Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Study: California Hayward Fault Earthquake Could Cause $165 Billion in Losses
Mar 21 2008 // An earthquake of 6.8 magnitude or greater on California’s Hayward Fault, in the heart of the San Francisco Bay area, could impact more than 5 million people and impact more than $1.5 trillion in property and...
Help Finally Available for Louisiana’s Hurricane-Weary Fishermen
Mar 21 2008 // For the past two and a half years, Louisiana’s fishermen have relied on their natural gift for resourcefulness and made do with jury-rigged docks cobbled together from hurricane debris and spent countless hours in...
Google to Make Hurricane Flood Threat Data Available to Public
Mar 20 2008 // Americans in the hurricane danger zone may soon be able to use Google to find out if their own home is threatened by a dangerous storm surge, the director of the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday. Storm surge, the...
Tornadoes Damage 25 Homes in 2 Alabama Counties
Mar 19 2008 // Weather officials in Alabama confirmed that storm damages in Blount and Cherokee counties were caused by two tornadoes. The March 15 tornadoes packing 115 mph winds, caused no injuries or deaths, the National Weather...
68 Homes Destroyed after 15 Weekend Tornadoes Pummel South Carolina
Mar 19 2008 // It took just three seconds for John Simmons and his family to lose their home in one of at least 15 tornadoes that swept across South Carolina last weekend. On March 15, as winds downed trees and ripped the roof off the...
Final Tsunami Detection Buoys Installed Off Solomon Islands
Mar 18 2008 // The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the last two tsunami detection buoys have been placed, completing the U.S. tsunami warning network. The two sensors were deployed off the Solomon Islands and will...
California Earthquake Authority Names Pomeroy CEO
Mar 18 2008 // The Governing Board of the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) announced the hiring of Glenn A. Pomeroy as the CEA’s CEO. He will assume the position on April 1. Pomeroy has extensive experience in public service...
Officials Assess Impact of Tornado Damage to Downtown Atlanta
Mar 18 2008 // Many Atlanta streets were closed and some traffic lights were still out Monday morning because of a tornado that ripped a path of destruction through the city’s core. Commuters to downtown were encouraged to stay...
Weather Service Confirms Tornado Hit Northwest Georgia
Mar 18 2008 // The National Weather has confirmed that a tornado caused the turbulent weather in northwest Georgia that left two people dead. Meteorologist Frank Taylor says the tornado touched down at 12:25 p.m. on March 15, at the...
USGS Offers Earthquake Research Grants
Mar 18 2008 // The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will award up to $3.4 million in grants and cooperative agreements for earthquake research in 2009. Interested researchers can apply online at www.grants.gov under the funding opportunity...
Tornado, Storms Slam Atlanta, Gov. Declares State of Emergency
Mar 17 2008 // A severe weather system moved into Georgia March 14 resulting in numerous injuries and major destruction and damage to areas of Atlanta and Fulton County, Ga. The system produced one tornado, injuring at least 20 people...
Some in Connecticut Shook by Small Earthquake
Mar 13 2008 // Scientists say it was a small earthquake that shook houses in Chester, Connecticut and surrounding towns earlier this week. The U.S. Geological Survey says it recorded a 2.0 magnitude earthquake early Tuesday morning three...
2007 Cat Losses Top $70 Billion Swiss Re <em>sigma</em> Study Finds
Mar 12 2008 // Swiss Re’s latest sigma study – “Natural Catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2007” – examines catastrophe-related economic losses from natural and man-made disasters last year, which...
Texas FAIR Plan, Windstorm Association Elect Officers for 2008-2009
Mar 12 2008 // Both the Texas FAIR Plan Association and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) have elected new officers for 2008-2009. For the Texas FAIR Plan, James Langford, vice president, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance...
Conflicts Arising in Federal Rulings in Louisiana Hurricane Cases
Mar 11 2008 // Conflicting rulings by federal judges in New Orleans and in Lake Charles, La., are having major effects on how much money homeowners can collect on damage from the 2005 hurricanes, and there is no quick end to the conflict...
Windstorm Liability Limits Increased for Certain Property in Texas
Mar 11 2008 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin recently signed an order increasing the maximum limits of liability from $3,390,000 to $4 million for a commercial or government building insured for wind and hail by the Texas...
AIG Expands Hurricane Service for High Net Worth Clients
Mar 11 2008 // AIG Private Client Group said it will begin offering its Hurricane Protection Unit service to some of it high net worth policyholders in New York, New Jersey and Florida. The service provides a hurricane mitigation...
Storm Losses Blamed on Coastal Growth, Not Global Warming
Mar 10 2008 // A hurricane that hit Miami in 1926 would cause up to $157 billion in damage if it were to strike today, according to a recent study. U.S. storm costs are rising because of higher populations and wealth on the coasts, not a...
For Florida Politicians, Property Insurance Just Won’t Go Away
Mar 10 2008 // Property insurance wasn’t supposed to be the big issue in the 2008 Florida Legislature. To the chagrin of many lawmakers, it just won’t go away. Legislators thought they’d largely taken care of the issue...
Study Reports on Costly 2007 Wildfire Season
Mar 10 2008 // With a potential $2.5 billion in insured losses in California alone, last year ranks as one of the costliest wildfire seasons in recent history, according to Risk Management Solutions’ (RMS) and ImageCat Inc.’s...
