Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Strong Earthquake Strikes Western Costa Rica: AIR Analysis
Sep 6 2012 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, on September 5 at 8:42 AM local time, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck a sparsely populated region of western Costa Rica approximately 150 km [94 miles] west of San...
Aon Benfield Report Highlights Growth of Insurance-linked Securities
Sep 6 2012 // Catastrophe bond issuance for the last 12 months – June 2011 to June 2012 – rose to $6.43 billion – an increase of more than $2 billion over the same period in 2011, according to a report issued by Aon Benfield...
How Tornado Has Changed a Kentucky Town
Sep 6 2012 // Eddie and Sherri Granger’s new life running an antique store in West Liberty, Ky., collapsed in a heap of debris when a tornado demolished their nearly century-old building while tearing through this eastern Kentucky...
Thousands File Flood Insurance Claims After Isaac
Sep 5 2012 // Thousands of flood insurance claims are being filed in the wake of Hurricane Isaac, a slow-moving storm that hammered several parishes in southern Louisiana with prolonged, drenching rains and tropical-storm force winds,...
Katrina’s Lessons in Mississippi May Have Saved Lives in Hurricane Isaac
Sep 5 2012 // For all the lives it took when it plowed across the Gulf Coast in 2005, Hurricane Katrina may have saved some during Isaac. Officials took lessons from Katrina and applied them to their emergency plans. Storm shelters that...
Another Disaster Brings Candidates to Gulf Coast
Sep 4 2012 // Mitt Romney wasted no time after accepting the GOP presidential nomination in heading to Louisiana to see the damage from Hurricane Isaac, changing his schedule on the fly to get there the very next day. President Barack...
A Year After Texas Wildfires, Recovery Continues
Sep 4 2012 // One year after wildfires raced through Bastrop and impacted 64 other Texas counties, recovery continues with more than $63 million in disaster assistance provided to date, state and federal emergency management officials...
Insurers Processing Estimated $1.2 Billion in Hurricane Isaac Claims
Sep 3 2012 // Insurance claims from Hurricane Isaac have starting coming in, with one estimate saying losses to insurers could total $1.2 billion. AIR Worldwide, which models losses for insurers, said its best estimate of losses was...
Thousands Evacuated as Isaac Floods Outside New Orleans
Aug 31 2012 // Isaac continued to pour unrelenting rain on Aug. 30, flooding areas north and south of New Orleans even as the city’s fortified defenses held and forcing officials to launch speedy evacuation and rescue efforts in...
U.S. Insured Losses from Hurricane Isaac Could Reach $2B: AIR
Aug 31 2012 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses from Hurricane Isaac to onshore properties in the U.S. will be between $700 million and $2 billion. AIR estimates include wind and storm surge damage to...
Washington Given $50,000 For Tsunami Debris Bags
Aug 31 2012 // The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has given the state of Washington $50,000 to help pay for trash bags and bins to collect debris washing ashore from the Japanese tsunami. The state Ecology Department...
Insurance Laws Hurting Colorado Wildfire Victims
Aug 31 2012 // Victims of wildfires that destroyed more than 600 homes this year say Colorado’s insurance laws need to be changed. State officials told victims attending a hearing in Fort Collins on Wednesday that they have heard...
Fat Tire Maker Says River Water Tainted By Colo. Wildfire
Aug 31 2012 // The maker of Fat Tire beer says it’s using a reserve water supply because the water in northern Colorado’s Poudre (POO’-der) River is tainted by a wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes in June. New...
Isaac Brings Relief to U.S. Drought Conditions
Aug 31 2012 // The remnants of Hurricane Isaac continue to cause headaches on Friday, bringing heavy rainfall and the threat of flash flooding to the lower Mississippi Valley as Gulf Coast residents get ready to start their cleanup...
Hurricane Kirk in Mid-Atlantic; TS Leslie May Hit Bermuda: NHC Reports
Aug 31 2012 // Two tropical cyclones – Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie – are currently active in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center in Miami is tracking both of them, as well as the remnants of...
Willis Research Sees Fewer, but Stronger, Hurricanes in Future Years
Aug 31 2012 // New research from the Willis Research Network (WRN) addresses scientific forecasts that “global warming is likely to lead to stronger tropical cyclones, but also that the overall global frequency of tropical storms...
Arkansas at Risk for Flash Floods, Tornadoes from Isaac
Aug 30 2012 // A flash flood watch covers much of Arkansas as what is now Tropical Storm Isaac lumbers toward the state. Forecasters also said Isaac’s storm cells have the potential to quickly spin off tornadoes that in some cases...
Isaac Heads North After Drenching U.S. Gulf, New Orleans
Aug 30 2012 // Tropical storm Isaac is expected to weaken further as it heads north on Thursday, after causing significant damage to the U.S. Gulf Coast but nothing on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in...
Citizens Advised to ‘Hunker Down’ as Isaac Pounds Louisiana
Aug 29 2012 // “Stay hunkered down.” That’s the message local, state and federal officials are telling the people of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana in response to a lingering Hurricane Isaac, now Tropical Storm...
U.S. P/C Insurers Expected to Withstand Isaac: Fitch
Aug 29 2012 // Fitch Ratings anticipates losses related to Hurricane Isaac will be largely borne by primary insurers, but estimates remain uncertain as the storm has yet to make landfall. Isaac is expected to be less powerful than the...
