Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Harleysville Insurance Hammered by 2d Quarter Catastrophe Losses
Jul 10 2008 // Regional property/casualty insurer Harleysville Group Inc. reported that estimated second quarter catastrophe losses from storms in the Midwest and elsewhere will be the most the insurer has faced in a quarter in more than...
2008 Catastrophe Losses Already Exceed 2007; On Track to Pass 2006
Jul 9 2008 // A large number of exteme weather events pummeled the United States in the first half of the year, and worldwide 2008 may go down in history as a year with one of the highest number of natural catastrophe victims, according...
InsuranceLeadz.com and Middle Cross Software Partner to Launch New Service Called Typhoon
Jul 9 2008 // InsuranceLeadz.com would like to announce its partnership of Middle Cross Software to launch their new Quote Burst Typhoon service line for Allstate insurance agents. This new service will allow Allstate insurance agents...
Colo., Texas Lead the Top 10 Most Tornado Prone Areas
Jul 9 2008 // The rural area to the northeast of Denver, Colo., tops the nation when it comes to regions most prone to tornados, according to Boston-based CDS Business Mapping LLC, an online hazard mapping firm. The top 10 most tornado...
Minn. Experts: Garage Doors Can be Weak Point in Tornado Damage
Jul 8 2008 // When high winds from tornados and severe storms hit, a house’s garage door can be a weak point. And sometimes if a garage door goes, it can be the first step in a disastrous chain reaction. Minnesota has recently...
Florida Approves $224 Million Plan to Bolster State Catastrophe Fund
Jul 7 2008 // Florida residents might see an increase in property insurance rates because of a plan to bolster the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. State officials last week approved a plan to spend $224 million so that the state can...
Bertha Becomes 2008 Atlantic Season’s First Hurricane
Jul 7 2008 // The National Hurricane Center issued an advisory this morning that Bertha has developed into the season’s first hurricane in the open Atlantic Ocean. The center said Bertha is not an immediate threat to land. At 5...
McCain, Southeast Governors Split Over National Disaster Fund
Jul 7 2008 // Republican Presidential Nominee Opposes Idea that Remains Popular with Many Gulf Coast Voters A congressional proposal to create a national “catastrophe fund” to help states recover from natural disasters has...
Public Adjusters Take the Heat for Reopened Hurricane Claims
Jul 7 2008 // Public adjusters are being blamed for thousands of unresolved insurance claims in Florida dating back to the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. A Florida task force monitoring how state-backed Citizens Property Insurance...
Firefighters in Stalemate Against Calif. Wildfires
Jul 7 2008 // Firefighters have battled hundreds of wildfires burning throughout Northern California to a stalemate in the past month, but forecasters say dangerous fire conditions will not relent anytime soon. While it is still too...
Japan: Risk and Rewards
Jul 7 2008 // A Glimpse into Japan’s Property and Casualty Market The Japanese property and casualty insurance market is ripe for opportunities, but there also are significant risks in the country, according to Keiji Fukasawa of...
Hurricane Center Tracking ‘Tropical Wave’ in Atlantic Ocean
Jul 2 2008 // The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it is currently tracking a “strong tropical wave over the extreme eastern Atlantic Ocean about 330 miles southeast of Sal in the Cape Verde Islands.” The NHC said...
California Workers’ Comp Insurer Extends Credit to Wildfire Victims
Jul 2 2008 // California State Compensation Insurance Fund announced that it will extend credit to policyholders who have suffered a financial loss or business disruption caused by the hundreds of wildfires burning throughout...
Firefighters in Stalemate Against Calif. Wildfires
Jul 1 2008 // Firefighters have battled more than a thousand wildfires burning throughout Northern California to a stalemate, but forecasters said dangerous fire conditions will not relent anytime soon. No new major fires had broken out...
Swiss Re Places $150 Million Vega Securitization
Jul 1 2008 // Swiss Re announced that it has obtained $150 million worth of protection against North Atlantic hurricanes, European windstorms, Californian earthquakes and Japanese earthquakes and typhoons through a natural catastrophe...
Willis Research Network Joins in California Earthquake Study
Jun 30 2008 // The Willis Research Network, part of Willis Group Holdings Ltd., the global insurance broker, has joined with the U.S. Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey to develop a scenario that shows how a magnitude...
Cat Bond Sales Seen Slowing
Jun 27 2008 // Catastrophe bonds, which allow investors to make bets on disaster, have thrived in recent years, but a number of factors are seen cooling this obscure part of the debt market in 2008. The growth of catastrophe, or...
Hurricane Chief: Funds, Research Can Improve Hurricane Forecasting
Jun 26 2008 // The National Hurricane Center’s director says his organization would need tens of millions of dollars over the next decade for research to reduce substantially the errors in forecasting the intensity of...
P/C Insurers’ Underwriting, Investment Results Deteriorate in First Quarter
Jun 25 2008 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry’s net income after taxes fell to $8.2 billion in first-quarter 2008 from $16.2 billion in first-quarter 2007. Contributing to the $8 billion, or 49.3 percent, decline in...
California Firefighters Battle More Than 800 Blazes; Evacuations Ordered
Jun 24 2008 // Hundreds of wildfires sparked by lightning have flared across the heart of wine country and remote forests in Northern California, the latest batch of destructive blazes in the bone-dry state. As of Monday, June 23, 2008,...
