Latest Catastrophe Headlines

All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Claims From Isabel Expected to Approach $1 Billion

Sep 22 2003 // U.S. insurers are likely to pay out close to $1 billion to help people whose homes, businesses and personal possessions were damaged by Hurricane Isabel, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) The storm,...

RMS Estimates Industry Losses of $500M from Hurricane Isabel

Sep 18 2003 // Risk Management Solutions (RMS) projected that Hurricane Isabel could cause insured losses in the $500 million range if the storm continues on its current track toward Cape Lookout in North Carolina. If the storm makes...

Terrorism Still a Concern, Alliance Says

Sep 18 2003 // Insurers must begin planning now for the expiration of a federal terrorism insurance backstop program, even though there’s no guarantee that reinsurance will be available if the federal backstop is allowed to expire...

Check Home Cover in Path of Isabel

Sep 17 2003 // Property owners on the Atlantic seaboard who are bracing themselves for Hurricane Isabel should check their insurance coverage and take some basic precautions to secure their homes or businesses, advised the National...

The Hartford Details Hurricane Safety Precautions

Sep 16 2003 // The Hartford Financial Services Group has issued a bulletin warning home and business owners to take precautionary steps to prevent injury and minimize potential damage from Hurricane Isabel, which may threaten states...

85 Reported Dead, 30 Missing as Typhoon Strikes South Korea

Sep 15 2003 // Typhoon Maemi struck the Southeast corner of South Korea on Friday night with deadly consequences. The most powerful storm to hit the peninsula since records have been kept packed winds up to 134 mph (215 kph) and struck...

PartnerRe Weathers Hurricane Fabian

Sep 15 2003 // Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd. has issued a bulletin giving details on the impact of Hurricane Fabian, a Category 3 storm which hit the island on Friday, Sept. 5, 2003, with winds in excess of 140 mph (225 kmh), causing an...

Insurers Sue Terror Supporters for 9/11 Losses

Sep 10 2003 // Dozens of insurance companies, acting as members of five large insurance groups—Chubb, American Re, Zurich American, One Beacon and Crum & Forster—have filed a lawsuit in two cities against Al Qaida and other...

Hurricane Isabel Now a Category 4 Storm

Sep 10 2003 // While Fabian has departed, his sister Isabel now poses a new threat. Currently located in the mid-Atlantic, about 875 miles (1410 kms) East-Northeast of the Leeward Islands, Isabel is a category 4 hurricane with sustained...

RMS Reconnaissance Team Preparing to Assess Damage in Bermuda

Sep 9 2003 // California-based Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk, was preparing to send a reconnaissance team to Bermuda to assess the damage caused by Hurricane...

Four Missing as Fabian Slams Bermuda-Strongest Hurricane in 50 Years

Sep 8 2003 // Hurricane Fabian, a monster of a storm, packing winds of 120 mph (192 kph), slammed full force into Bermuda on Friday night, uprooting trees, downing power lines and causing extensive structural damage. Four people were...

Gov. Bush Sees Hope for Industry in Florida and Nationally

Sep 8 2003 // From medical malpractice to workers’ compensation, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush {R} has been working with insurance industry leaders to solve problems in the Sunshine State during his two terms in office. The issues in...

Gov. Bush Sees Hope for Industry in Florida and Nationally

Sep 8 2003 // From medical malpractice to workers’ compensation, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has been working with insurance industry leaders to solve problems in the Sunshine State during his two terms in office. The issues in...

Bermuda Braces for Hurricane Fabian

Sep 5 2003 // The latest advisory bulletin from Miami’s National Hurricane Center warns “powerful hurricane Fabian [is] taking aim at Bermuda,” and a “hurricane warning remains in effect” for the...

NYSID, ELANY Guidance on Terrorism Coverage Sets 25% Limit

Sep 5 2003 // The New York State Insurance Department announced that it has concluded a cooperation agreement with the Excess Lines Association of New York (ELANY), a member of an industry coalition, which will set standards by which...

Powerful Atlantic Hurricane Forms

Sep 2 2003 // A powerful hurricane with the somewhat unlikely name of “Fabian” is currently roiling the waters of the mid-Atlantic. The storm, located about 335 miles (540 kms) east-northeast of Barbuda in the Northern...

RMS Provides Risk Analysis for $100 Million Taiwan Earthquake Pool

Aug 28 2003 // Newark, Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions, a leading provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk, announced that it has provided the risk analysis for a securitization of insurance risk by...

EQECAT Provides Risk Analysis for Largest Japanese Cat Bond

Aug 21 2003 // Oakland- based EQECAT Inc., a division of ABSG Consulting of Houston, Texas, announced that it has provided the risk analysis for a $470 million bond consisting of three individual tranches covering potential losses from...

Losses from Tropical Storm Bill Estimated at Almost $22M

Aug 19 2003 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley announced that new and final estimates by the state’s Department of Insurance show Tropical Storm Bill caused nearly $22 million in insured damages in...

Collins Associates’ Grant to Speak on Terrorism Reinsurance at Society of Actuaries Conference

Aug 18 2003 // Reinsurance brokerage provider John B. Collins Associates announced that Jim Grant, senior vice president, will speak on Terrorism Reinsurance for Health at the Society of Actuaries’ Valuation Actuary Symposium in...