Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Houston Arts Groups Working to Recover from Hurricane Harvey
Nov 27 2017 // Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch looked flushed as he stood at the edge of the Hobby Center’s Sarofim Hall stage during a break in the company’s annual Jubilee of Dance performance. The Houston...
California Policyholders Have 24 Months to Collect Wildfire Insurance Money
Nov 22 2017 // California’s insurance commissioner says homeowners who lost their homes in last month’s wildfires in Northern California have up to 24 months to collect insurance payments. Dave Jones said this week some...
Experts See Expanding Role for Parametric Insurance, Including for U.S. Disasters
Nov 22 2017 // Catastrophic losses this year due to extreme weather events have led to a growing interest in parametric insurance in the U.S., according to industry experts. Parametric coverage is also gaining traction as hazard modeling...
Florida Nursing Home to Congress: Patient Deaths After Hurricane Irma Not Staff’s Fault
Nov 22 2017 // A Florida nursing home under investigation for the deaths of 13 patients after Hurricane Irma says in a letter to Congress that staff members did everything possible but couldn’t overcome a lack of power to the...
Two Injured, Buildings Damaged by Tornadoes in Kentucky
Nov 22 2017 // The National Weather Service says two people were hurt in two moderate tornados in Kentucky. The weather service says both tornados touched down Saturday and were rated EF-1. The first happened shortly before 3:30 p.m. CST...
California Fires Will Add to 2017 Insurer Catastrophe Losses, Fitch Says
Nov 20 2017 // No U.S. reinsurance companies in Fitch Rating’s rated universe are expected to be downgraded as a result of losses from the California wildfires alone, but for a number of companies the impact of wildfire losses adds...
Reinsurance Sector’s Share of Hurricane, Quake Losses Is $20B-$25B: A.M. Best
Nov 20 2017 // Cumulative net catastrophe losses for reinsurance companies from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, along with the Mexico earthquakes, are between $20 billion-$25 billion out of an overall industry loss of $90 billion,...
Palomar Specialty Expands Residential Earthquake Product Into Additional States
Nov 20 2017 // Palomar Specialty Insurance Co. has expanded its Flex Choice residential earthquake insurance product into the following states: Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Utah. Flex Choice allows consumers to...
Recent Hurricanes Highlight the Need for Digital Transformation in Insurance
Nov 20 2017 // The claims for Hurricane Irma are starting to pour in and they’ll be big, $25 billion to $35 billion, forecaster AIR Worldwide says. The scenes of flooding, displaced people, wrecked homes and disrupted communities...
The Senior Care Market Still Going Strong
Nov 20 2017 // The aging U.S. population will create unprecedented demand for the senior living industry for decades to come and that opens the door for agents and brokers to grow their business in this sector. But understanding the...
A Storm of Claims Likely Following 2017 Hurricane Season
Nov 20 2017 // The aftermath of this year’s hurricanes includes massive reconstruction across the impacted areas, which in turn creates an increased possibility for construction defect claims that would affect the liability...
Impact of Recent Natural Catastrophes on Insurance Market
Nov 20 2017 // Brokers and insureds are wondering what impact the devastation left by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate will have on property insurance rates, capacity and coverage terms. Short term, there will likely be an...
Disaster Planning for Agencies: Minding Your Business
Nov 20 2017 // Northern California and specifically Sonoma and Napa Counties have experienced the worst wildfires in the history of California. Most of these fires began around Oct. 8, 2017, during night with extremely high winds, that...
Hurricane Harvey Caused More than $200M in Crop, Livestock Losses in Texas
Nov 20 2017 // Hurricane Harvey caused more than $200 million in crop and livestock losses, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Hurricane losses by agricultural commodity include: livestock – $93 million; cotton...
More than 63K Recreational Boats Destroyed by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma
Nov 20 2017 // More than 63,000 recreational boats were damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, resulting in a damage estimate of $655 million, according to a national association dedicated to recreational boaters. Boat...
Impact of Natural Catastrophes on Insurance Market
Nov 20 2017 // Brokers and insureds are wondering what impact the devastation left by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate will have on property insurance rates, capacity and coverage terms. Short term, there will likely be an...
Grapes of Wrath: Insurance Fallout from the Wine Country Wildfires
Nov 20 2017 // Now that this October’s wine country fires have been contained, the ravaged San Francisco Bay area countryside can begin the rebuilding process. The effects of the wildfires, however, will be further reaching than...
Someone Else’s Wires May Have Started California Wildfires, PG&E Says
Nov 20 2017 // The deadliest of last month’s wildfires in California’s wine country may have been started by electrical equipment not owned or installed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the utility said in a court filing...
Impact of Recent Natural Catastrophes on Insurance Market
Nov 20 2017 // Brokers and insureds are wondering what impact the devastation left by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate will have on property insurance rates, capacity and coverage terms. Short term, there will likely be an...
Modeler: Insured Losses for California Wildfires Could Reach $10.5B
Nov 16 2017 // Loss estimates for the October California wildfire siege could reach up to $10.5 billion, according to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. Boston, Mass.-based AIR on Thursday updated its loss estimates for the recent...
