Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Braces for Fake Quake
Oct 14 2009 // Tomorrow at exactly 10:15 a.m. almost 7 million Californians are expected to drop to the ground, cover their heads, and hold on for dear life. This curious behavior is part of an event called the Great California Shakeout,...
Tropical Storm Patricia Nears Mexico
Oct 14 2009 // Officials closed schools and readied emergency shelters as Tropical Storm Patricia neared Mexico’s Los Cabos resorts on Tuesday. The storm had winds of near 60 mph (95 kph) and slight strengthening was possible,...
Cat Bond Market Set for Active Fourth Quarter, Reports Guy Carpenter
Oct 13 2009 // The catastrophe bond market is poised for an active fourth quarter in 2009, according to a new report. The report by Guy Carpenter & Co., LLC, and GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities Corp. concludes that a...
Mississippi Court Rules Home Insurance Policy Covers Hurricane Wind Damage
Oct 9 2009 // In a 9-0 decision, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that so-called “all-risk” home insurance policies may cover wind damage from hurricanes, even in situations where the loss is later exacerbated by...
California Wildfires Raise Landslide Risk
Oct 8 2009 // Rainstorms could send huge flows of water laden with mud, rocks and other debris toward cities below steep slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains stripped bare by a wildfire near Los Angeles this summer, federal scientists...
Typhoon Melor Strikes Southern Japan; 2 Dead; 40 Injured
Oct 8 2009 // Typhoon Melor made landfall on the south coast of Japan, approximately 25 miles (40 kms) from Hamamatsu on Wednesday. According to a preliminary analysis from Risk Management Solutions, “available meteorological data...
Typhoon Heads to Japan, Storm Stalls Over Philippines
Oct 6 2009 // Tropical storm Parma stalled for two days off northwestern Philippines, was slowly heading toward the country’s tobacco-producing region on Tuesday, after killing at least 22 people. Right behind it is Typhoon Melor,...
Indonesia Halts Search for Earthquake Survivors; Focus Turns to Relief Efforts
Oct 6 2009 // Rescue workers called off the search Monday for life under the rubble left by a massive earthquake, focusing instead on bringing aid to survivors in the towns and hills of western Indonesia, despite being hampered by...
South Carolina Still Looking for Lessons from Myrtle Beach Wildfire
Oct 5 2009 // The fire chief in one of South Carolina’s busiest tourist spots said he won’t alter his agency’s practices even though his crews failed to extinguish a small blaze that mushroomed into the worst wildfire...
What to Expect If Hurricane Hugo Hit South Carolina Today
Oct 5 2009 // Hurricane Hugo was the most costly hurricane ever to hit the United States when it made landfall in South Carolina in 1989, causing $4.2 billion in insured damage. Since then, the total insured property along South...
Hurricane Losses Color Florida’s Deficit
Oct 5 2009 // A Florida House-Senate budget panel has added the state’s risk of incurring billions of dollars in possible hurricane insurance losses to Florida’s long-range financial outlook. The new changes could dwarf...
Earthquake Shakes Central California
Oct 2 2009 // A series of earthquakes _ the largest a magnitude-5.1 _ have rattled the Lone Pine area of the eastern Sierra in Central California. The largest struck about 18 miles southeast of the town of Lone Pine along the east shore...
Rescuers Continue Digging As Indonesia Earthquake Toll Tops 1,000
Oct 2 2009 // Rescuers dug feverishly on Friday through the rubble of a school and other buildings toppled by an earthquake in the Indonesian port of Padang, but few victims were being found alive two days after the tremor. The United...
Strong Earthquakes Abroad Could Weaken Geologic Faults in U.S.
Oct 2 2009 // Powerful earthquakes may be a trigger for weakening geologic faults a half a world away, U.S. researchers said this week in a study that points to new ways to predict earthquakes. “Earthquakes are caused when a fault...
AIR Analyzes Samoa Quake/Tsunami
Oct 1 2009 // According to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, an earthquake-triggered tsunami flattened villages, submerged tourist resorts and killed more than 100 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga yesterday morning....
California Jury Orders Large, First-Ever Wildfire Environmental Damages
Oct 1 2009 // A Los Angeles jury Wednesday ordered two construction companies to reimburse the government for $36.5 million in damages from a 2002 wildfire, in the largest such award and the first-ever damages for environmental harm,...
Over 500 Reported Dead in Sumatra Quake; AIR Analyzes Disaster
Oct 1 2009 // Not long after the Samoan earthquake and tsunami struck in the South Pacific, a major earthquake occurred 9500 kms (5900 miles) away off Sumatra in western Indonesia. Latest news bulletins have raised the initial death...
California Wildfire Victims Want Probe
Sep 30 2009 // People affected by the massive wildfire that burned about 250 square miles northeast of Los Angeles are calling for a federal investigation into what they say was a poor initial response to the blaze. Angry residents of...
Typhoon Ketsana Kills 38 in Vietnam; Flood Threat
Sep 30 2009 // The biggest floods in decades threatened Vietnam’s central provinces on Wednesday following a powerful typhoon that swept into the country after wreaking havoc in the Philippines. The government said 38 people had...
Deadly South Pacific Tsunami Kills at Least 100 People after 8.3 Quake
Sep 30 2009 // A huge magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the South Pacific created a series of tsunami waves that struck the islands of Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga and Pago Pago, causing the deaths of at least 100 people, and leaving a swath...
