Latest Natural Disasters Headlines

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

TDI: Nearly 670K Property Insurance Claims Generated in Texas by Hurricane Harvey

Feb 19 2018 // Hurricane Harvey resulted in nearly 670,000 in combined personal and commercial property insurance claims to private insurers, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) and the Texas Fair Access to Insurance...

Europe’s Windstorm Burglind (aka Eleanor) Estimated to Cost $802.5M: PERILS

Feb 16 2018 // Initial insured losses for Extratropical Cyclone Burglind (also known as Eleanor) are estimated at €643 million (US$802.5 million), according to PERILS, the Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide...

UK’s Pool Re Launches Terrorism Risk Assessment Tool to Help Insureds Cut Premiums

Feb 14 2018 // Pool Re, the UK terrorism reinsurer, announced the launch of the Vulnerability Self-Assessment Tool (VSAT). Aimed at medium and large businesses, this tool will enable Pool Re member insurers to offer a 5 percent premium...

Nearly 670K Property Insurance Claims in Texas from Hurricane Harvey: TDI

Feb 13 2018 // Hurricane Harvey resulted in nearly 670,000 in combined personal and commercial property insurance claims to private insurers, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) and the Texas Fair Access to Insurance...

All Types of Disasters Covered at Oklahoma’s National Tornado Summit

Feb 13 2018 // The Oklahoma Insurance Department reports that national experts will share innovative strategies in recovering from tornadoes, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes and more at the 2018 National Tornado Summit to be held in...

Judge Voids Verdict on Arab Bank Liability for Terrorism; Triggers Settlements

Feb 12 2018 // A U.S. appeals court has thrown out a 2014 jury verdict finding Arab Bank Plc liable for knowingly supporting militant attacks in Israel linked to Hamas, a decision that triggers a settlement agreement with hundreds of...

Fracking Earthquakes Pop Up in Unexpected Corner of Oklahoma’s Shale Patch

Feb 9 2018 // The oil prospectors of Oklahoma, it appeared, finally had a solution to their earthquake problem. Ordered by regulators to curb the wastewater they were dumping deep into the ground, they watched with satisfaction as...

AIG’s Doubling of Q4 Loss Pinned on Wildfires, Tax Act

Feb 9 2018 // American International Group reported a net loss of $6.7 billion for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to a net loss of $3.0 billion in the prior-year quarter. The fourth quarter of 2017 net loss included a charge of...

January Windstorms to Cost Europe’s Insurers More Than $2B: Aon

Feb 9 2018 // European windstorms Friederike, Eleanor and Carmen wreaked widespread damage in January, causing insured losses of more than $2 billion, according to a report published by Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s...

U.S. Weather Service Test Became False Tsunami Warning on East Coast

Feb 8 2018 // A tsunami warning was erroneously sent Tuesday to some mobile phones along the East Coast and other coastal locations, less than a month after a false notification of a missile attack in Hawaii was sent by that...

CoreLogic Identifies Flood and Wildfire as the Two Most Destructive Natural Hazards in 2017

Feb 7 2018 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Annual Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis Details 2017 Natural Hazard Events CoreLogic® analyzes and evaluates the number and severity of natural hazard events...

Aon Securities Structures Largest-Ever Earthquake Catastrophe Bond for World Bank

Feb 7 2018 // Aon Securities, the investment banking division of reinsurance intermediary and capital adviser Aon Benfield, has assisted the World Bank in structuring the largest-ever catastrophe bond covering earthquake, which provides...

Thousands of Acres Scorched by Northeastern Oklahoma Wildfires

Feb 5 2018 // Firefighters say wildfires have scorched thousands of acres of dry grasslands in northeastern Oklahoma. Dozens of firefighters fought a grassfire along Oklahoma Highway 20 in Osage County Saturday evening that officials...

American Families Sue Chiquita Over Terrorist Group Killings in Colombia

Feb 5 2018 // The families of six Americans kidnapped and killed in Colombia during the 1990s by the terrorist organization known as FARC are seeking potentially tens of millions of dollars in damages from banana giant Chiquita Brands...

Mississippi to Offer Free Vehicle Inspections of Hurricane-Damaged Vehicles

Feb 5 2018 // The Mississippi Insurance Department (MID) and the Mississippi Collision Repair Association have partnered to protect residents from buying cars damaged by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Officials say thousands of...

Winter Wildfires Scorch Oklahoma

Feb 5 2018 // Firefighters say wildfires have scorched hundreds of acres in western Oklahoma, damaging fences and equipment but causing no injuries. Capt. Forrest Valentine of the Clinton Fire Department said firefighters battled two...

Texas AG Sues Tree Company Over Deadly, Damaging 2011 Wildfire

Feb 5 2018 // Texas is suing a vegetation management company that it alleges caused the 2011 Bastrop County Complex Fire, the most destructive wildfire in Texas history. The lawsuit filed on Jan. 19 by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton...

Report Calls out California Wildfires Among 2017 U.S. Hazards

Feb 5 2018 // CoreLogic’s annual Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis released in late January shows that 2017 was a year of relatively average activity for most U.S. natural hazards with the exception of wildfires in...

Study Finds Oklahoma’s Earthquakes Strongly Linked to Wastewater Injection Depth

Feb 2 2018 // A huge increase in the number of man-made earthquakes in Oklahoma, is strongly linked to the depth at which wastewater from the oil and gas industry is injected into the ground, according to a new study involving the...

Statewide Claims for California Wildfires Reach Nearly $12B

Jan 31 2018 // Insurers have received nearly 45,000 insurance claims totaling more than $11.79 billion in losses from the wildfires that burned across the state in October and December 2017, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones...