Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
News Currents
Jun 18 2007 // Slow death for coastal windstorm bill in last days of Texas session In the waning days of the 2007 session of the Texas Legislature, marked by a tumultuous, unsuccessful struggle to oust the current Speaker of the House of...
Poll: Many coastal residents still not ready for hurricanes
Jun 18 2007 // Many people along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts still lack a hurricane survival plan and don’t feel vulnerable to storms, despite Katrina’s dramatic damage and pleas from emergency officials for residents to...
Terrorism Risk Insurance Act Déjà Vu
Jun 18 2007 // It’s becoming a familiar song: the Federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is once again due to expire on Dec. 31, 2007, and as of this writing, no long- or short-term successor program has been decided upon or...
Nephila Capital Launches Gamut Re
Jun 14 2007 // Nephila Capital Ltd., a Bermuda-based investment manager specializing in catastrophe reinsurance and weather risk, announced the closing of its new investment vehicle, Gamut Reinsurance Ltd. Gamut Re, which is domiciled in...
Hurricane Forecasting Satellite Could Fail Anytime
Jun 14 2007 // An aging U.S. weather satellite crucial to accurate predictions on the intensity and path of hurricanes could fail at any moment and plans to launch a replacement have been pushed back seven years to 2016. In a letter...
N.Y. City Urged to be Ready for Major Hurricane
Jun 13 2007 // Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has warned that America’s largest city needs to be prepared for a hurricane powerful enough to cause serious flooding in lower Manhattan and elsewhere. “It’s...
Builder’s Risk Remains Difficult But Manageable, Advises Mercator
Jun 13 2007 // The rest of 2007 will continue to be a difficult time for developers and builders to secure builder’s risk insurance for their projects, according to experts at independent wholesale insurance broker Mercator Risk...
Aon/Albert G. Ruben Finds Improved Conditions for Filmmakers
Jun 12 2007 // Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article quoted Chris Palmer of Aon. Palmer is no longer with Aon, but instead is employed by CMM Entertainment. Insurance Journal regrets the error. Economic and political...
Tenn. Businesses Protect Coastal Operations from Storms
Jun 12 2007 // It took O’Charley’s regional operations director in Hattiesburg, Miss., most of a week to get in touch with the restaurant chain’s Nashville, Tenn. headquarters after Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf...
Guy Carp Publishes Global Terror Insurance Market Study
Jun 12 2007 // Guy Carpenter & Company, the global risk and reinsurance specialist of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, has published a new study on the “Global Terror Insurance Market.” It contains information from...
EQECAT Provides Caribbean Cat Risk Assessment
Jun 12 2007 // Oakland, Calif.-based EQECAT, Inc., a subsidiary of ABSG Consulting, has provided the hurricane and earthquake risk assessment, and the design of the parametric insurance contracts for the formation and operation of the...
Ill. Group Offers New Information on Terrorism Loss Costs, Rating Factors
Jun 12 2007 // Wheaton, Ill.-based the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) recently announced that it will initiate a countrywide filing of new Businessowners (BOP) manual supplements that include new terrorism loss costs...
S.C. Insurance Director Proud of Hurricane Legislation
Jun 8 2007 // On Wednesday the South Carolina House of Representatives agreed to Senate changes to coastal omnibus hurricane legislation, which included extending the notice for homeowners whose insurance would be canceled to 90 days...
Iowa Governor Seeks Federal Aid for Tornado Damage
Jun 7 2007 // Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said he will request federal funds to help eastern Iowa recover from tornadoes that struck last week. Culver said he will seek Presidential Disaster Declarations for Louisa and Muscatine counties,...
S.C. Governor Expected to Sign Hurricane Mitigation Bill
Jun 7 2007 // The South Carolina House has concurred with the Senate on the so-called coastal property omnibus bill and forwarded it to the governor who is expected to sign the legislation. HB 3820 includes a limited expansion of the...
Consumer Group Challenges Fireman’s Fund’s Calif. Earthquake Rates
Jun 6 2007 // Consumer advocates have filed a challenge to block a proposed 25 percent increase in Fireman’s Fund’s earthquake insurance rates in a move that they say could save each of the company’s earthquake...
Aging, Skyscrapers, Malls Place Japan at Higher Risk of Disaster
Jun 6 2007 // Japan’s vulnerability to natural disasters is increasing as skyscrapers mushroom in cities, shopping malls go underground and the population ages, a recent government report said. While earthquakes are a primary...
New Corps Chief Says He’s Committed to Rebuilding New Orleans
Jun 5 2007 // A year after his predecessor acknowledged the Army Corps of Engineers’ responsibility for the catastrophic flooding in Hurricane Katrina, the newly appointed head of the agency toured this still-battered city May 31...
Katrina-Like Storm Could Wipe Out N.C.’s Outer Banks, Experts Warn
Jun 5 2007 // For more than 200 years, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has guided sailors through the “graveyard of the Atlantic” — the shallow shores of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. But not even the nation’s...
Earthquake Rattles New Hampshire Seacoast
Jun 5 2007 // New Hampshire’s Emergency Management Agency says a mild earthquake shook the state’s Seacoast area June 2. Many residents called police to report hearing explosions and authorities were trying to figure out...
