Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Terrorist Attack at Istanbul Airport Kills at Least 40; Islamic State Blamed
Jun 29 2016 // Coordinated suicide attacks at Istanbul’s international airport killed at least 40 people, tearing through the terminal at one of the busiest travel times of the year as Turkey struggles to contain the spillover from...
AIR Worldwide Introduces Earthquake Model for India
Jun 28 2016 // Catastrophe risk modeler AIR Worldwide, a Verisk Analytics business, has released a new earthquake model for India that estimates losses to residential, commercial and small industrial buildings as well as automobiles. The...
RMS Updates Cat Models for Terrorism, Europe Windstorm & US Flood
Jun 27 2016 // Global catastrophe risk management firm RMS has released version 16.0 of its catastrophe modeling platform, which includes updates to both the Europe Windstorm Clustering Model and Terrorism Modeling suite. Also included...
Google, Facebook, Twitter Sued by Father of Victim of Paris Terrorist Attack
Jun 21 2016 // The father of a young woman killed in the Paris massacre last November is suing Google, Facebook and Twitter, claiming that the companies provided “material support” to extremists in violation of the...
Wildfire in Southern Arizona Grows
Jun 20 2016 // Firefighters say a wildfire not far from the Arizona-Mexico border has grown but is not threatening any homes, so far. Carrie Dennett, of the Arizona State Forestry, said on June 18 that the blaze is burning about 20 miles...
AIR Expands Earthquake, Typhoon Models for Southeast Asia
Jun 20 2016 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) said it has “significantly expanded” its earthquake and typhoon models for Southeast Asia. The new earthquake model features the ability to account for the...
Oklahoma Commissioner Deems Earthquake Coverage ‘Non-Competitive’
Jun 20 2016 // Oklahoma’s top insurance regulator says there’s a definite lack of competition in the state’s earthquake insurance market and has ordered insurers to change the way they file rates for the coverage in the...
California Wildfire Grows, Fires Threaten Communities around West
Jun 17 2016 // Hundreds of firefighters battled a 1,400-acre fire moving through coastal canyons in California on Thursday. Hot, dry weather across the Western U.S. challenged firefighters with blazes in Arizona and New Mexico. In...
Judge Skeptical of Widow’s Claim Twitter Aided Terrorist Group ISIS
Jun 16 2016 // A federal judge said he’ll probably dismiss a lawsuit against Twitter Inc. by the widow of a man killed at a police training center in Jordan that accused the social network of knowingly allowing the Islamic State to...
South Dakota Tornado Had Estimated Wind Speeds Up to 125 MPH
Jun 16 2016 // A tornado that damaged homes and other buildings near the southwestern South Dakota community of Hermosa had estimated wind speeds of up to 125 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The agency has rated the...
Weather Service Puts Montana Tornado at EF-3 Level
Jun 16 2016 // A preliminary storm survey determined a tornado that hit the east-central Montana town of Baker last weekend reached the EF-3 level, matching the strongest tornadoes ever recorded in the state, the National Weather Service...
New Mexico Governor Declares Emergency Amid Growing Wildfire
Jun 16 2016 // A wildfire burning in central New Mexico grew to more than three square miles late Wednesday, sending up a towering plume of smoke that swelled as afternoon temperatures soared and eventually blanketed the state’s...
Persistent Soft Market Begins to Hit Reinsurer Stock Prices: A.M. Best
Jun 15 2016 // While global reinsurers are continuing to withstand challenging market conditions, their stock prices, on average, are starting to take a hit as a result of the persistent soft market and its negative effect on top line...
Allianz Expects Blockchain Tech to Expedite Cat Bond Deals
Jun 15 2016 // German insurer Allianz expects the technology underpinning virtual currency bitcoin to encourage trading in catastrophe bonds, which transfer the risk of natural disasters such as hurricanes to investors. “Cat...
Eastern Montana Tornado Confirmed, Several Injuries Reported
Jun 14 2016 // Several people were injured and one person had to be rescued after a tornado destroyed several homes and damaged a dozen others over the weekend in Baker in eastern Montana. National Weather Service meteorologist Wright...
Why June Storms Are No Harbinger of What’s to Come
Jun 10 2016 // A week into June and two tropical storms have drenched the U.S. South. Perhaps it would be a good time to stock up on duct tape, plywood and sandbags. Unfortunately, using the first few weeks to predict the rest of the...
Bigger Is Better for Lloyd’s Syndicates with Active Cycle Mgmt: S&P
Jun 10 2016 // Benign catastrophe losses, combined with lower and less frequent casualty lines claims, helped Lloyd’s syndicates deliver another strong set of results in 2015, reporting an average combined ratio of 90 percent,...
Missouri Regulator: Risk Increases as Earthquake Insurance Market Shrinks
Jun 9 2016 // More than a half million Missourians are at risk because of the contracting earthquake insurance market, Missouri Department of Insurance Director John M. Huff said during the recent Heartland Insurance Symposium in Kansas...
Global Disasters During May to Cost Insurers at Least $7B: Aon Report
Jun 9 2016 // Global disasters led to at least $7 billion in claims during May as insurers aid the recovery process following wildfires, floods, and storms, according to Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model...
Doak Deems Oklahoma Earthquake Insurance Market ‘Noncompetive’
Jun 8 2016 // Oklahoma’s top insurance regulator has determined that there’s a definite lack of competition in the earthquake insurance market in Oklahoma and ordered insurers to change the way they file rates for the...
