Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AIR Assessing Damage Picture from Mexico’s Earthquake
Mar 21 2012 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has issued a bulletin analyzing the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck southwestern Mexico yesterday. Dr. Tao Lai, Principal Engineer at AIR Worldwide, explained that the...
Websites Reunite Tornado Victims with Lost Belongings
Mar 20 2012 // There were a yellow football jersey, wrinkled prom photos, canceled checks and a birth certificate. There were wedding photos and pages from a scrapbook that elementary students made for their teacher. When the deadly...
Michigan Catastrophic Injury Premium to Go to $175 Per Car
Mar 19 2012 // Michigan drivers will pay $30 more for auto insurance starting July 1 to care for accident victims who have brain damage, paralysis or other catastrophic injuries, raising the annual fee to $175 per vehicle. The Michigan...
A Role for Characteristic Event Methodology in Catastrophe Risk Management
Mar 19 2012 // When catastrophe models were first introduced in the late 1980s, they provided insurance and reinsurance companies with an improved methodology to estimate potential catastrophe losses from hurricanes. While the models...
Tornado Response
Mar 19 2012 // Branson, Mo., city officials said they were mostly happy with the emergency response to a tornado that hit the tourist city on Feb. 29. Police Chief Kent Crutcher said emergency response was mostly positive in the hours...
Insurance Claims from Recent Tornadoes May Top $1B
Mar 19 2012 // March came in like a very large and powerful lion, spawning severe weather across the Midwest, South and southeastern United States. Insured losses from the tornadoes, hail and high winds that struck in late February and...
Liberty Mutual Posts $284M Q4 Income, Diversifies Business
Mar 19 2012 // Liberty Mutual Group reported $284 million in net profit for its 2011 fourth quarter — down 50.7 percent compared to the same period one year ago. The insurer said the quarterly operating results were hurt especially by...
Indiana Tornado Mobile Home Deaths
Mar 19 2012 // A family of five in New Pekin, two men in Holton and a Scott County man all were in mobile homes when they died or were fatally injured in southern Indiana tornadoes on March 2. The Courier Journal reported that nearly...
Kentucky Orders Halt to Insurance Cancellations in Tornado-Stricken Areas
Mar 16 2012 // Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has signed an executive order prohibiting insurance companies from canceling policies or changing rates in counties hit by deadly tornadoes. Beshear’s staffers said it was the first time...
Insurance Exec Blasts Florida Inaction on Hurricane Fund, Citizens
Mar 16 2012 // Florida lawmakers have put taxpayers at risk by not reforming the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund or Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp. in advance of the 2012 hurricane season, an insurance executive has...
Pilot Project in Kansas, Missouri, Seeks Better Storm Warnings
Mar 15 2012 // When weather radios start sounding warnings in the Wichita, Kan., area this spring, the computerized voice nicknamed Chance Storms won’t just alert listeners to severe thunderstorms or tornado warnings. He’ll...
PERILS Lowers Loss Estimates from Windstorm Joachim to $377 Million
Mar 15 2012 // PERILS, Europe’s catastrophe data provider, has updated its loss report for windstorm Joachim, which occurred from December 15 to 17, 2011 in Western Europe. The second published loss estimate for Joachim is €289...
Catastrophe Frequency, Tornadoes Test Insurers in U.S.: A.M. Best
Mar 15 2012 // According to A.M. Best Co., the frequency of catastrophe weather events represents the “new normal” for the insurance industry. “The insurance industry continues to be tested as catastrophic weather...
Illinois Officials Dispute FEMA Denial of Tornado Aid
Mar 14 2012 // Looking at the destruction in his southern Illinois town, Harrisburg Mayor Eric Gregg couldn’t understand why federal officials turned down a plea to financially help local homeowners. Nearly a hundred homes are now...
Chief: California Wildfires May Signal Busy Season
Mar 14 2012 // Forest fire authorities say a series of a dozen small wildfires over the past two months may herald an active fire season this summer on the California coast. Anthony Escobar, Los Padres National Forest fire chief, said...
Magnitude-3.1 Earthquake Off Oregon Coast
Mar 13 2012 // Seismologists say they’ve detected a magnitude-3.1 earthquake off the Oregon coast. The U.S. Geological Survey reports the quake occurred at 4:37 a.m. with an epicenter 27 miles west of Newport. There were no...
Branson Officials Mostly Pleased with Tornado Response
Mar 12 2012 // Branson, Mo., city officials said they were mostly happy with the emergency response to a tornado that hit the tourist city in February. City officials met on March 8 to assess the response and tally damage. Police Chief...
ICA Declares Flood Zone Catastrophe; Economic Losses May Top $1.5 Billion
Mar 12 2012 // The Insurance Council of Australia has declared widespread areas of New South Wales and Victoria a formal catastrophe zone. The ICA said the declaration covers the NSW Riverina, NSW Central West and northern Victoria,...
Japan Marks One Year Since Earthquake – Tsunami Disaster
Mar 12 2012 // People across Japan prayed and stood in silence on Sunday to remember the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation one year ago, killing just over 19,000 people and unleashing the world’s worst nuclear...
Geneva Association Report: 2011 an ‘Annus Horribilis’ for Insurance Industry
Mar 9 2012 // The latest report from the Geneva Association , No. 5 in the current series – Extreme events and insurance: 2011 annus horribilis -, describes the global impact of the major 2011 natural catastrophes, and analyzes...
