Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tornado Damages 10 Homes in South Carolina Neighborhood
Sep 28 2015 // A tornado quickly blew through a neighborhood on the South Carolina coast early Friday and blew out windows, knocked down trees and heavily damaged ten homes. The tornado touched down around 1 a.m. with maximum winds of...
Earthquakes Knock Out Power in Oklahoma Town
Sep 27 2015 // Two earthquakes — including one of magnitude 4.0 — rattled Cushing, Okla., and caused power outages, but no injuries or significant damage is reported. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 4.0 magnitude quake struck at...
Expert: Kansas Fracking Restrictions Coincide with Less Intense Quakes
Sep 25 2015 // A limit on the injection of saltwater into the ground by oil producers coincided with less intense earthquakes in south-central Kansas, according to a state geologist. The reduction in the magnitude of earthquakes mirrored...
Dujuan Strengthens; Threatens Ryukyu’s, Japan,Taiwan, China: AccuWeather
Sep 25 2015 // AccuWeather has reported that Tropical Storm Dujuan is on track to strengthen into a powerful typhoon with Japan’s Ryukyu Islands in its path and mainland Japan, Taiwan and eastern China on alert for potential...
CoreLogic Adds Probabilistic Flood Model to Risk Management Program
Sep 25 2015 // CoreLogic, a residential property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, has released an expanded version of its natural catastrophe risk management program, which features a probabilistic flood model...
Southwest Louisiana Town Still Struggles a Decade after Hurricane Rita
Sep 24 2015 // Vacant slabs, weed-choked lots and solitary stairs to nowhere permeate Cameron, a tiny town in southwest Louisiana. All that remains of the Klean-N-Kruise car wash is a rusted white sign overlooking an empty, overgrown...
Treasury Names 9 to Panel on Private Insurance Market for Terrorism Risk
Sep 24 2015 // The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the appointment of nine people to serve as members of the Advisory Committee on Risk-Sharing Mechanisms (ACRSM) to spur the private market for terrorism insurance. The...
California Blazes Destroy 2,000-plus Homes, Curb Insurer Appetites
Sep 23 2015 // A pair of massive California wildfires that have destroyed more than 2,000 structures are now considered among the most damaging fires in state history, and they could change the way insurers view risk or conduct...
Obama Declares Major Disaster in California Wildfire
Sep 23 2015 // President Barack Obama declared a major disaster Tuesday in a Northern California wildfire that has destroyed at least 1,200 homes and killed at least three people. The declaration issued for the fire that broke out in...
AIR Estimates Insured Losses from Chile Earthquake at $600M to $900M
Sep 22 2015 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses from the Magnitude 8.3 earthquake that struck Chile’s central coast near Illapel on Sept. 16 will be between CLP 400 billion ($600 million) and...
Galveston Razing Hurricane Ike-Damaged Homes
Sep 22 2015 // Galveston is moving on from repairing and rebuilding homes damaged from Hurricane Ike to demolishing homes left dilapidated by the storm that devastated the Texas coastal island seven years ago this month. John Simsen, the...
Californians Pushed by Wildfires into High-risk Insurance Market
Sep 21 2015 // There are lots of reasons people live in California’s Modjeska Canyon. Nestled against the mountains and abutting the Cleveland National Forest, the area has abundant wildlife and access to nature, yet is just a 20...
Tornadoes Damage Homes Along Kansas/Missouri Border
Sep 21 2015 // A pair of tornadoes along the Kansas-Missouri border with speeds of up to about 110 mph damaged homes and caused minor injuries, officials said. The first twister touched down around 6:30 p.m. Friday about 40 miles south...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Assoc. Seeks Hike in Liability Limits
Sep 21 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance will hold a public hearing on a request by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to increase maximum policy liability limits. The hearing under Docket No. 2780 will be held at 10:30...
Oregon Office Building Will Give Tenants Earthquake Warning
Sep 21 2015 // A Portland, Ore. office building will be able to warn tenants when an earthquake is about to strike. KGW-TV reported that the Radiator building is equipped with an earthquake early warning system. Sensors buried below the...
Wyoming Man And His Insurers to Pay $2.9M for 2012 Wildfire
Sep 21 2015 // A man who accidentally started a 2012 wildfire that burned over a mountain and threatened the town of Jackson has agreed to a $2.9 million payment under a legal settlement. James G. Anderson Jr., 79, will be responsible...
Bloomberg View: California’s Wildfires Didn’t Have to Be So Extreme
Sep 21 2015 // Warming temperatures and a historic drought made Northern California’s Valley fire faster to spread and harder to fight. But the bigger culprit, sadly but thankfully, was something under human control: forest...
California Wildfires Destruction Total Now Tops 1,000 Homes
Sep 21 2015 // It has been several days since two huge wildfires in Northern California peaked in their ferocity, yet the damage they did is still being revealed daily. The tally of homes destroyed topped 1,000 on Saturday after...
Why Now Is Time to Privatize Flood Insurance: A Candid Conversation with Hiscox USA CEO Walter
Sep 21 2015 // The private insurance industry is ready and anxious to take on flood risk, and politicians should reform the federal program now to take advantage of this interest, according to the U.S. executive of a leading specialty...
Dual Magnitude 4.0 Earthquakes Shake Northern Oklahoma
Sep 17 2015 // The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded several earthquakes in northern Oklahoma, including two of magnitude 4.0. No damage or injuries are reported from the Tuesday and Wednesday temblors. The USGS reports a 4.0 magnitude...
