Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.S. Rep. Taylor Joins Lawsuit Against Mississippi Insurer
Jan 11 2006 // U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., has joined the thousands of Mississippians suing State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., challenging the insurance company’s refusal to cover property losses resulting from Hurricane...
Allstate Announces Rate Hikes Likely in Disaster Prone States
Jan 11 2006 // Allstate Corp. announced this week that customers living in areas hard-hit by hurricanes and other natural disasters, including North Carolina, are likely to see their premiums rise this year as a result of the...
Arson Alleged in Texas Wildfires
Jan 10 2006 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the State Fire Marshal’s office of the Texas Department of Insurance and the Texas Forest Service to...
Wildfire Outbreak in Ark. Forces Evacuations, Destroys Homes
Jan 10 2006 // Arkansas had its first major wildfire outbreak of the season as at least 43 fires blazed statewide, with one 3,000-acre arson fire in Ashley County that destroyed eight structures and forced evacuations still burning as of...
N.Y. State Senator Applauded for Bill Creating State CAT Fund
Jan 10 2006 // New York State Senator Michael Balboni (R-East Williston), a member of the Senate Insurance Committee, was applauded this week by an organization of first responders, emergency management experts, building officials and...
Wills Re Reviews 2005; Analyzes January Renewals
Jan 9 2006 // Willis Re, the reinsurance unit of the Willis Group, has issued a comprehensive report that reviews the current state of the reinsurance market in light of the past 18 months. While emphasizing that the Gulf hurricanes...
I.I.I. Says Record Mississippi Homeowners’ Claim Payments from 2005 Hurricanes
Jan 9 2006 // The record total of homeowners insurance claims payments resulting from the 2005 hurricanes in Mississippi is reportedly enough to wipe out all homeowners premiums paid in the state during the past 17 years. The magnitude...
Miss. Receiving $6.6M to Boost ‘Safe Room’ Program
Jan 9 2006 // In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and amidst the ongoing recovery effort, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and federal officials reported the funding of a $6.6 million grant program to help protect against...
‘EuroTempest’ Introduced to Forecast Potential Windstorm Damage
Jan 6 2006 // A team in the U.K. has produced a new wind damage prediction tool called EuroTempest, designed to provide local damage forecasts for European windstorms. An announcement on the Lloyd’s Website (www.lloyds.com) notes...
La. DOL: Fewer Hurricane-Related Unemployment Claims Being Paid
Jan 6 2006 // The number of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita victims continuing to receive unemployment benefits has dropped by over 100,000 since benefit claims peaked in early November, the Louisiana Department of Labor reported. Some...
Wildfires Decimating Budgets of Okla.’s Rural Fire Departments
Jan 6 2006 // Wildfires that have ravaged more than 350,000 acres across Oklahoma also are taking their toll on the budgets of rural fire departments. Rural volunteer departments this year have received only about one-fourth of their...
$565M Hurricane Prep Plan Budgets for Fla. Housing, Rental Recovery
Jan 6 2006 // Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has unveiled plans to prepare Florida for hurricanes by initiating housing programs to rebuild from past storms and survive future ones. The governor proposed an $808 million legislative agenda which...
U.K. Experts Warn of Continuing, Evolving Global Terrorist Threats
Jan 5 2006 // A leading U.K. intelligence expert and a specialist in terrorist underwriting at Hiscox Plc have warned that the threat of terrorism will not diminish in the year ahead with the continued potential for attacks around the...
FEMA Says Condo Owners Can Apply for Hurricane Wilma Assistance
Jan 5 2006 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency in Orlando, Fla. has reversed its position and is encouraging condominium associations needing financial assistance to repair roofs and other property destroyed or damaged by...
AG Warns Texans About Post-Wildfire Con Artists
Jan 5 2006 // Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott warned Texans who lost homes or other property to recent major wildfires across the state to be alert for unscrupulous operators offering to rebuild or repair fire-damaged...
Analysts Predict Faster P/C Premium Growth, Underwriting Profit in 2006
Jan 5 2006 // Record catastrophe losses will weigh heavily on 2005’s underwriting results, pushing what would have been the industry’s largest underwriting profit ever into a loss situation, according to the Insurance...
Miss. Legislative Sessions Begin, PCI Pushes for Stronger Building Codes
Jan 5 2006 // Enacting and enforcing a strong statewide building code could save billions of dollars in damages from hurricanes and should be among the top priorities of Mississippi lawmakers meeting in Jackson during the 2006...
I.I.I.: Claims in Louisiana Equal to 25 Years of State’s Homeowners Premiums
Jan 5 2006 // The record total of homeowners insurance claims payments resulting from the 2005 hurricanes in Louisiana is enough to wipe out all homeowners premiums paid in the state during the past 25 years, as well as every dollar of...
Minor Earthquake Hits Illinois, Tremors Reported in Indiana, Kentucky
Jan 4 2006 // A minor earthquake hit a small town in southern Illinois yesterday, raising questions again about the threat of a major earthquake for states sitting on or near the New Madrid fault line. The quake struck yesterday at 3:48...
RMS: New TRIA Structure Shifts Risk Burden to Insurance Industry
Jan 4 2006 // Newark, Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions (RMS) recently assessed the risk of terrorism and quantified how the terms of the December 2005 renewal of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) would shift the relative...
