Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ramsey Joins Catalytic, Builds Wind Underwriting Team, Capacity
Jun 15 2015 // Specialist property catastrophe underwriting manager, Catalytic Holdings has hired industry veteran Sam Ramsey to lead its newly-formed wind underwriting business. Ramsey joins Catalytic from All-Risks Ltd. where he headed...
Windstorm Insurance Bill Stirs Lively Debate in Texas House
Jun 15 2015 // Differences of opinion on the never-ending problem of what to do about property insurance along the coast had lawmakers from coastal areas pitted against inland representatives in the waning days of the Texas legislative...
Geologists Studying Cause of Recent String of Alabama Earthquakes
Jun 15 2015 // Jim Sterling didn’t know what had hit his 156-year-old antebellum home when an earthquake struck Alabama’s old plantation region early one morning last November. Startled, he grabbed a gun and ran outdoors. In...
It’s Time for Congress to Prepare for Hurricane Season
Jun 15 2015 // Thousands of Americans have been working to prepare their homes and businesses for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season which began on June 1, so why isn’t Congress taking steps to get its own house in...
Effective Wildfire Prevention Hampered by Liability, Weather, Development
Jun 15 2015 // Forest managers would prefer to use prescribed burns every few years to help prevent costly wildfires and rebuild unhealthy ecosystems, but hurdles like staffing, budget, liability and new development hinder...
California Assembly Advances Earthquake Safety Bills
Jun 15 2015 // The California Assembly is advancing a pair of bills designed to help buildings withstand earthquakes. The legislation approved unanimously earlier this month would expand financial incentives for seismic...
Oklahoma, Texas Assessing Damage from Violent May Weather
Jun 15 2015 // Even though it meant the commencement of hurricane season, weather-beleaguered Texans are likely pleased that May 2015 has come and gone. Both Texas and Oklahoma were pelted during the month of May with all kinds of...
Natural Gas Firm Says It’s Not Causing Texas Quakes
Jun 12 2015 // A natural gas extraction company controlled by energy giant Exxon Mobil sought to prove on June 10 that it is not to blame for a recent rash of small earthquakes in North Texas, telling a powerful state agency that it...
Mayor: Many Will Leave Delmont Due to Tornado
Jun 12 2015 // Many residents of tornado-ravaged Delmont, S.D., don’t plan to come back, and the community is looking for ways to pull through. About 200 people live in the town, and “it looks like maybe half will...
CBO Confirms Private Insurers Could Take on Way More Terrorism Risk
Jun 11 2015 // I hate to say I told you so. Actually, scratch that. I love to say I told you so. I just wish it weren’t necessary in this case. Back in January, when Congress passed a six-year extension of the federal backstop for...
Wildfire Report Shows 2 Million California Homes at Risk as Drought Continues
Jun 10 2015 // A report issued today shows California has more than 2 million homes at “high” or “extreme” wildfire risk, as the multi-year drought continues stoke fears among some experts of a potentially...
Report: 4.5 Million Homes in 13 States at Extreme Wildfire Risk
Jun 10 2015 // A report issued today shows 4.5 million U.S. homes at high or extreme risk of wildfire as the multi-year drought continues. The report’s author said the worsening drought means 2015 has the potential to be one of the...
Miami Researchers Studying Hurricanes by Creating On-Demand Storms
Jun 10 2015 // Researchers trying to figure out what makes some hurricanes strengthen into catastrophic monsters have a new lab that allows them to generate tropical storm conditions with the flip of a switch. The lab is at the...
Texas Deems Severe Weather in Late May a Catastrophe
Jun 8 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance has determined the severe weather event that occurred May 23, 2015, through May 30, 2015, in Harris, Dallas, Travis, Fort Bend, Tarrant, Bexar, Hays, Rusk, Randall, Williamson, Collin,...
Nevada Tornado Damages Businesses and Homes
Jun 8 2015 // A tornado ripped through the Nevada town of Hawthorne on Friday afternoon, damaging homes and businesses, causing scattered power outages and temporarily shutting down a highway, authorities said. No injuries were...
Number of US Homes at Risk of Storm Surge Damage in 2015 Tops 6.6 Million
Jun 8 2015 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Total Reconstruction Cost Value of Homes is Nearly $1.5 Trillion Although the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts have been spared any significant hurricane damage over the...
2 Years After Tornado, Oklahoma’s Moore Rebuilding; View Video
Jun 5 2015 // Two years ago on May 20, an EF 5 tornado touched down in Moore, Oklahoma, 4.4 miles west of Newcastle. The powerful twister, with wind speeds reaching 210 miles per hour, cleared a path of destruction stretching 14 miles...
UPDATE: Hurricane Blanca Remains on Course for Baja California
Jun 5 2015 // The latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center in Miami describes Blanca as a “large hurricane,” with hurricane force winds extending “outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from the center and tropical...
Price Declines Slow on June U.S. Reinsurance Renewals: Guy Carpenter
Jun 5 2015 // After two years of price decreases averaging 15 percent on U.S. property catastrophe placements, risk-adjusted pricing moderated at the most recent June renewals. Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Co. reported that...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Highlights Improvements Made Since 2011
Jun 5 2015 // Texas windstorm insurer of last resort for coastal counties has released its annual report, which it says shows the practices and procedures of the organization have improved greatly since 2011. That was the year the Texas...
