Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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...

More U.S. Firms Buying Terrorism Insurance; Prices Decline: Marsh

Jun 24 2010 // U.S. terrorism insurance purchase rates continued to climb in 2009 as companies of all sizes and across all industries continued to buy terrorism coverage, according to a report by global broker Marsh. Sixty-one percent of...

Earthquake, Tornado, Storms Hit Canada’s International Summit Site

Jun 24 2010 // International leaders might be forgiven if they nervously eye the skies above and the ground below as they gather for summits of the Group of Eight and the Group of 20 in Canada’s province of Ontario this weekend. In...

P/C Insurers Return to Profitability in Q1 With $8.9B in Net Income

Jun 23 2010 // The property/casualty industry returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2010 despite continuing declines in both written premiums and earned premiums. Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income...

Arizona Wildfire Incurs $1.8 Million in Claims

Jun 23 2010 // An Arizona wildfirethat has burned 14,000 acres and incurred $1.8 million in claims to date might be the first example of the fire risks the Western United States are facing in 2010. But, the National Interagency...

Arizona Fire Burns 10,000 Acres

Jun 22 2010 // The wildfire burning near Flagstaff, Ariz., has claimed more than 10,000 acres and is only 10 percent contained three days after it started, the National Interagency Coordination Center has reported. NICC’s latest...

Insurers Revive Cat Bond Market

Jun 21 2010 // Insurers are issuing catastrophe bonds again to complement traditional and cheaper reinsurance and to spread the risks in buying protection against events that could cost them tens of billions of dollars in claims. The...

Storm Management

Jun 21 2010 // The Atlantic hurricane season forecasts are in and they aren’t pretty. All the major forecasters have predicted the season will be much more active than last season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Double Trouble: Oil and Hurricanes in the Gulf Coast

Jun 21 2010 // AIR Worldwide Reviews Implications of the Gulf Oil Spill for Hurricane Season The current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico followed soon after a large explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform, 50 miles off...

Double Trouble: Oil and Hurricanes in the Gulf Coast

Jun 21 2010 // AIR Worldwide Reviews Implications of the Gulf Oil Spill for Hurricane Season The current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico followed soon after a large explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform, 50 miles off...

Jun 21 2010 // 71 As of June 5, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals had received 71 reports of health complaints thought to be caused by exposure to pollutants from the British Petroleum oil well blowout off the coast of...

Storm Management

Jun 21 2010 // The Atlantic hurricane season forecasts are in and they aren’t pretty. All the major forecasters have predicted the season will be much more active than last season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric...