. as authorities prepared for possible flash flooding in the state, central Utah and...
Army Corps Preparing its Own Hurricane Protection Plan for Houston
Oct 4 2018 // Later this month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will recommend a multi-billion-dollar plan to help protect the Texas coast — the Houston area in particular — from hurricanes. When it will become a reality, however,...
Japanese Typhoons Put Downward Pressure on Creditworthiness of Insurers: S&P
Oct 4 2018 // The recent run of large natural disasters to hit Japan likely has put downward pressure on the creditworthiness of the nation’s three largest non-life insurance groups, according to S&P Global Ratings in a market...
Pennsylvania Warns About Flood-Damaged Vehicles After Hurricane Florence
Oct 3 2018 // With automotive officials estimating that as many as 40,000 vehicles were damaged by flooding from Hurricane Florence, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) are...
Insurtech Jumpstart Rolls out Parametric Earthquake Product for Californians
Oct 2 2018 // A firm that wants to make a name for itself as the first parametric insurtech in the U.S. for earthquakes has officially launched in California, over a year after its anticipated original launch date. Jumpstart Insurance...
Is the Reinsurance Cycle Dead or Just Dormant? Executives Discuss New Realities
Oct 2 2018 // Many reinsurance executives have been left scratching their heads in surprise after last year’s natural catastrophes, which cost a whopping $100 billion but ended up having very little impact on rates. The insurance...
Verisk to Provide Aerial Imagery of Major Catastrophes through Geomni
Oct 1 2018 // Verisk is now offering customers free access to Geomni’s high-resolution aerial imagery following major loss events. Geomni is a Verisk business. Geomni will provide online access to before-and-after imagery of...
Texas Coastal Lawmakers Urge Denial of Windstorm Insurer’s 10% Rate Increase Request
Oct 1 2018 // More than 20 state legislators have signed a letter addressed to Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan requesting that a 10 percent rate increase filed by the state’s property insurer of last resort for wind and...
Florence Impact on Insurers Tempered by Mostly Uninsured Flood Losses
Oct 1 2018 // Insurance industry losses from Hurricane Florence, which hit the Carolinas mid-September as a Category 1 storm, will be manageable and not have a severe impact on insurers, according to experts. As the storm turned out to...
South Carolina Issues Emergency Order to Insurers, Updates Hurricane Florence Data Call
Oct 1 2018 // The South Carolina Department of Insurance has issued two Hurricane Florence-related notices to all property and casualty insurers doing business in the state. SCDOI Director Ray Farmer issued an emergency regulation Sept....
Costs to Fight Wildfires in Utah Double This Year
Oct 1 2018 // Costs to fight wildfires in Utah are increasing by about $1 million a day right now and authorities expect the season to last throughout October. State Forester Brian Cottam says on average, there are roughly 1,100 fire...
Death Toll from Indonesia’s 7.5 Magnitude Quake, Tsunami May Reach Thousands
Sep 30 2018 // The death toll from a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi climbed to more than 800, with casualties expected to reach into the thousands as authorities try to reach those...
Typhoon Trami Hammers Japan; Flights and Trains Canceled in Tokyo
Sep 30 2018 // Typhoon Trami is bringing Tokyo to a halt. East Japan Railway Co. suspended all train service in the Japanese capital on Sunday in preparation for the storm, which is hammering the southwest of the country. Flights were...
Dozens of Structures Damaged in Post-Hurricane Florence Storm in Virginia
Sep 27 2018 // Officials say more than 70 buildings have been damaged or destroyed during a storm that spawned at least 10 tornadoes in Virginia from the remnants of Hurricane Florence. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports Chesterfield...
