Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Windstorm Liability Limits Increased for Certain Property in Texas
Mar 11 2008 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin recently signed an order increasing the maximum limits of liability from $3,390,000 to $4 million for a commercial or government building insured for wind and hail by the Texas...
AIG Expands Hurricane Service for High Net Worth Clients
Mar 11 2008 // AIG Private Client Group said it will begin offering its Hurricane Protection Unit service to some of it high net worth policyholders in New York, New Jersey and Florida. The service provides a hurricane mitigation...
Study Reports on Costly 2007 Wildfire Season
Mar 10 2008 // With a potential $2.5 billion in insured losses in California alone, last year ranks as one of the costliest wildfire seasons in recent history, according to Risk Management Solutions’ (RMS) and ImageCat Inc.’s...
Storms’ Intensity Remains Tough to Predict, Says U.S. Hurricane Chief
Mar 6 2008 // The new head of the National Hurricane Center says the big challenge for forecasters is predicting the intensity of hurricanes. Bill Read says there’s been a lot of improvement in track models in recent years. But he...
AIR Assesses Damages from European Windstorm Emma
Mar 4 2008 // Boston-based AIR Worldwide is assessing the damages caused by windstorm Emma, which swept across Western and Southern Germany, as well as Austria and the Czech Republic on Saturday, March 1. No damage estimates have yet...
Feds Open Center in Southern Ky. to Help Tornado Victims
Feb 29 2008 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened a center in southern Kentucky about a mile from where a winter storms tore apart homes and killed four people earlier this month. FEMA workers are at a Mobile Disaster...
Ga. Official Says Tornadoes, Storms Caused $15 Million Damage
Feb 29 2008 // Thunderstorms and tornadoes that raced into Georgia from the west Tuesday morning caused about $15 million damage to some 1,300 homes, a state official said Wednesday. Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine earlier estimated...
Earthquake Strikes England; No Deaths Reported, Initial Damages $20 Million
Feb 28 2008 // The British Geological Survey (BGS – http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/) recorded an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 (ML) on the Richter scale near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire at 00:56 GMT, yesterday, Feb. 27. While...
Willis on Middle East Terrorism Insurance
Feb 27 2008 // Willis Group Holdings has released a summation of its presentation on terrorism insurance at the General Arab Insurance Federation (GAIF) conference in Bahrain. The global broker notes: “Despite a number of recent...
Most Utah Homeowners Don’t Buy Earthquake Coverage
Feb 26 2008 // That earthquake in eastern Nevada last week may be a bit of a wake-up call for Utah homeowners. According to the Utah Department of Insurance, most homeowners in the state don’t have coverage for earthquakes. Like...
Virginia Wildfires Drained State Funds
Feb 26 2008 // Two weeks into spring fire season, the Virginia Department of Forestry already has spent its entire 2008 funds for firefighting. Spokesman John Campbell tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch that early estimates suggest the...
Fla. Insurers See Hurricane Insurance Market on the Mend
Feb 25 2008 // The insurance market in Florida is adjusting to changing conditions – some man-made, others resulting from forces of nature – all of which make property insurance for Florida homeowners more available and more...
Tenn. Bears Brunt of February Tornadoes Across South
Feb 24 2008 // More than two dozen tornadoes tore through the mid-South late on Feb. 5, destroying homes, barns, and industrial buildings from Texas to Ohio. The severe thunderstorm outbreak, which included tornadoes, hail, heavy rain...
Lloyd’s Analyzes Southeast Asia Terrorism Threat
Feb 22 2008 // Lloyd’s has warned that businesses operating in Southeast Asia “need to better understand that the Asian terrorism threat is unique, complex and specific to the region.” Lloyd’s and the...
Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake Strikes Northeastern Nevada
Feb 22 2008 // A strong earthquake struck near the northeastern Nevada town of Wells Thursday, causing major structural damage to some older masonry buildings, igniting small fires and bursting windows in homes and businesses. According...
RMS and ImageCat Report on Costly 2007 Wildfire Season
Feb 21 2008 // Risk Management Solutions (RMS) and ImageCat, Inc., issued a joint research report Wednesday on the 2007 U.S. wildfire season. With a potential $2.5 billion in insured losses in California alone, last year ranks as one of...
Inspectors Survey Site of Tornado Damage in Fla. Panhandle
Feb 20 2008 // Inspectors were surveying damage in southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle on Monday from a tornado that destroyed at least seven homes but didn’t cause any reported injuries. Investigators now believe that a...
Conditions Create Wildfire Threat in N.C., 14,000 Acres already Burned
Feb 20 2008 // High winds and low humidity will create critical fire conditions across parts of central and western North Carolina. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday across areas in the...
Earthquake Reported in Southern Okla.
Feb 19 2008 // A magnitude 2.4 earthquake shook southern Oklahoma at 9:41 a.m. on Feb. 15, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey at Leonard. The OGS said the quake’s epicenter was three miles northwest of Caddo in Bryan...
Tornadoes Slam Ala., Adding to Destructive Season Across the Region
Feb 19 2008 // Another wave of tornadoes materialized in the Deep South over the weekend and this time, in Prattville, Ala., several businesses on a commercially populated boulevard were severely damaged, according to a Department of...
