Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

Canada Orders Rail Transport Restrictions in Areas with High Wildfire Risk

Jul 12 2021 // OTTAWA – Canada on Sunday ordered rail transport restrictions for areas where there is a high wildfire risk after a blaze wiped out the town of Lytton, British Columbia, and killed two people earlier this month.The order...

Forecasters Raise Number of Expected Storms for Hurricane Season to 20

Jul 12 2021 // Researchers from Colorado State University boosted their prediction for named tropical storms in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season in a revised forecast issued last Thursday.Colorado State meteorologists predicted 20...

Aftershocks From M6 Earthquake Rattle California, Nevada

Jul 12 2021 // Aftershocks have hit the region between Northern California and Nevada Friday after a magnitude 6 earthquake sent large boulders rolling into highways and knocked smaller items off shelves.The quake shortly before 4 p.m....

Heat Wave Blankets West as Wildfires Rage in Several States

Jul 12 2021 // Firefighters struggled to contain an exploding Northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heat wave blanketed the West, prompting an excessive heat warning for inland and desert areas.Death Valley...

German Cyber-Security Watchdog Confirms Country’s First ‘Cyber-Catastrophe’

Jul 12 2021 // A district council in eastern Germany has declared a disaster after its computer systems were paralyzed by a hacker attack in what the federal cyber-security watchdog confirmed was the country’s first-ever...

Europe, U.S. and Canada Slammed by Record Weather Catastrophes in June: Aon

Jul 12 2021 // June 2021 left Europe with its costliest severe storm period on record. Meanwhile, over in the U.S. in Canada, record-setting heatwaves caused significant damage, according to Aon’s latest natural catastrophe...

Daily Mail in Negotiations to Sell Catastrophe Modeling Subsidiary RMS

Jul 12 2021 // Daily Mail and General Trust Plc (DMGT) said it is in discussions to sell its catastrophe modeling insurance unit, RMS, following a number of third party inquiries.DMGT said discussions are ongoing and there is no...

Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Begins Annual Rate Filing Process

Jul 9 2021 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has begun its annual rate filing process, which will kick off with a July 21 meeting.TWIA’s Actuarial & Underwriting Committee is set to review the rate adequacy analysis...

Tropical Storm Elsa Leaves One Dead in Florida, Several Injured at Georgia Navy Base

Jul 9 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa was carving a destructive and soaking path up the East Coast after killing at least one person in Florida and spinning up a tornado at a Georgia Navy base that flipped recreational vehicles upside-down...

California Seeing More Wildfires So Far Than in Disastrous 2020

Jul 9 2021 // The number of wildfires and amount of land burned in parched California so far this year greatly exceed totals for the same period in the disastrous wildfire year of 2020.Between Jan. 1 and July 4, there were 4,599 fires...

How East States Are Preparing as Tropical Storm Elsa Makes Its Way Northeast

Jul 8 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Florida yesterday and is moving to the Northeast at 20 miles per hour, with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) calling for the storm to sweep over parts of the Northeast...

Weakened Tropical Storm Elsa Mostly Spares Southeast as It Moves Through Carolinas

Jul 8 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa was moving steadily through the Carolinas into the mid-Atlantic region by mid-Thursday, having mostly spared the southeastern states.The National Hurricane Center reported Elsa was about 80 miles...

Washington Governor Declares Wildfire State of Emergency, Burn Ban

Jul 8 2021 // Gov. Jay Inslee this week declared a state of emergency throughout Washington relating to the growing risk of wildfires, including a statewide prohibition on most outdoor and agricultural burning through Sept. 30.“We...

Tropical Storm Elsa to Head into Northeast and New England After Drenching Southeast

Jul 8 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa, which made landfall in Florida yesterday, is dousing the Carolinas and Georgia today and is on track to hit the northeast on Friday.The National Hurricane Center’s forecast calls for Elsa to move...

Tropical Storm Elsa Weakens Over Northern Florida

Jul 7 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa was weakening as it traveled over northern Florida, the National Hurricane Center said.The storm was about 105 miles west of Jacksonville and moving toward the north near 14 mph, according to the...

Following Years of Deadly Wildfires, PG&E Again Vows to Do Better

Jul 7 2021 // The nation’s largest utility has long vowed to change its reckless ways, but year after year there’s more death and destruction from Northern California wildfires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric’s...

Record High Temperatures Hit Nordic Region, Arctic Circle, Adding to Wildfire Dangers

Jul 7 2021 // Record-high temperatures from Canada to Scandinavia and intense wildfires flaring up from California to Russia’s Far East are adding to extreme weather events recorded at the start of the summer in the Northern...

California’s Coming Wildfire Season Points to Potential Non-Renewals Ahead for Homeowners

Jul 6 2021 // By all accounts the California wildfire season continues to shape up to be a bad one, and another catastrophe modeling firm has reported sales of their products picking up due in part to carriers and reinsurers looking for...

Texas Windstorm Insurance Rates Deemed Inadequate

Jul 6 2021 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has posted its 2021 Rate Adequacy Analysis for public review.The analysis indicates that TWIA’s current rates are inadequate by 39% for residential coverage and 46% for...

Update: Tropical Storm Elsa Moving Up Florida’s West Coast; Other States in Path

Jul 6 2021 // Tropical Storm Elsa is moving northward along the west coast of Florida, bringing heavy rains and winds, the National Hurricane Center reports.At 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, Elsa was reported to be about 70 miles west...