Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
3.7 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Central Oklahoma
Jan 6 2015 // A 3.7 magnitude earthquake has rattled the Guthrie area in central Oklahoma. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was recorded at 3:37 p.m. Sunday about two miles south-southwest of the Logan County city. The USGS...
Meteorologists Look to Improve Alabama’s Weather Warnings
Jan 5 2015 // When it comes to weather in Alabama, no matter what time of year, there’s just one thing to do: “Prepare for it to be bad.” That’s according to Kevin Laws, the science and operations officer at the...
Rock Slides, but no Injuries From 4.9M Idaho Earthquake
Jan 5 2015 // A 4.9 magnitude earthquake in a remote Idaho county triggered rock slides that blocked some road lanes Saturday but did not cause any major damage or injuries. Hours later around midnight, quakes of magnitude 4.0 and 3.6...
Australian Wildfire Threat Eases as Cool Front Moves In
Jan 5 2015 // Cooler conditions on Sunday were helping hundreds of firefighters working to contain a massive wildfire that had forced thousands of people to flee their homes in southern Australia. A dozen homes have been destroyed by...
Workers’ Comp Insurers Unfazed by TRIA Failure For Now But Expect Quick Fix
Jan 4 2015 // The expectation that the new Congress that convenes this week will act quickly to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is keeping workers’ compensation insurers in particular from altering their...
Weather Service: Fewest Tornadoes on Record in Oklahoma in 2014
Jan 4 2015 // Just 16 tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma in 2014, which the National Weather Service says is the fewest on record. Oklahoma state climatologist Gary McManus says a combination of factors led to the relative lack of...
Earthquake Strikes off Coast of Northern California
Jan 2 2015 // The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a 5.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of northern California. The USGS says the quake was centered in the Pacific Ocean, about 70 miles west of Ferndale, California, and struck...
Mississippi Hoping for FEMA Aid for Tornado Victims
Jan 1 2015 // Earlier this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration joined Mississippi and local officials on a tour of the Columbia area, as well as Jones and Lamar counties that were hit by...
Washington Wildfire Claims Prepared for Lawsuit
Dec 30 2014 // More than 150 property owners are preparing to sue the state of Washington over wildfire damage claims that have been denied by the state Department of Natural Resources. Brewster attorney Alex Thomason told the Capital...
Looking Back to 2014, Ahead to 2015 at Natural Disaster Activity
Dec 29 2014 // Fewer tornadoes, a mild hurricane season, lower acreage lost to wildfires, overall less flood and other damage— all in all, 2014 was not as bad as it could have been for natural disasters in the U.S. That’s...
Oregon State Warned About Building in Tsunami Zone
Dec 29 2014 // Oregon’s state geologist urged Oregon State University not to put a marine studies building in a tsunami zone south of Newport’s Yaquina Bay Bridge – or at least build it to withstand waves as high as 43...
The Two Year Reduction in Natural Hazard Damage: A Long-Term Trend?
Dec 29 2014 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Natural hazards continue to pose a significant risk to properties in the United States and abroad. As we near the close of 2014, it is important to take time to...
Louisiana Auditor: Work Needed Still on Tracking Hurricane Aid
Dec 29 2014 // Louisiana has a long way to go to make sure that more than a billion dollars in housing aid has been used properly by the thousands of people who got federal help from the catastrophic 2005 hurricane season, according to a...
Businesses Push for Terrorism Insurance Vote When Congress Returns
Dec 24 2014 // Lobbyists for insurers, real estate financiers and businesses launched into action last week to urge quick renewal of a terrorism insurance program in 2015 after U.S. lawmakers left it to expire at the end of this...
USI Insurance Services Launches Terrorism Insurance Underwritten by Lloyd’s
Dec 24 2014 // USI Insurance Services has launched a new terrorism insurance product to address the expiring Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (TRIPRA), which ends Dec. 31. Unlike TRIPRA however, USI’s Terrorism...
Prison Sites at Salt Lake City Could Get Hit By Tsunami
Dec 23 2014 // The ground shakes violently and then a wall of salty, brine-shrimp-laden water crashes into the Utah State Prison. The cells of the state’s most dangerous inmates start to flood. Panicked Corrections officers must...
PERILS Posts Final $513.5 Million Loss Estimate on 2013 Windstorm Dirk
Dec 23 2014 // PERILS AG announced that its “fourth and final” loss estimate for windstorm Dirk, which affected the UK and France from 23 to 25 December 2013, is €420 million [$513.5 million] for the property insurance...
10 Years After Disaster, Tsunami Warning System ‘Weaknesses Remain’
Dec 22 2014 // In April 2012, Indonesia’s , the city worst hit by the tsunami that killed at least 226,000 people on Boxing Day ten years ago, received a terrifying reminder of how unprepared it was for the next disaster. As an...
Risk Modelers Aim to Gauge Risks of ‘Cyber Hurricane’
Dec 22 2014 // Even as the Sony Corp. cyber attack laid bare the kinds of vulnerabilities that typically drive companies to buy insurance policies, the lack of a risk model for insurers means such protection is not always easy to...
Fireman’s Fund Timeline: Through Earthquake, Amex and More
Dec 19 2014 // The sale of a Fireman’s Fund unit from Allianz SE to Ace Ltd. stands to further diminish an iconic U.S. insurance brand that dates to the 1800s. The buyer said Thursday that it will integrate the operation, which...
