Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report Finds Australia’s Wildfire Warning System ‘Dangerously Flawed’
Aug 20 2009 // A major inquiry into Australia’s wildfire disaster earlier this year has found that warning systems are dangerously flawed, and residents in vulnerable areas need better, faster information to escape quick-moving...
Bill Weakens to Category 3 Hurricane; Predicted Course Unchanged
Aug 20 2009 // Hurricane Bill has weakened somewhat from a category 4 storm to category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It nonetheless remains a dangerous storm with maximum sustained winds of around 125 mph, 205 km/hr, with higher...
Hurricane Bill Could Bring Dangerous Swells, Rip Currents to U.S. East Coast
Aug 20 2009 // Powerful Hurricane Bill, a dangerous Category 4 storm with 135 mph winds, raged across the open Atlantic Wednesday, days from land but on a path that could menace Canada’s eastern provinces next week. Sweeping past...
Hurricane Bill Expected to Spare U.S. The Worst of Its Force
Aug 19 2009 // Hurricane Bill, the first of the 2009 Atlantic season, gathered strength and grew into a dangerous Category 4 storm with sustained winds of up to 135 mph (215 kph) on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center...
Lloyd’s Assesses Impact of Heat Waves and Wildfires
Aug 19 2009 // The recent series of wildfires that ravaged parts of Spain, France, Greece and Italy in late July may well be symptomatic of the warming trend in global weather patterns according to experts at Lloyd’s of...
Gulf Coast Can’t Forget Hurricane Camille of 40 Years Ago
Aug 19 2009 // Scouring an aerial photograph taken three days after Hurricane Camille crashed ashore on Mississippi’s Gulf coast, Richard Rose points to the spot where his father’s body washed into the chimney of a ruined...
UPDATE: Hurricane Bill Moving West-Northwest towards Bermuda
Aug 18 2009 // The latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center in Miami reports that Hurricane Bill continues to move “west-northwestward across the tropical Atlantic with little change in strength.” As of 5:00 a.m....
Hurricane Bill Expected to Strengthen to Category 3; Ana, Claudette Weaken
Aug 18 2009 // Hurricane Bill, the first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season, revved up quickly Monday as it headed toward Bermuda, while the remnants of Tropical Storm Ana dissipated without threatening the U.S. Gulf oil patch. Bill...
Officials Tracking 3 Storms; Bill is Season’s First Hurricane
Aug 17 2009 // The National Hurricane Center in Miami is currently tracking three tropical storms. Claudette has already made landfall on the Florida Panhandle. Ana, a tropical depression, is in the middle of the Caribbean. Neither storm...
Tropical Storm Claudette Hits Florida, Seen Fading
Aug 17 2009 // Tropical Storm Claudette, the third of the Atlantic hurricane season, moved ashore along the U.S. Gulf coast early Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Claudette formed early Sunday morning. The storm hit the...
Insurers Pressing Oregon Landowners to Take Wildfire Prevention Measures
Aug 17 2009 // Insurance companies have begun telling some policyholders in Eastern Oregon to protect their buildings against wildfires, say industry and government officials. One Oregon Department of Forestry official said he’s...
Hurricane Bill Heads for Bermuda
Aug 17 2009 // Hurricane Bill, the first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season, gained strength quickly as it churned across open ocean Monday in the direction of Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Two other tropical...
Florida Activates Claims Hotline for Tropical Storm Claudette Victims
Aug 17 2009 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink today announced that the state storm line has been activated to assist Floridians whose homes, businesses or vehicles were damaged by Tropical Storm Claudette as it passed through...
How Past Atlantic Hurricane Activity Compares to Recent Numbers
Aug 14 2009 // Reconstructions of past hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean indicate that the most active hurricane period in the past was during the “Medieval Climate Anomaly” about a thousand years ago when climate...
California Orders Evacuations as Lockheed Wildfire Spreads
Aug 14 2009 // With strong onshore winds fanning the flames of the Lockheed wildfire in Santa Cruz County, officials have ordered mandatory evacuations for Bonny Doon and Swanton for from 2,200 to 2,400 people. Two structures have burned...
Insurance for Homes Near Hawaii Volcano Costly, If It’s Available
Aug 13 2009 // Living in Hawaii on the slope of one of the most active volcanos in the world can be expensive when it comes to homeowners insurance. Wendy Ford is losing her policy this month because her insurer, Liberty Mutual Fire...
Strong Earthquake Jolts Tokyo Area
Aug 12 2009 // The second seismic event to hit Japan in two days occurred off the central coast of the Japanese island of Honshu at 5:15 a.m. local time (20:15 UTC on Monday). Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide said the US...
Atlantic Could See Hurricane Season’s First Named Storm Today: Ana
Aug 12 2009 // The Atlantic could get its first named storm of the hurricane season later Wednesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The basin’s second tropical depression is remaining just below tropical storm...
Texas Windstorm Pool Reports Waiver Surcharge Commission Change
Aug 11 2009 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) reported that HB 4409 passed by the 81st Legislature, requires several changes for TWIA policies. TWIA issued a bulletin to agents as a reminder that the first of these...
Agents, Meteorologists Gear Up for Annual Texas Hurricane Tour
Aug 10 2009 // For the fourth year in a row insurance spokesmen will team with meteorologists from the National Weather Service and independent insurance agents to warn Texas coastal residents of the potential dangers of hurricanes. This...
