Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tennessee Still Cleaning Up After April’s Tornadoes
Aug 12 2011 // The Rev. Bill Akers stood in a yard in Lookout Valley, pointing across a small valley at two stumps, gnarled remnants rising out of barren dirt in a place once flush with trees. Just a few hundred yards away, brush lined...
Do Flat Premums in Q2 Signal Soft Market Is Near Bottom?
Aug 11 2011 // Renewal premiums in the second quarter were essentially flat, suggesting that the soft commercial lines insurance market may be close to its bottom, risk managers report. Premiums for three of four lines tracked by the...
Oklahoma Wildfire Destroyed 40 Buildings
Aug 11 2011 // The weekend wildfire that swept through a rural swath of Pawnee County, damaging or destroying at least 40 structures and charring thousands of acres, was brought under control Tuesday afternoon but not before it did some...
Private Weather Forecasters in High Demand
Aug 10 2011 // Heat and drought are parching the southern U.S. plains, floods and tornadoes have shattered long-standing records, and the tropical Atlantic is steaming into the traditionally busiest part of the hurricane season. With...
S&P Revises Outlook on Platinum to Negative; Affirms Ratings
Aug 8 2011 // In an announcement that received slightly less notice than the downgrading of the U.S.’ ratings from ‘AAA’ to ‘AA+’, Standard & Poor’s also announced that it has revised its outlook...
April Set U.S. Record for Tornadoes
Aug 5 2011 // The U.S. set a record for the most tornadoes within a month with April’s deadly storms. The final report for the month shows there were 753 twisters across the country, including a super outbreak on April 25-28 that...
AIG Posts Q2 Profit on AIA Stake
Aug 5 2011 // Bailed-out insurer American International Group reported a profit for the second quarter Thursday, as tax benefits and its one-third stake in Asian insurer AIA offset a decline in operating income at its main...
Typhoon Muifa Drops Heavy Rains on Philippines; Moving to China
Aug 5 2011 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide is currently tracking Typhoon Muifa as it moves across the Pacific Ocean towards mainland China, after delivering heavy rain to the Philippines Tuesday and Wednesday. Muifa is...
Tropical Storm Emily Breaks up over Haiti; Still Threatens Rains
Aug 5 2011 // Tropical Storm Emily broke apart over the mountains of Haiti and the Dominican Republic Thursday, but its remnants still packed rains threatening flash floods and mudslides in the neighboring Caribbean countries. The U.S....
Aon Benfield Monthly Report Highlights Increased Global Storm Activity
Aug 5 2011 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp., has released the latest edition of its Monthly Cat Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide during...
Atlantic Hurricane Forecast Revised
Aug 4 2011 // Federal storm watchers issued an updated 2011 Atlantic hurricane season outlook today, raising the number of expected named storms from its pre-season outlook issued in May. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and...
The Hartford Q2 Profit Hit by Asbestos Charges, Tornado Losses
Aug 4 2011 // As it warned earlier, Hartford Financial Services Group saw its profit fall in the second quarter due to large catastrophe losses and a charge to increase asbestos reserves. Overall, The Hartford reported a net profit of...
Tropical Storm Emily on Path toward Haiti
Aug 4 2011 // Tropical Storm Emily brushed past Puerto Rico and set its sights on the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where more than 630,000 people are still without shelter after last year’s earthquake. A “steady shield of...
Catlin Hit by $201 Million Net Loss for 1st 6 Months
Aug 4 2011 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited announced its financial results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2011 from its London office, highlighted by a $201 million net loss for the period, compared to an $86 million...
CCRIF Builds Regional Capacity for Storm Impact Forecasting
Aug 4 2011 // The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has been gearing up to face the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season by “providing assistance to Caribbean nations to prepare for the tropical cyclones that are...
HCC Insurance Holdings Reports Strong Results in Q2 2011
Aug 4 2011 // Houston-based HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. reported that despite widespread catastrophe losses internationally and domestically during the second quarter of 2011 the company’s financial results for both the second...
California Earthquake Authority Bond Issue a ‘First Step’
Aug 3 2011 // Officials with the California Earthquake Authority said yesterday that their recent $150-million bond issue is just a first step in diversifying their risk so that they can expand earthquake coverage in the...
Tropical Storm Emily Heading for Puerto Rico, Hispaniola
Aug 3 2011 // Tropical Storm Emily was expected to bring heavy rain Tuesday to Puerto Rico after crossing the northeast Caribbean Sea on a track that would take it near Haiti within 24 hours. The storm was expected to bring up to 4...
Insurer Group Taking Hurricane Tour of Texas
Aug 2 2011 // The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) will take its message of preparing for a hurricane down the Texas coast for its annual media tour in late August. The ICT team will consist of company personnel, insurance agents,...
Alabama Study: Small Changes Could Prevent Twister Damage
Aug 2 2011 // A new study of tornado destruction in Tuscaloosa found that relatively minor changes in construction — including better shingles, more anchors and thicker vinyl siding — could have prevented much of the damage to...
