Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tornado Hits Hamburg – Latest in Europe’s Destructive Summer Storms
Jun 8 2016 // A tornado tore through the northeast of Hamburg on Tuesday evening, blowing off the roofs of several buildings, uprooting dozens of trees and damaging cars and a power line as storms that have raged across Europe this...
Will 2016 See More Atlantic Hurricanes? Scientists Disagree
Jun 7 2016 // This summer and fall, the Atlantic Ocean might become a testing ground for competing scientific theories. After decades of warmth, there’s evidence that the ocean is cooling, a change that could mean fewer of the...
Update: Tropical Storm Colin Moving Out to Sea; Heavy Rain, Atlantic Storm Surge Threats Remain
Jun 7 2016 // Tropical Storm Colin moved out to sea early Tuesday after knocking out power to thousands, prompting Florida Governor Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency. The threat of a storm surge flooding shifted to the Atlantic...
Oklahoma Energy Companies Ask Judge to Dismiss Earthquake Lawsuit
Jun 6 2016 // Three Oklahoma energy companies want a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit demanding they reduce injection volumes at wastewater disposal wells that could be triggering earthquakes. The lawsuit was filed in February by...
Tropical Storm Colin Prompts Flood Warnings in Florida, Georgia
Jun 6 2016 // A disorganized Tropical Storm Colin in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to cross Florida overnight threatening evacuations in the state’s northern and central regions before striking the Georgia and South Carolina...
TWIA Expects $4.9B in Funds for 2016 Hurricane Season
Jun 6 2016 // While reinsurance for the 2016 hurricane season hasn’t yet been nailed down, Texas’ insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast expects to have around $4.9 billion in funds available for...
Regulators: 4 Insurers Hold 55% of the Oklahoma Earthquake Market
Jun 6 2016 // At a May 24 hearing on the competitiveness of earthquake insurance coverage in Oklahoma state insurance regulators released data showing four insurance companies hold 55 percent of the market. That’s a concern for...
South Carolina Commissioner Farmer: Lessons from Historic Floods
Jun 6 2016 // South Carolina’s coastal property insurance market is strong, but the state’s significant catastrophe risk remains an ongoing threat and not one that should be taken lightly. That is the message South Carolina...
Texas Coast Wind Insurer: Position for Hurricane Season Is ‘Strongest-Ever’
Jun 3 2016 // With its reinsurance program now in place, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) says it is in its strongest-ever position for this year’s hurricane season with $4.9 billion in total funding available to...
Insurance Rates Unlikely to Rise a Lot Even If Hurricane Season is Above Normal: Fitch
Jun 2 2016 // Hurricane forecasters may be split on whether the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season will be above average or normal, but even a higher level of storms might not boost property insurance prices to levels seen in prior market...
Atlantic Coast Should Expect Normal Hurricane Season, Says Colorado State
Jun 2 2016 // The Atlantic should produce a near-normal 12 storms during the six-month hurricane season that officially begins Wednesday, while the U.S. coastline has a below-average chance of being struck by a major system, according...
Fitch: Florida Specialist Insurers Largely Untested By Hurricanes
Jun 2 2016 // The majority of Florida’s homeowner specialist insurers have brief histories, and their ability to manage a large catastrophic hurricane is uncertain despite recent strong performance, according to a new report from...
More than 6.8 Million US Homes at Risk of Hurricane Storm Surge Damage
Jun 1 2016 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Total Reconstruction Cost Value is More Than $1.5 Trillion Current projections for the 2016 hurricane season indicate that an average or slightly greater-than-average...
Canada ‘Needs to Do More’ to Mitigate Climate Disasters Such as Wildfires, Flood
Jun 1 2016 // The Canadian government needs to do more to mitigate climate disasters such as floods and wildfires, a top green watchdog said on Tuesday as the Alberta town of Fort McMurray struggled to recover from a huge...
GOES-R Satellite Promises Less Art, More Science in Storm Forecasting
Jun 1 2016 // For forecasters trying to better pinpoint the havoc of storms, the future begins next year. That’s when the test phase for the new GOES-R satellite should be complete, providing the National Weather Service with an...
South Carolina Insurance Head Talks Lessons Learned After Historic Flood
May 31 2016 // This aerial photo show flooding around homes in the Carolina Forest community in Horry County, between Conway and Myrtle Beach, S.C. The state was pummeled in early October by a historic rainstorm that caused widespread...
NOAA’s 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast: 45% Chance of Near-Normal; 30% Above Normal
May 27 2016 // Forecasters at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center say the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through November 30, will most likely be near-normal, but they also say this season is particularly...
With Hurricane Season About to Open, Forecasters Already Eyeing East Coast
May 27 2016 // When the Atlantic hurricane season starts next week, the most active area might just be off the U.S. East Coast. At this time of year, passing cold fronts that linger over waters warmed by the late spring sun can trigger...
Hurricane Center Updating Storm Surge Maps for North Carolina’s Outer Banks
May 27 2016 // New storm surge maps for the Outer Banks of North Carolina will be available this summer. The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk reported that the National Hurricane Center will release the maps to predict where and how deep...
Texas’ Coastal Wind Insurer Expects $4.9B in Funds for 2016 Hurricane Season
May 27 2016 // While its reinsurance plans for the 2016 hurricane season haven’t yet been nailed down, Texas’ insurance company of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast expects to have around $4.9 billion in...
