natural catastrophes News

Wildfires Encircle Canada’s Oil-Sands City Amid Hot Weather

A ring of wildfires has erupted around Canada’s unofficial oil-sands capital of Fort McMurray, adding new threats to crude production from the world’s third-largest petroleum reserves. Eight out-of-control blazes have been discovered just south and southwest of the city since …

Damage From Hurricane Beryl May Cost Insurers $2.7B in US, $510M in Caribbean: KCC

Insurers in the United States may take a hit of about $2.7 billion from damage caused by Hurricane Beryl, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Thursday. About 1.5 million customers remained without power in Texas on …

Hurricane Beryl Triggers Record Payout for Caribbean Insurer

Hurricane Beryl’s path of destruction through the Caribbean last week triggered a record $44 million payout to the nation of Grenada from a regional catastrophe insurance fund. The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, or CCRIF, said it will be paying …

Caribbean Braces for Economic Punch After Season’s Deadly 1st Hurricane

Leaders across the Caribbean were still tallying the financial toll wrought by the earliest Atlantic storm on record to intensify to the maximum Category 5 level, after it left a trail of destruction on Jamaica and islands of the eastern …

Greece Evacuates Hospital as Wildfire Threatens City of Patra

Greek authorities evacuated a hospital after a wildfire broke out in Patra, the country’s third-biggest city. Firefighters, assisted by planes and helicopters, safely evacuated a hospital and a nursing home, state-run ERT TV reported. The fire destroyed cars and damaged …

Reinsurers’ Appetite Grows During Mid-Year Renewals but Discipline Remains: Brokers

Reinsurance buyers generally saw positive outcomes during the mid-year renewals, finding adequate capacity to meet cedents’ increasing demand for protection — in both property and casualty, according to three renewal reports from reinsurance brokers. “Loss-free property programs generally saw easing …

Catastrophe Bonds Dodge Losses After Beryl Hits Jamaica

Investors in bonds intended to help Jamaica cover the costs of a natural catastrophe won’t be affected by the havoc wrought by Hurricane Beryl, even as the prime minister declares the entire Caribbean island a disaster area. As the earliest …

Beryl Regains Strength, On Track to Reach Texas as Hurricane

Tropical Storm Beryl is gaining strength as it lumbers toward the south Texas coast, and is expected to become a hurricane again before it makes landfall early Monday morning. The storm was about 165 miles (266 kilometers) southeast of Corpus …

Update: Beryl Rakes Mexico’s Yucatan With Hurricane Winds and Heavy Rain

Hurricane Beryl pummeled Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula with tree-toppling gusts and flooding rains, weakening slightly as it came ashore after leaving a trail of destruction through the Caribbean this week. Beryl’s top winds dropped to 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour …

How the Hot Water That Fueled Hurricane Beryl Foretells a Scary Storm Season

Hurricane Beryl’s explosive growth into an unprecedented early whopper of a storm shows the literal hot water the Atlantic and Caribbean are in right now and the kind of season ahead, experts said. Beryl smashed multiple records even before its …