Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Could Global Warming Change Tornado Season?
Mar 25 2013 // With the planet heating up, many scientists seem fairly certain some weather elements like hurricanes and droughts will worsen. But tornadoes have them stumped. As the traditional tornado season nears, scientists have been...
Turning Tornado Debris Into Better Storm Warnings
Mar 22 2013 // Photos and mementoes that were snatched up and blown hundreds of miles during tornados in the south of the United States two years ago are giving researchers new insight on how debris is carried by the storms and how it...
Oregon City Fears Isolation After Major Earthquake
Mar 21 2013 // Officials in Medford say an emerging state plan for recovering from a major earthquake would keep their region isolated from the rest of Oregon for a lengthy period because repair efforts to get traffic moving north-south...
With Rates Expected to Drop, Cat Fund Reform Should Be a No-Brainer
Mar 18 2013 // For four out of the last seven years, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund has been projected to have a shortfall should a major hurricane impact the state and cause the fund to pay out to its coverage limits. This is...
Report Makes Chilling Forecast On Northwest Quake
Mar 18 2013 // More than 10,000 people could die when – not if – a monster earthquake and tsunami occur just off the Pacific Northwest coast, researchers told Oregon legislators . Coastal towns would be inundated. Schools, buildings...
Fitch: P/C Insurer Profit Up in 2012; Reinsurers Recover
Mar 18 2013 // Property/casualty insurers’ operating profits improved in 2012, driven by reduced incurred losses from natural catastrophes and core loss ratio improvements from recent underwriting and pricing actions. Fitch...
Increase in Oklahoma Mobile Home Parks Ups Tornado Vulnerability
Mar 15 2013 // A new report from Lloyd’s of London found that a growing number of Oklahomans are becoming increasing vulnerable to tornadoes, according to the Oklahoma Insurance Department. The report, Tornadoes: A Rising Risk?,...
Hong Kong’s Peak Re Licenses AIR Worldwide Catastrophe Modeling Systems
Mar 14 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide announced that Hong Kong-based Peak Reinsurance Co. Ltd., which focuses on the Asia-Pacific market, has selected AIR’s catastrophe modeling solutions to manage its catastrophe...
Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting Launches New Cat Scenario Models
Mar 14 2013 // Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has launched a suite of new scenario models to generate loss estimates for specific historic or hypothetical events. The bulletin...
Utah Prepares For Another Busy Wildfire Season
Mar 12 2013 // The mountains still may be covered in snow, but officials already are preparing for another busy wildfire season in Utah amid growing concern over the cost to battle them. State officials told the Deseret News that the...
Japan’s Clean-Up from 2011 Tsunami, Nuclear Accident Lagging
Mar 11 2013 // Two years after the triple calamities of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster ravaged Japan’s northeastern Pacific coast, debris containing asbestos, lead, PCBs — and perhaps most worrying — radioactive waste...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Faces Tough Legislative Session
Mar 11 2013 // Texas’ property insurer of last resort in coastal counties may have a difficult time remaining intact during the 2013 legislative session. Claims from 2008’s Hurricane Ike still trickle in and ongoing...
Connecticut Proposes Mediation Program for Homeowners Claims Disputes
Mar 8 2013 // Connecticut’s insurance department is proposing a new program that would offer a mediation option to resolve claims disputes between homeowners and their insurance companies that arise from catastrophes, such as...
Arkansas to Monitor Earthquakes Near Greers Ferry
Mar 7 2013 // Earthquake experts intend to place more monitors near Greers Ferry Lake after a recent jump in the number of temblors in the area. While many of the 60 quakes in the past year were too light to be felt by people, the...
Report Questions Insurer Readiness, Attitudes on Climate Change
Mar 7 2013 // A report out Thursday that details responses to a climate change survey from insurers doing business in California, Washington and New York shows many insurers are prepared to deal with today’s extreme weather...
Aon Benfield February Cat Report:U.S. Winter Storms; Russian Meteor
Mar 6 2013 // Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has released the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disasters that occurred...
Bill Proposing Property Assigned Risk Plan Filed in Texas
Mar 5 2013 // A bill has been filed that would drastically change the structure and/or funding for Texas’ insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the coast. Senate Bill 18 by Sen. John Corona would create the Texas Property...
From Rubble to Renewal: Kentucky Town Responds to Last Year’s Tornado
Mar 5 2013 // Tax preparer Betty Helton no longer meets her customers at a park bench in this tornado-ravaged Appalachian town. Hungry customers are back ordering burgers and shakes at Freezer Fresh. A bank moved out of a grocery store...
Liberty Mutual’s 2012 Profit Jumps 132% to $829M Despite Q4 Net Loss
Mar 1 2013 // Liberty Mutual and its subsidiaries today reported 2012 fourth-quarter net loss of $234 million, with the results including $576 million Superstorm Sandy losses. In comparison, the Boston-headquartered insurer had $285...
Colorado Wildfire Safeguards, Concerns with Alert System
Mar 1 2013 // New safeguards to prevent state-set fires from going out of control have won unanimous approval in the state Senate, and a new report is noting “serious concerns” with two mass calling systems that were used to...
