Latest Catastrophe Headlines

All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Typhoon Rammasun Targets the Philippines; AccuWeather Report

Jul 15 2014 // A bulletin from the AccuWeather Global Weather Center reports that “Typhoon Rammasun is on track to threaten the Philippines Tuesday and Wednesday. “Rammasun strengthened back to a tropical storm early Sunday...

Midwest Bank Destroyed by Tornado to Rebuild in Nebraska Town

Jul 14 2014 // Midwest Bank has announced it will rebuild its branch in Pilger, Neb., that was destroyed in June by a tornado that leveled much of the northeast Nebraska town. Doug Johnson, president and chief executive officer of...

Oklahoma Once Again Rattled by Earthquake Swarm

Jul 14 2014 // The U.S. Geological Survey says at least four earthquakes have rattled central Oklahoma, including a 4.3-magnitude temblor near Langston. The earthquake struck shortly after noon on July 12 about five miles southwest of...

Crops Flattened, Windows Shattered in Nebraska Hailstorm

Jul 14 2014 // Calls have gone out to glass and siding companies and insurance agents after a barrage of hail left a trail of broken windows, damaged houses and ravaged farm fields in parts of western and central Nebraska. Hailstones as...

Damage Estimate in Texas Hailstorm Pegged at $400M

Jul 11 2014 // The June 12 hail storm in Abilene, Texas, is expected to hit $400 million in insured losses to vehicles, homes and commercial property, the Insurance Council of Texas reports. It was the second catastrophic hailstorm this...

New Orleans’ Mayor During Hurricane Katrina Gets 10-Year Sentence for Fraud

Jul 11 2014 // Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin entered City Hall as a cool and confident self-styled reformer, won fame there as a passionate, if profane, critic of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and exited under...

Washington Wildfire Grows, Evacuations Ordered

Jul 11 2014 // One central Washington wildfire has burned across 28 square miles in just two days while another has broken out in hot, dry conditions. The Mills Canyon fire near Entiat has burned across more than 18,000 acres since it...

Cleanup From Deadly Thunderstorms Gets Underway in Eastern States

Jul 10 2014 // Residents of this rural central New York town on Wednesday picked through debris from homes battered by a deadly tornado, and utility crews worked to restore power in several Eastern states hit by severe storms. In all,...

Pinpointing Hurricane Risk Home by Home

Jul 10 2014 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Analysis Shows More Than 6.5 Million U.S. Homes Valued at Nearly $1.5 Trillion at Risk of Hurricane Storm Surge Damage This year, we’re ushering in the 2014...

State Farm Increases Hurricane Deductible in Louisiana to 5%

Jul 10 2014 // One month into the hurricane season, State Farm’s 308,000 Louisiana homeowner’s customers are confronting an unpleasant change: their policies now include a mandatory 5 percent hurricane deductible. State Farm...

6.5 Million Homes from Maine to Texas at Risk for Storm Surge: CoreLogic

Jul 10 2014 // More than 6.5 million homes along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at risk of storm surge inundation, representing nearly $1.5 trillion in total potential reconstruction costs. More than $986 billion of that risk is...

CCRIF Members to Benefit from World Bank’s First Cat Bond Issuance

Jul 10 2014 // The sixteen member countries of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has published an announcement, which points out that the organization “will benefit from the first ever catastrophe bond...

Typhoon Neoguri Approaches Kyushu: AIR Analysis

Jul 10 2014 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Typhoon Neoguri, the strongest typhoon so far in the 2014 Western Pacific season, is slowly closing in on the west coast of Kyushu, the most southerly of Japan’s...

Report: $100M in Losses from Southern California Quake

Jul 9 2014 // The moderate earthquake that struck Southern California in spring did more damage than people may think – and a bigger quake on that fault could be more devastating than a “big one” on the region’s...

Central Texas Home an Example of the Benefits of Building Stronger

Jul 9 2014 // A home in Burnet County, Texas, that was picked up and carried 100 yards by a tornado last month, was reinforced according to its owner, Trenton Ashworth. The National Weather System reported that the EF-2 tornado that hit...

Typhoon Neoguri Lashes Okinawa; Heads for Kyushu: AIR Report

Jul 9 2014 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Typhoon Neoguri made its closest approach to Japan’s southern Okinawa islands last night, lashing the islands with torrential rain and strong winds. The storm...

Cat Bonds Totaling $4.5 Billion Issued in Q2 2014: Aon Benfield ILS Study

Jul 9 2014 // Aon Benfield Securities, the investment banking division of global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor Aon Benfield in its latest report on the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector, reveals that 12 catastrophe...

Firefighters Gaining Upper Hand on California Wildfire

Jul 8 2014 // Nearly 2,000 firefighters are getting the upper hand on a wildfire in rugged and steep terrain in rural Northern California. Fire officials say the Monticello Fire near Lake Berryessa in Yolo County was 55 percent as of...

Guy Carpenter Says Reinsurance Prices Squeezed by Oversupply

Jul 8 2014 // Reinsurance prices declined on policies renewed for July 1 amid low losses and as record levels of catastrophe bonds drove an oversupply of capital, according to Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC. There were “price...

Typhoon Neoguri to Skirt Okinawa; Nears Kyushu Landfall: AIR Analysis

Jul 8 2014 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, at about 6:30 am local time today, Typhoon Neoguri—the strongest typhoon to date in 2014—is “roaring toward Japan with sustained winds of 180 km/hr [112 mph]...