Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Extends 1% Hurricane Surcharge Until 2014
Jun 11 2008 // The Florida Cabinet voted to extend a 1 percent insurance policy surcharge to cover hurricane claims that began in 2007 for two additional years through 2014. The assessment covers outstanding claims that originated during...
RMS, AIR Analyze Greek Quake
Jun 10 2008 // Risk Management Solutions and AIR Worldwide have both issued bulletins analyzing the effects of a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Western Greece at 03:26 p.m. local time on Sunday, June 8. RMS said that according to...
Crews Continue to Battle Wildfire at Eastern North Carolina Refuge
Jun 10 2008 // Fire crews plan to continue building containment lines around a massive wildfire that is burning in a sparsely inhabited rural area of eastern North Carolina. Spokesman Bill Swartley of the North Carolina Forest Service...
Possible Tornado Damages Dozens of Mobile Homes in Florida
Jun 10 2008 // Florida officials said a possible tornado that moved through northern Lee County damaged about 50 mobiles homes, but no one was seriously injured. North Fort Myers Fire Chief Terry Pye said at least eight homes were...
Earthquake Swarm Picks up Again in Reno
Jun 10 2008 // A three-month-long series of earthquakes picked up again Sunday, June 8, 2008, as a string of minor temblors rattled Reno, Nev., causing downtown highrises to sway and knocking items off shelves. There were no immediate...
Authorities Say North Carolina Wildfire Could Burn for Months
Jun 9 2008 // Fire officials warned people living near a massive wildfire at a federal wildlife refuge in eastern North Carolina that the blaze could smolder for months in the peat-filled soil. The fire burned about 30,000 acres in and...
Survey: Hundreds Underinsured in Last Year’s California Wildfires
Jun 9 2008 // Hundreds of people who lost homes in last year’s wildfires did not have enough insurance to cover their rebuilding costs, according to a survey sponsored by United Policyholders, a San Francisco consumer...
Bermuda Donates $500,000 to Caribbean Cat Risk Insurance Facility
Jun 6 2008 // A bulletin from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) notes that as of the beginning of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane season, all sixteen original member governments “have signaled their continued...
39 Homeowners Near North Carolina Wildfire Told to Evacuate
Jun 6 2008 // Authorities in eastern North Carolina are telling 39 homeowners to evacuate after a wildfire jumped containment lines. The blaze in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge has burned up to 10,000 acres, or nearly 16...
Iowa Tornado Toll Estimated at Nearly $6 Million
Jun 5 2008 // The deadly EF5 tornado that ripped through northeastern Iowa did more than $6 million in damage. That’s according to a preliminary estimate from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Iowa Homeland Security and...
More Developing Nations to Consider Catastrophe Bond Issuance
Jun 5 2008 // Governments in emerging markets are increasingly looking at the potential to tap capital markets to help fund the cost of recovery when costly natural catastrophes strike, experts say. Some nations have already issued debt...
South Carolina Safety Department Conducts Hurricane Evacuation Drill
Jun 5 2008 // South Carolina public safety officials planned a hurricane evacuation simulation as the state prepares for this year’s hurricane season. Public Safety spokesman Sid Gaulden said law enforcement personnel and traffic...
FEMA Draft Plan Revisits Use of Trailers for Disaster Victims
Jun 4 2008 // The government may house disaster victims in trailers this hurricane season as a last resort, despite promises never to use them again because of high levels of formaldehyde found in trailers used after the Katrina...
Colorado Researchers Predict 8 Atlantic Hurricanes, 4 Major
Jun 4 2008 // Weather researcher William Gray’s team is calling for eight hurricanes in the Atlantic this year, four of them major. The forecast calls for a very active season, with 15 named storms. The revised outlook from the...
Meteorologists Confirm Tornado Touched Down in Northwest Ohio
Jun 4 2008 // Two of the three tornadoes that traveled through northwest Ohio early on May 31 destroyed homes and left a path of debris, meteorologists said. The National Weather Service said one tornado with winds up to 130 mph touched...
RMS Launches New U.S. Hurricane Loss Index
Jun 3 2008 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has launched a new index for assessing insured industry losses from U.S. hurricanes. Named the Paradex U.S. Hurricane, it combines actual wind speeds at...
After 3-Year Lull, Mississippi, Alabama Gird for New Hurricane Season
Jun 2 2008 // After Hurricane Katrina struck the upper Gulf Coast in 2005, even grizzled storm veterans became edgy when the opening of hurricane season rolled around. Blue tarps covering Katrina-damaged homes are far fewer now, but as...
Tornado Warning Sirens Send Illinois Lawmakers Running for Cover
Jun 2 2008 // Tornado warning sirens chased lawmakers to the statehouse basement, a semitrailer was blown from a roadway and homes and an airport building were damaged as severe storms battered parts of Illinois and Indiana on late on...
More Catastrophe Fund Surcharges Likely for Florida Policyholders
Jun 2 2008 // Florida residents could soon be faced with increased surcharges on their home, auto and other insurance policies because the state’s catastrophe fund needs more money to pay claims from past hurricanes. The Florida...
Coastal Growth from Texas to N.C. Lends Urgency to Hurricane Forecasts
Jun 2 2008 // The rapid pace of development along hurricane-prone coasts is adding a new level of urgency for forecasters to more accurately pinpoint potential storm impact zones, the director of the National Hurricane Center...
