Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Bills Addressing Last Year’s California Wildfires Have Insurers Concerned
Apr 26 2018 // Insurance industry representatives said on Thursday they are working with the authors of pair of controversial bills approved by a committee in the California state Senate that are designed to give relief to victims of the...
California Bill Would Shield PG&E, Edison from Some Wildfire Liability
Apr 26 2018 // Utility giants PG&E Corp. and Edison International could gain at least some protection against future wildfire damages under a bill that’s advancing in California’s legislature. An amended bill being...
GuideWell Insurance Agency in Florida to Offer StormPeace Hurricane Coverage
Apr 26 2018 // GuideWell Insurance Agency, an exclusive property and casualty agency for Florida Blue health plan members, will offer StormPeace, a supplemental hurricane policy from Assured Risk Cover that provides coverage of losses...
California Commissioner Doing Battle with Insurers over Wildfire Bills
Apr 25 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones appears to be poised for a fight with the insurance industry over a legislative package supports say will protect survivors of last year’s wildfires that struck in the...
‘Best Pricing in Quite Some Time’ Helped Chubb Weather Catastrophes for Solid Q1
Apr 25 2018 // Despite higher catastrophe losses, Chubb Limited reported a solid first quarter with net income of $1,082 million, about the same as the $1,093 million it achieved for the same quarter last year. Core operating income was...
NWS: Alabama, Florida Storms Spawned At Least 3 Tornadoes
Apr 25 2018 // The National Weather Service confirms at least three tornadoes in Alabama from Sunday storms, and is surveying other parts of southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. A storm with estimated winds of 80 mph (130 kph)...
Texas Windstorm Policy Assumption Program to Begin Soon
Apr 24 2018 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association will soon begin its annual program designed to move policies out of the residual market for wind and hail along the Texas coast. This will be the third round for the Assumption...
Why Coastal Living Is Becoming Affordable for Only the Rich
Apr 24 2018 // When Hurricane Irma reached Florida’s Big Pine Key in September, it caused the floor of Terry and Sharon Baron’s cream-colored mobile home to collapse. On Marathon Key, twenty miles north, the winds lifted...
Markets Not Getting Better at Insuring Disasters: Viewpoint
Apr 24 2018 // Last year was the second-costliest year for disasters since 1970, according to a new analysis from reinsurance firm Swiss Re AG. Global economic losses from these events reached $337 billion in 2017, behind only...
State of Emergency Declared for 2 North Carolina Counties Hit by Tornado
Apr 23 2018 // Gov. Roy Cooper has declared a state of emergency in two North Carolina counties which suffered major damage from a tornado. Cooper’s declaration Friday for Guilford and Rockingham counties means state government...
Sheriff: Arson a Possibility in Deadly Oklahoma Wildfire
Apr 23 2018 // Authorities are investigating the possibility of arson in connection with one of two large wildfires burning in Oklahoma, a blaze that’s resulted in the death of one person. Dewey County Sheriff Clay Sander said that...
Firefighters Hope Better Weather Will Aid Oklahoma Wildfire Fight
Apr 20 2018 // Firefighters are hoping higher humidity and milder winds will help them fight wildfires in Oklahoma, though conditions are critical in Arizona and New Mexico. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Todd Schroeder said on April 19...
Deadlines for Texas Windstorm Insurer Appraisal Demands Extended
Apr 19 2018 // The deadlines for a Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) claimant to demand appraisal of a claim for damages caused by Hurricane Harvey have been extended, the Texas Department of Insurance reports. An extension of...
California Wildfire Insurance Bills Moved Forward by Committee
Apr 19 2018 // A policy committee in California Legislature has unanimously approved a pair of wildfire-inspired bills by Assemblyman Marc Levine requiring insurance companies to notify homeowners whether their policies are sufficient to...
6 Tornadoes Confirmed in Mississippi from Weekend Storm
Apr 19 2018 // The National Weather Service confirms six tornadoes hit Mississippi on Saturday. Tornadoes were reported in Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Rankin and Winston counties. Surveyors say damage in Lowndes County was caused by a...
Quake Scenario: More than 1M Bay Area Homes Could Suffer Extensive Damage
Apr 18 2018 // More than a million San Francisco Bay Area residents would face extensive damage to their homes after a major earthquake on the Hayward fault, according to a new earthquake scenario developed by the U.S. Geological...
Spring Storm Brings Tornadoes, Floods to Southeast
Apr 18 2018 // A mid-April storm that pushed across the U.S. created a tornado in North Carolina that killed a person, caused widespread power outages in North and South Carolina and caused flooding emergencies in West Virginia and...
Surveyors Confirm 2 More Tornadoes Hit Arkansas Over Weekend
Apr 18 2018 // Survey teams with the National Weather Service have confirmed 11 tornadoes so far from the severe storms that hit Arkansas on Friday and Saturday. The NWS previously said it had confirmed nine tornadoes. The two strongest...
Reinsurance Capacity Remains Abundant for Mid-Year Renewals: Aon Benfield
Apr 18 2018 // Global reinsurer capital continued to rise in 2017, despite the US$136 billion in insured losses from natural catastrophes last year, according to a reinsurance market report published by Aon Benfield. Indeed, capital...
Small Businesses Hampered by Uninsured Damage After 2017 Hurricanes: Fed Reserve
Apr 17 2018 // Small businesses in the United States struggled with uninsured damages and lost revenue following a record-breaking year of hurricanes and wildfires, according to a Federal Reserve survey published on Tuesday. The report...
