Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Cat Bond Issuance Hits 6-Year High: Aon Benfield ILS Report
Aug 1 2013 // Aon Benfield Securities, the investment banking division of global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor Aon Benfield, has issued it latest report – The Insurance-Linked Securities Second Quarter 2013 Update...
Crop Insurance, High Crop Prices Leading to Eco-Catastrophe: Environmental Group
Jul 31 2013 // Sustained high prices for corn, soybeans and wheat combined with record U.S. crop-insurance payouts are encouraging farmers to plow fragile lands and put ecosystems at risk, an environmental advocacy group said. Northern...
Downgraded Flossie Leaving Hawaii
Jul 30 2013 // The remnants of what was Tropical Storm Flossie are currently northwest of Kauai and moving away from the islands at about 15 miles per hour, according to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. The Central Pacific...
State Farm Targets NV Energy for Subrogation Over Reno Wildfire
Jul 29 2013 // State Farm Insurance plans to seek action against NV Energy for claims stemming from a November 2011 wildfire in Reno, Nev. sparked by arcing power lines. The wind-whipped fire destroyed 26 homes and damaged 17. It also...
Tropical Storm Flossie May Become First to Hit Hawaii Since 1992
Jul 29 2013 // Tropical Storm Flossie, which may become the first such system to hit Hawaii in 21 years, closed ports as it pounded parts of the state with “dangerous” surf. The storm, with top sustained winds of 50 miles (80...
Chubb Q2 Profit Jumps 43% to $579M; Renewal Rates Up in All Business Units
Jul 26 2013 // The Chubb Corp. reported its 2013 second quarter net income of $579 million, a 43.3 percent increase from $404 million net income posted a year ago. The company said it benefited from higher rates and stronger underlying...
Louisiana Parish not Responsible for Property Lost in Hurricane Fire
Jul 26 2013 // Jefferson Parish in Louisiana cannot be made to pay for belongings lost in a rented house that burned down at the height of Hurricane Gustav while the sheriff tried to put out the fire with a garden hose, a judge has...
Towers Watson Places $60M Cat Bond for New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance
Jul 25 2013 // Towers Watson Capital Markets Inc., a subsidiary of global professional services company Towers Watson, announced it recently arranged a private placement catastrophe bond, Sullivan Re 2013-1, which closed at $60 million....
New Capital Pushing Cat Reinsurance Prices Down 5-15%: Ace’s Greenberg
Jul 25 2013 // Ace Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg said the influx of Wall Street capital into the reinsurance industry is pressuring rates and that he is prepared to cut sales of backstop coverage. Prices for catastrophe...
Colorado Senators Push FEMA for Details On Wildfire Mitigation
Jul 24 2013 // Two senators are pushing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to detail its efforts to mitigate wildfires. Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet and Idaho Republican Mike Crapo (KRAY’-poh) also want FEMA to identify...
Q2 New Non-Life Cat Bond Issues Total $2.1 Billion: Willis Capital Markets
Jul 24 2013 // “The second quarter of 2013 saw $2.2 billion of non-life catastrophe bonds issued through 14 tranches (representing 10 deals), compared with $2.1 billion issued in Q2 2012 through 12 tranches (representing 7...
Oklahoma Agency Working to Reduce Earthquake Risks
Jul 24 2013 // The Oklahoma Geological Survey has begun work on plans to reduce the risk of oil-field work involving injection wells that some believe may be causing earthquakes. The Tulsa World reported that a summary report said the...
Shelter Permits Sought in Norman, Oklahoma after Tornadoes
Jul 23 2013 // Applications from Norman, Okla., residents looking to build storm shelters have increased sharply in the aftermath of deadly tornadoes that struck in Moore and other nearby areas of the Oklahoma City metro. The May 19 and...
AIR Reports on Offshore Earthquake Near Wellington, New Zealand
Jul 23 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has issued a report on the M6.5 earthquake that struck New Zealand’s Cook Strait, 54 km SSW of the capital city of Wellington, at a depth of 14 km [app. 8.7 miles] on July 21,...
Oklahoma Leaders Ask ‘What Have We Learned’ from May Storms?
Jul 23 2013 // With thousands of destroyed houses, 46 deaths and damage estimates topping the $5 billion mark, victims of Oklahoma’s two EF-5 tornadoes are asking the same question: What have we learned? The answers are almost as...
Tornado Hits Ohio’s Ursuline College; No One Hurt
Jul 22 2013 // A tornado packing 110 mph winds hit Ursuline College in northeast Ohio early on July 20, collapsing a wall of the school’s athletic center and damaging other buildings but causing no injuries, officials said. The EF1...
Earthquake in China’s Gansu Province Kills 56, Injures 392, Xinhua Says
Jul 22 2013 // An earthquake in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu killed at least 56 people and injured 392, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The 6.6-magnitude quake struck at 7:45 a.m. local time in the city of Dingxi,...
Wildfires, Hail Take Toll on Colorado Homeowners Insurance
Jul 22 2013 // It’s safe to say there’s a lot going on in the homeowners insurance scene in Colorado, where homeowners insurance rates are likely to be on the rise for some time. Insured losses from the recent Black Forest...
Industry Told TRIA Won’t Be Renewed Until 2014
Jul 19 2013 // The property/casualty insurance industry should not count on Congress reauthorizing the federal terrorism reinsurance program this year or in time for January renewals, according to a key insurance lobbyist working on the...
Louisiana Clarifies Insured Loss Estimate from Hurricane Katrina
Jul 18 2013 // A recent report by financial website Kiplinger rated Louisiana as the most disaster prone state in the nation. News reports on this story have cited loss estimates of $3 billion for Hurricane Katrina and $2 billion for...
