Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Storm Brewing in Gulf
Jul 6 2010 // An area of disturbed weather over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico could strengthen into a tropical storm later this week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Monday. If it revs up to cyclone force, the system would...
WMO Foresees La Nina in Pacific this Year
Jul 6 2010 // La Nina is likely to cool the tropical Pacific in coming months, a phenomenon which usually causes stronger monsoons across Asia and eastern Australia, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday. The...
Wortman Retiring as CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Jul 6 2010 // John Wortman, CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. (Citizens), the state’s property insurance of last resort, has announced plans to retire. “John Wortman has been a tremendous asset to Louisiana...
Price Scare
Jul 5 2010 // Seven years and running, the soft market shows few signs of loosening its grip on commercial insurance pricing, according to a recent industry study. Average premiums in every line tracked by the RIMS Benchmark Survey fell...
Actuarially Sound Rates Remain Elusive Along Texas Gulf Coast
Jul 5 2010 // Insurance company interests have long held that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association charges rates that are not actuarially sound for the risks it insures, making it impossible for private insurers to compete for...
Report IDs Pacific Northwest as ‘Mega-Earthquake’ Hotspot
Jul 5 2010 // The Pacific Northwest is one of five regions in the world most likely to see a mega-earthquake, according to a new report. “When The Earth Moves: Mega-Earthquakes To Come?” published by Aon Benfield in...
West Faces High Wildfire Potential
Jul 5 2010 // Arizona Wildfire Incurs $1.8 Million in Claims An Arizona wildfire that has burned 15,075 acres and incurred $6.9 million in claims to date might be the first example of the fire risks the Western United States are facing...
Caribbean Countries Renew Hurricane, Earthquake Coverage
Jul 2 2010 // All sixteen members of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF – www.ccrif.org) have renewed their policies for hurricane and earthquake coverage for the 2010/11 year beginning on June first, the...
Aon Reports Declines in July Reinsurance Renewal Rates
Jul 2 2010 // Aon Benfield has released its July first “Renewals Update” report, which indicates that “rates continue to decline in all major regions without significant catastrophe loss activity in the last 12...
AIR Estimates Mexico’s Hurricane Alex Insured Loss under $200 Million
Jul 2 2010 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insurable losses (losses from properties that are eligible for insurance, whether or not they are actually insured) from Hurricane Alex are not expected to exceed...
Hurricane Alex Weakens to Tropical Storm
Jul 1 2010 // Hurricane Alex weakened to a tropical storm Thursday as it moved further inland over northeastern Mexico, dumping heavy rains that flooded cities but sparing U.S. oil facilities near its path. Rain from the first named...
Willis Re Finds Chile Quake, Storm Losses ‘Little Impact’ on Re Pricing
Jul 1 2010 // A new report from Willis Re, the reinsurance broking arm of Willis Group Holdings, has concluded that “losses from the Chile earthquake and storms in Australia in the first quarter of 2010 have had little impact on...
Hurricane Alex Could Reach Land Today in Mexico, Texas
Jun 30 2010 // Hurricane Alex strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday and was expected to make landfall later in the day but skirt Mexican oil rigs and U.S. oil fields, alleviating concerns in crude markets. The first named...
Hurricane Alex to Hamper BP’s Gulf Oil Disaster Containment Effort
Jun 29 2010 // Tropical Storm Alex is expected to reach hurricane strength on Tuesday, with high winds and vast waves set to hamper BP Plc’s latest efforts to contain the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Shares in London-based...
Louisiana Hurricane Recovery Board Disbanding
Jun 29 2010 // The Louisiana Recovery Authority’s board ended its multibillion dollar rebuilding work on June 24, nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore. The LRA board of directors – a volunteer board largely...
Texas Prepares as Tropical Storm Alex Heads Toward Hurricane Status
Jun 29 2010 // As of 10 a.m. CDT on June 29, Tropical Storm Alex was nearing hurricane strength in the western Gulf of Mexico and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects it to reach hurricane status later in the day. The storm is...
As Alex Looms, Texans Wait for Decision on Flood Insurance
Jun 28 2010 // With Tropical Storm Alex skirting the east coast of Mexico and heading north, if residents along the Texas Gulf Coast are thinking it’s a good time to purchase flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance...
Homeowners Offered Few Insurance Choices in Hurricane States
Jun 28 2010 // In most hurricane-prone states, homeowners have few choices of insurance coverage, with just eight property and casualty insurers in each state controlling up to 77.2 percent of the market share, according to Weiss...
Aon Benfield, Cologne University to Study European Windstorms
Jun 25 2010 // Aon Benfield announced that it has signed an exclusive partnership with the University of Cologne – “a leading research centre with a long record of wind storms diagnostics, extreme weather modeling and impact...
Arizona Wildfire Claims Up to $5 Million
Jun 25 2010 // The Schultz fire burning in Arizona near Flagstaff has incurred up to $5 million in claims to date, according to the latest National Interagency Coordination Center Incident Management Situation Report. To date, 14,800...
