Latest Natural Disasters Headlines
All the headlines from our Natural Disasters Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wildfire Injuries, Deaths on Rise in Georgia, Other Southern States
Aug 17 2006 // Wildfire-related injuries and fatalities are on the rise this season in Georgia and some other states, with sprawling suburban growth, dry conditions and changes in land-use patterns contributing to the problem. With urban...
Floridians Flock to Get Home Hurricane-Preparedness Inspections
Aug 17 2006 // Florida homeowners on Aug. 15 flocked to a new state program that offers free hurricane-preparedness inspections and grants to help cover the cost of improvements. More than 3,500 people applied online within hours after...
State Farm Trying to Improve its Image After Hurricane Katrina
Aug 16 2006 // Representatives of State Farm Insurance Co. are on a media tour in Mississippi to give a more positive image to the company as it and others in the industry fend off lawsuits filed in the aftermath of Hurricane...
FEMA to Repay Nearly $56M to Texas for Hurricane Costs
Aug 16 2006 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse an additional $55.89 million to Houston and the Texas Department of Public Safety for costs associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, officials said. Houston will...
Average Insurance Premiums Remain Flat in Q2 Except in Hurricane Regions
Aug 16 2006 // According to the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc.’s RIMS Benchmark Survey, commercial insurance premiums were flat to slightly lower in the second quarter of this year compared to the prior year. The RIMS...
Arizona Puts the Heat on Insurers for Wildfire Protection
Aug 15 2006 // As wildfire season stretches across the Western states from June through September, Christina Urias, director of the Arizona Department of Insurance, has lit a fire under agents and insurers to work with their clients to...
Typhoon Saomai Kills 214; $1.4 Billion Damage Estimated
Aug 14 2006 // Authorities now put the death toll from Typhoon Saomai, which struck the southeastern coast of China last week, at 214. The storm, which came ashore near Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province on Thursday, Aug. 10, packed winds in...
Insurers in Louisiana Agree to Extend Hurricane Lawsuit Deadline
Aug 14 2006 // Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon says nearly all of Louisiana’s homeowners insurance companies, including State Farm and Allstate, have complied with his order to extend the prescriptive period for policyholders...
Powerful Typhoon Kills 83 in China
Aug 11 2006 // The most powerful typhoon to hit China in five decades raged across its southeastern coast Thursday, claiming at least 83 lives as it capsized ships, destroyed buildings and forced 1.5 million people from their...
Hawaii Seeking Comments on Hurricane Retrofits
Aug 9 2006 // Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Jeffrey Schmidt is preparing to establish a program to provide grants for hurricane retrofits, otherwise known as wind resistive devices. The draft performance specifications for the wind...
Florida offers grants to encourage hurricane damage mitigation
Aug 7 2006 // Florida’s Department of Financial Services is working out the details of a program offering grants of up to $5,000 to homeowners who take steps to mitigate hurricane damages. Individual matching grants of up to...
Congressional hearing held on terrorism and insurance
Aug 7 2006 // Agents, risk managers and insurers press Congress for long-term TRIA solution Two U.S. House subcommittees–the Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Oversights and Investigation, and the Homeland Security...
Congressional hearing held on terrorism and insurance
Aug 7 2006 // News Currents Two U.S. House subcommittees-the Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Oversights and Investigation, and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk...
Post-Hurricane Population Count Under Way in New Orleans
Aug 3 2006 // A door-to-door population count is being conducted in parishes hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina to get a handle on how many people remain in the area. The survey covers Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Orleans...
Oregon Offers Insurance Wildfire Summit Workshops
Aug 1 2006 // The Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon Office of State Fire Marshall, in partnership with Allstate and State Farm, is hosting Insurance Wildfire Summit workshops. Sessions will be held from 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. on...
Hannover Re $150 Million Cat Bond Covers European Windstorm Risks
Aug 1 2006 // Germany’s Hannover Re announced that Eurus Ltd., a special purpose vehicle, has issued a CAT bond with a volume of $150 million, giving the reinsurer windstorm protection with immediate effect for a term of...
Indonesia Taking Steps to Reduce Tsunami Casualties
Jul 30 2006 // Indonesia plans to build elevated safety zones in low-lying coastal areas to help reduce casualties in the event of another tsunami, a government official said. Concrete walls or artificial hills will be created in resort...
La. Wants Hurricane Law Suit Extension Issue Settled in State Court
Jul 28 2006 // Louisiana plans to fight attempts by Allstate Corp. to have a federal court determine if new laws giving homeowners two years to file lawsuits against their insurers is legal. Allstate filed a suit July 20 asking U.S....
Allstate Says it Can Drop Basic Hurricane Coverage in La.
Jul 26 2006 // Allstate Insurance Co. officials say Louisiana state law allows the company to drop basic hurricane coverage for 30,000 policyholders in 18 coastal parishes – a stand that state Insurance Commission Jim Donelon is...
Congressional Hearing Meets on ‘Terrorism and the Insurance Market’
Jul 25 2006 // Two U.S. House subcommittees — the Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Oversights and Investigation, and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk...
