Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
National Flood Insurance Program Buys Private Reinsurance, Plans More in 2017
Oct 3 2016 // The federal government has contracted with private reinsurers to improve the National Flood Insurance Program’s claims paying ability and reduce the need for the NFIP to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to cover future...
Powerful Hurricane Matthew Forces Evacuations in Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba
Oct 2 2016 // Haiti and Jamaica urged residents in vulnerable coastal areas to evacuate, and Cuba suspended flights on Sunday as torrential rain from Hurricane Matthew, the strongest storm to menace the Caribbean nations since 2007,...
Matthew Becomes Category 3 Hurricane in Central Caribbean Sea
Sep 30 2016 // Hurricane Matthew has strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale while moving west- southwestward over the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Friday. Matthew was...
Hurricane Hermine Declared Major Disaster; Federal Funds Available to Florida
Sep 30 2016 // President Barack Obama has officially declared a major disaster for areas in Florida affected by Hurricane Hermine. A news release says Obama signed the disaster declaration Wednesday. The president’s action makes...
Texas Insured Property Losses Setting Record in 2016
Sep 29 2016 // Damaging hail storms and wide-spread flooding have caused record setting losses for both homes and automobiles this year in Texas, according to a state insurance trade group. This year’s insured losses for the first...
Typhoon Meranti Insured Losses in China Could Top $1 Billion: AIR Worldwide
Sep 29 2016 // Insured losses on mainland China from September’s Typhoon Meranti are expected to fall between $650 million (CNY 4.3 billion) and $1.15 billion (CNY 7.7 billion). According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide,...
Facebook Claims ‘Zero Tolerance’ for Terrorist Activity
Sep 28 2016 // Lawyers for Facebook Inc. on Tuesday sought to assure a U.S. judge overseeing lawsuits by victims of militant attacks in the Middle East that it took a “zero tolerance” approach to any communications that may...
California Earthquake Authority Sees Surge in New Policies
Sep 27 2016 // The California Earthquake Authority has seen a significant increase in the purchase of CEA policies so far in 2016, according to its top executive. CEA now has more than 908,000 policies in force, an increase of roughly...
California Rural Communities Evacuated in Wake of Heat-driven Wildfire
Sep 27 2016 // More evacuations were ordered Tuesday as a growing wildfire threatened remote communities in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. The blaze in a rugged area 30 miles south of San Jose destroyed one home and charred...
Typhoon Megi Hits Taiwan, Bringing 20 Foot Waves, Power Cuts; RMS Comments
Sep 27 2016 // Typhoon Megi lashed Taiwan with wind and rain on Tuesday, bringing 20-foot-high waves and knocking pedestrians off their feet in Taipei. More than 280,000 households lost electricity, state-owned utility Taiwan Power said...
Tropical Storm Julia Leaves Wet Mess Behind in North Carolina
Sep 27 2016 // Damage from flooding in eastern North Carolina approached the level of destruction left behind by Hurricane Irene in 2011, Gov. Pat McCrory said Friday. But instead of the hurricane’s storm surge, the cause of this...
Weather Service: Tornados Touch Down Hundreds of Miles Apart in Utah
Sep 26 2016 // Two tornados touched down hundreds of miles apart in Utah, damaging about two dozen buildings and knocking out power to thousands of people, the National Weather Service Confirmed. The severe weather on Thursday also...
Tulsa Geoscience Center Gets Earthquake Sensor; Area Now Has 3
Sep 23 2016 // With no signs earthquakes will stop rumbling in the state anytime soon, Oklahoma museums and schools are being targeted to participate in a nationwide citizen science project that tracks — or catches — seismic activity...
Hailstorm Caused $4M in Damage to City in New Mexico
Sep 23 2016 // A small city in southeastern New Mexico is recovering after being hit with a strong hailstorm. The Hobbs News-Sun reported that Jal was struck this weekend with hailstones bigger than golf balls that caused an estimated $4...
Judge Claims Facebook Not Taking Terrorism Threat Seriously
Sep 23 2016 // A federal judge slammed Facebook Inc., saying the social media giant might not be doing enough to deter terrorists from using its platform. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, New York, also accused...
What Climate Change Has to Do with Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis
Sep 22 2016 // Climate change will cause more earthquakes. It’s as simple as that. Deniers, start your engines. If that isn’t enough to enflame the smoldering embers of discourse within those ready to pounce on any and all...
National Flood Insurance Program Buys Private Reinsurance, Plans More in 2017
Sep 22 2016 // The federal government has contracted with private reinsurers to improve the National Flood Insurance Program’s claims paying ability and reduce the need for the NFIP to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to cover future...
4.3 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Northern Oklahoma
Sep 21 2016 // The U.S. Geological Survey says a 4.3-magnitude earthquake struck extreme northern Oklahoma late Monday and was widely felt throughout parts of Kansas. No injuries or damage were reported. The earthquake was centered near...
California Wildfire Now Costliest in U.S. History to Fight at $200M
Sep 21 2016 // A wildfire burning for nearly two months on California’s scenic Big Sur coast has surpassed $200 million in firefighting costs, becoming the costliest to fight in U.S. history, according to data released this...
New York Businesses Advised to Check Insurance in Wake of Chelsea Terrorism Bombing
Sep 20 2016 // New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has identified the incident where a bomb went off from inside a dumpster in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, injuring 29 people, as an act of terrorism. “I said yesterday I...
