Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
‘Moral Hazard’ Isn’t a Good Reason to End TRIA
Oct 23 2013 // My friend Mark Calabria at the Cato Institute has a good piece in Roll Call that makes the case for allowing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program to lapse. I’m sympathetic to him in the medium term but, given the...
Hannover Re Sees Higher Rates in Germany on Floods, Hailstorms
Oct 23 2013 // Hannover Re, the world’s third largest reinsurer, said it expects higher rates for insurance and reinsurance in Germany following this year’s flooding and hailstorms, which led to the most costly claims in 30...
University of Alabama Studies Impact of 2011 Tornado on Foreclosures
Oct 21 2013 // A University of Alabama study has found that the April 2011 tornado didn’t severely impact home foreclosures in the Tuscaloosa area. Sociologist Bronwen Lichtenstein says researchers noted a slight decrease in...
Wildfire Emergency Declared in Australia State as Homes Lost
Oct 21 2013 // Australia’s most populous state declared an emergency as wildfires tore through bush land west of Sydney, destroying hundreds of homes and threatening mountain townships. New South Wales State Premier Barry...
As Many as 9 Tornadoes Reported in Nebraska, Iowa
Oct 21 2013 // As many as nine tornadoes – at least one rated a powerful EF3 – touched down across northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa as a storm cell moved over the region in the evening on Oct. 4, causing structural damage and...
Is TRIA for Cyber Terrorism?
Oct 21 2013 // The insurance industry will count on the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (Program) if there is a terrorist strike on the United States, but will the Program respond if the act of terrorism is a cyber event? Cyber...
Members of Aon Benfield’s Analytics Team Explain Cat Models
Oct 18 2013 // “Our remit at Aon Benfield Analytics is really to do the risk quantification part of reinsurance transactions,” said John Moore, the head of International Analytics operations. He’s responsible for...
ACE Construction Practice Launches Catastrophe Services Through ESIS
Oct 18 2013 // ACE USA has launched catastrophe claims servicing capabilities specifically designed for the construction industry through ESIS Inc., a risk management services company owned by the ACE Group. The new offerings provide an...
Florida Hurricane Fund Financial Condition As ‘Strong As Ever’
Oct 17 2013 // Florida is ending this year’s storm season with some good news. The state-created fund that backs up private insurers in Florida remains in the best financial shape it has been since it was created 20 years ago. New...
At least 8 Killed as Typhoon Wipha Sideswipes Tokyo; Moves on
Oct 16 2013 // Eight people were killed and over 30 missing, with nearly 20,000 people ordered to evacuate and hundreds of flights cancelled as Typhoon Wipha pummeled the Tokyo region on Wednesday, leaving piles of wreckage on one small...
AXA Sells $474 Million in Cat Bonds against Europe Storm Damage
Oct 16 2013 // AXA SA said it sold catastrophe bonds designed to protect insurers from payouts on storm damage, in the biggest transaction of the notes in euros. Europe’s second-largest insurer by market value issued €350 million...
Typhoon WiphaThreatens Japan; Precautions at Fukushima Nuclear Plant
Oct 15 2013 // A once-in-a-decade typhoon threatened Japan on Tuesday, disrupting travel and shipping and forcing precautions to be taken at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant. Typhoon Wipha is moving across the Pacific straight...
Hurricane-Proof Church a Safe Haven on Gulf Coast
Oct 15 2013 // God is a mighty fortress, the old hymn goes, and the same could be said for Romar Beach Baptist Church. With concrete walls more than a foot thick and pilings driven deep into bedrock, the waterfront church just yards from...
AIR Worldwide Analyzes Typhoon Nari as it Crosses the Philippines
Oct 15 2013 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide Typhoon Nari, aka Santi, made landfall in the Philippines, “as of 18:50 October 11, 2013 UTC (2:50 October 12, 2013 PHT; 14:50 October 11, 2013 EDT), just south of...
EQECAT President Paul Little on Cat Models – from the General to the Specific
Oct 11 2013 // EQECAT’s President Paul Little explains how cat models have evolved from the general to the specific and what’s now required to create good ones. He also foresees cellular technology – iPhones, Androids,...
20 Tornadoes Recorded in Illinois so Far This Year
Oct 11 2013 // Illinois has received only a third of the number of tornadoes typically recorded over the course of a year, weather officials said. The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports there have been 20 reports of tornadoes...
Number of Homes at Risk of Wildfire in Western States Jumps 62%: CoreLogic
Oct 11 2013 // The number of homes at risk from wildfires in western U.S. states jumped 62 percent in the past year as more properties were developed in fire-prone areas, according to a report released on Thursday. About 1.2 million...
Report: $189B in Western U.S. Properties High Wildfire Potential
Oct 10 2013 // Despite a little touch of some wetter and cooler weather, the 2013 wildfire season isn’t over, and the Western states in particular should be prepared for a few more potentially active months. That’s according...
Forecast for 2014 Commercial P/C Pricing: Willis
Oct 9 2013 // Commercial property insurance buyers could see prices fall from 10 to 20 percent on non-catastrophe risks in 2014 thanks to the influx of alternative capital to the insurance industry, insurance and reinsurance broker...
Weakened Typhoon Danas in Korea Strait, Sea of Japan: AIR Worldwide
Oct 9 2013 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, after pounding Okinawa with the outer reaches of its 184 km/h [114 mph] winds Monday evening local time, Typhoon Danas has weakened to tropical storm strength and it is...
