Latest Natural Disasters Headlines

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

Allstate Swings to $1.16 Billion Gain in 3rd Quarter with Fewer Hurricanes

Oct 19 2006 // Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate Corp., the second-largest U.S. personal-lines insurer behind State Farm, reported a $1.16 billion third-quarter profit Wednesday as it benefited from a quiet hurricane season. The company...

Hurricane Center Identifies 10 Most Hurricane Vulnerable Areas

Oct 18 2006 // The entire East and Gulf Coasts are subject to hurricane impacts, but some areas are much more vulnerable than others. Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, director of the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida...

Calif. State Fund to Hold Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Seminar

Oct 18 2006 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund is partnering with the California Department of Health Services to offer a free seminar to policyholders and the public on October 19 in Monterey Park, Calif., that will...

Inspectors Check for Damage after Hawaii’s 6.6 Magnitude Earthquake

Oct 17 2006 // Officials began inspecting bridges and roads across Hawaii yesterday, following the strongest earthquake to rattle the islands in more than two decades, a 6.6-magnitude quake that caused blackouts and landslides but no...

Maritime Terrorism Risk Extends to Cruise Ships, Ferry Boats, Study Says

Oct 16 2006 // Cruise ships and ferry boats need more protection against terrorist attacks that could kill and injure many passengers and cause serious financial losses, according to a new RAND Corporation report. “Attacks on...

Hawaii Feels 6.6 Level Earthquake

Oct 16 2006 // The island of Hawaii, Hawaii, felt temblors from a 6.7 magnitude earthquake on Sunday, according to the National Earthquake Center of the U.S. Geological Survey. According to reports shortly after the quake, there were...

Fla. Gubernatorial Candidates Offer Hurricane Fund Proposals

Oct 12 2006 // If he is elected governor, Florida homeowners would see lower property insurance rates as soon as next year and a guarantee of at least partial coverage by the state, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jim Davis said this...

Hurricane Risk Reduces Prospective Profit of Homeowners Insurance

Oct 11 2006 // Increases in homeowners insurance rates have not been sufficient thus far to provide an adequate return on equity on homeowners insurance, making further increases necessary, according to an analysis by Aon Re, the...

Insurance damage price tag on New Mexico hailstorm tops $10 million

Oct 9 2006 // More than 2,200 auto claims and approximately 950 homeowner claims have been filed due to a hailstorm in southern New Mexico, an insurance industry association said. Pea to golf ball sized-hailstones battered Las Cruces,...

Hawaii to teach homeowners about hurricane retrofits

Oct 9 2006 // Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Insurance Division has created a new Web site: www.hurricaneretrofits.hawaii.gov, which details the State’s Loss Mitigation Grant Program for Hawaii...

Finding a solution to natural disaster insurance

Oct 9 2006 // In 2005, our country faced several devastating and record-setting natural disasters that left the lives of many Americans in ruins, and roiled the insurance marketplace and the nation’s overall economy. Estimates for...

Terrorism insurance market hits federal radar

Oct 9 2006 // Two new federal reports have found that the long-term development of the private terrorism insurance market remains at best uncertain due to the unpredictable nature of terrorist attacks. Both reports acknowledged that a...

Finding a solution to natural disaster insurance

Oct 9 2006 // In 2005, our country faced several devastating and record-setting natural disasters that left the lives of many Americans in ruins, and roiled the insurance marketplace and the nation’s overall economy. Estimates for...

Insurance damage price tag on New Mexico hailstorm tops $10 million

Oct 9 2006 // More than 2,200 auto claims and approximately 950 homeowner claims have been filed due to a hailstorm in southern New Mexico, an insurance industry association said. Pea to golf ball sized-hailstones battered Las Cruces,...

Terrorism insurance market hits federal radar

Oct 9 2006 // Two new federal reports have found that the long-term development of the private terrorism insurance market remains at best uncertain due to the unpredictable nature of terrorist attacks. Both reports acknowledged that a...

Catlin’s CEO Assesses ‘Benign’ Hurricane Season

Oct 5 2006 // Stephen Catlin, the chief executive of international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer Catlin Group Limited, Forecast a decline in premiums for non-catastrophe exposed classes of insurance and reinsurance,...

Report Says Hurricanes Turned La. Marshland Into Open Water

Oct 5 2006 // New estimates on wetlands loss from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita show that the storms turned 217 square miles of coastal marsh in Louisiana into open water, according to U.S. Geological Survey report. The agency released...

Updated Atlantic Hurricane Forecast Indicates Below-Average Activity

Oct 5 2006 // Colorado State University hurricane expert William Gray downgraded his forecast for the 2006 Atlantic storm season again this week, predicting one more hurricane, two more named storms but no intense hurricanes. The new...

Banking and Insurance Execs to Spend More for Anti-Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing Compliance

Oct 4 2006 // Banking and insurance executives overwhelmingly plan to spend more, especially on staff, to help strengthen their anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing compliance programs, according to new research by the...

Treasury Report on Terrorism Insurance Says Backstop Negatively Affects Private Capacity

Oct 3 2006 // A new federal report has found that the long-term development of the private terrorism insurance market remains at best uncertain due to the unpredictable nature of terrorist attacks. The President’s Working Group on...