Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insured Losses from March Tornadoes in Mo. Hit $394 Million
Apr 12 2006 // As state and federal teams assess damage from last week’s severe storms, losses from earlier storms and tornadoes are becoming clear, according to an Associated Press news account. The first round of severe weather...
Florida Senate’s Insurance Fix Hinges on Changes to Citizens
Apr 10 2006 // Owners of homes worth more than $1 million could continue to get hurricane coverage from state-run Citizens Property Insurance until 2011, but would pay a 25 percent surcharge for their coverage under a measure approved...
‘Tornado-like’ Storms Sweep Through Atlanta’s Suburbs
Apr 10 2006 // Storms swept through the Atlanta area early Saturday morning, causing “tornado-like” damage to homes and businesses in densely-populated suburbs, state officials said. Authorities said the storms damaged homes...
Insurance Industry on Solid Financial Footing, But Overall Results Mask Problems in Certain Lines, Locations
Apr 10 2006 // The property/casualty insurance industry will report an increase in its capital base and an overall profitable performance in 2005, enabling it to meet the insurance needs of the growing U.S. economy, according to...
Fla. Senate Looks for Ways to Solve Property Insurance Problems
Apr 7 2006 // With thousands of Floridians reeling from huge property insurance premium spikes as yet another hurricane season approaches, a Senate panel began discussion Wednesday of ways to fix what many say is a broken hurricane...
S&P Announces Revision in Assessing P/C Cat Risks
Apr 7 2006 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised its criteria for measuring the catastrophe risk of primary P/C insurance companies, according to an article published today. The article, which is...
Miss. Kicks Off 2006 Hurricane Awareness Program
Apr 7 2006 // Local, state and federal officials have joined Governor Haley Barbour in announcing an eight-week informational campaign to help make Mississippians more aware of how to protect themselves as the 2006 hurricane season...
S&P Revises Outlook on Global Reinsurers to Stable; Teleconference Scheduled for Today
Apr 6 2006 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised its outlook on the global reinsurance industry to stable from negative, “indicating that there will be little near-term movement in ratings...
Thousands of Claims Anticipated After Tenn., Ky. Tornado
Apr 6 2006 // The cleanup is underway in the aftermath of a large F-3 to F-4 tornado that tore a swath of death and destruction on Sunday evening through northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky, leaving 18 people dead and hundreds...
La. Bill Aims to Protect Post-Hurricane Volunteers From Lawsuits
Apr 6 2006 // Doctors who volunteer post-hurricane medical help in Louisiana need extra protection against malpractice lawsuits, a Louisiana House of Representatives committee decided April 4. Rep. Sidney Mae Durand said doctors from...
Consumer Groups Allege Insurance Wind Models More Politics Than Science
Apr 6 2006 // Risk Management Solutions has defended its hurricane risk models in the face of consumer groups’ criticisms that the models are more political than they are scientific and that they are designed to justify insurance...
Declining Rates, Increasing Demand Fuel Stand-Alone Terrorism Market
Apr 6 2006 // With the exception of a few notorious hotspots, overall rates for stand-alone terrorism insurance have dropped by 40-50 percent since 2002, according to an update on the market by Aon’s Crisis Management Division....
Cleanup Begins After Storms Demolish Scores of Ark. Homes
Apr 5 2006 // Cheryl Ward stood next to her demolished house in Marmaduke, Ark., and put things in perspective. “None of this means anything when you’ve got one kid and your kid is safe,” she said. Nearly two-thirds of...
Top Meterologist Predicts 17 Named Storms Will Form in Atlantic Basin
Apr 4 2006 // A well-known meteorologist is predicting that 17 named storms will form in the Atlantic Basin during the 2006 hurricane season, and the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season will be much more active than the average 1950-2000...
Insurers Well-Braced for Next Big California Earthquake
Apr 3 2006 // When the next big earthquake strikes California, it’s unlikely to hurt the insurance industry as much as the last one did. The nation’s largest property insurers curtailed their exposure to California quakes a...
Alabama, Nebraska Receive $1.2M Hurricane Counseling Grants
Apr 3 2006 // Alabama and Nebraska have been awarded $1.2 million for crisis counseling assistance in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, according to Charles Curie, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental...
The Olympic Games began and ended without incident… but what if they had been cancelled?
Apr 3 2006 // While Italians sadly said farewell to the Torino 2006 XX Olympic Winter Games, held Feb. 10-26, insurers are happy the event came and went without a hitch. For the first time, the International Olympic Committee purchased...
TDI’s Selden explains department’s high tech, high touch approach
Apr 3 2006 // Texas Department of Insurance Senior Associate Commis-sioner for Consumer Affairs Audrey Selden had a good news/bad news story for the insurance industry when she spoke at the Austin Insurance Day, sponsored in early March...
WHISTLEBLOWER HELPING IN HURRICANE KATRINA LAWSUIT
Apr 3 2006 // A high-profile litigator in Moss Point, Miss., said a whistleblower is helping him build a case against insurers that allegedly denied thousands of claims from policyholders whose homes were destroyed in Hurricane...
Hurricane Fatigue
Apr 3 2006 // While homeowners and businesses can physically pickup the pieces following a natural disaster, mending the hearts and minds of those in the field is not so easy. Four industry CEOs recently described the emotional impact...
