Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

Heat-Related Texas Deaths Climb After Hurricane Beryl Power Outages

Jul 23 2024 // SPRING, Texas (AP) — As the temperature soared in the Houston-area home Janet Jarrett shared with her sister after losing electricity in Hurricane Beryl, she did everything she could to keep her 64-year-old sibling...

World Records Hottest Day While Wildfires Threaten Mediterranean

Jul 23 2024 // The world recorded its hottest ever day, as many parts of the Mediterranean face extreme wildfire risks.Sunday witnessed the highest average temperature on Earth, breaching a previous record set a year ago, according to...

Taiwan’s Earthquake Proves Prevention Really Is the New Solution

Jul 23 2024 // This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.Once in a while, a would-be major catastrophe has a less catastrophic ending than expected. While the April 2024 Taiwan earthquake still took a large toll, including...

Buffett’s PacifiCorp Suspected of Collusion by Wildfire Victims’ Law Firms

Jul 22 2024 // The law firms leading class-action litigation against PacifiCorp over the 2020 Labor Day weekend wildfires in Oregon want to examine whether the utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is colluding with...

Hurricane Beryl Caused Estimated $2-3B in Insured Losses to US Property: Verisk

Jul 19 2024 // Estimated industry insured losses to onshore property from wind in the U.S. for Hurricane Beryl will range between $2 billion to $3 billion, Verisk’s Extreme Event Solutions business unit said.Beryl made landfall...

Allstate Reports Second Quarter Pretax Catastrophe Losses of $2.1B

Jul 19 2024 // Allstate Corp. said it recorded pretax catastrophe losses of about $2.1 billion in the second quarter.The Northbrook, Illinois-based insurer on July 18 said the total included $230 million of pretax catastrophe losses for...

Coalition Asks FEMA to Make Wildfire Smoke, Extreme Heat Eligible for Disaster Funds

Jul 18 2024 // A group of 14 attorney generals has formed a coalition to persuade the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to initiate rulemaking to update its regulations to recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke events as...

Reckitt Sales to Be Hit by Tornado at Indiana Warehouse

Jul 17 2024 // Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc said sales will be affected by a tornado that struck a warehouse in Mount Vernon, Indiana, where it stores products and raw ingredients for its baby formula business.The consumer goods company...

Record Flooding and Tornadoes This Spring In Iowa Caused $130M in Damage

Jul 17 2024 // DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Record flooding and powerful tornadoes ravaged parts of Iowa for weeks this spring, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, closing roads and bridges and costing over $130 million in...

Rebuilding After Hurricanes is Complex, Can Change Character of a Community

Jul 17 2024 // HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Before Hurricane Idalia smashed into a small fishing village in northwestern Florida, Charles Long, 68, was fixing up a two-bedroom house for him and his wife. After the August storm, he...

Hurricane Beryl Caused $2.5-$4.5B in Estimated Insured Losses, Says Moody’s

Jul 16 2024 // U.S. insured losses from Hurricane Beryl will likely fall between $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion, according to estimates by Moody’s RMS Event Response. Insured losses associated with the storm include wind, storm...

Catastrophe Bondholders Sidestep Large Losses From Weather-Related Calamities

Jul 16 2024 // Last month, amid reports that Hurricane Beryl would become the earliest Category 5 hurricane in history, a group of money managers were busy trying to figure out whether their highly calibrated bets centered on natural...

Hawaiian Residents Return Home After Crews Contain Wind-Swept Wildfire

Jul 16 2024 // Firefighters have contained a wind-swept wildfire that was threatening about 200 homes on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, authorities said late Monday night, and an evacuation notice for the area has been lifted.The fire...

CenterPoint Sued Over Hurricane Beryl Power Outages in Houston

Jul 16 2024 // A group of Houston restaurants that lost power for days after Hurricane Beryl sued the city’s main utility, accusing CenterPoint Energy Inc. of failing to adequately invest in infrastructure and respond to widespread...

Beryl’s Remnants Spawned 4 Indiana Tornadoes, Including an EF-3: NWS

Jul 15 2024 // MOUNT VERNON, Ind. (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Beryl spawned at least four tornadoes in Indiana, including an EF-3 twister with winds as high as 140 mph (225 kph) that tore through a small city in the state’s...

Texans Endure Second Week Without Power After Hurricane Beryl

Jul 15 2024 // CHANNELVIEW — Juan Piñón’s long-sleeve black shirt and forest green pants were soaked. He used a shovel to scrape concrete mix out of a blue wheelbarrow and throw it on the ground.The 43-year-old construction...

Growing Southern California Wildfire Threatening 4,100 Structures

Jul 15 2024 // Evacuation orders and warnings are in place for roughly 4,200 people due to a growing wildfire in southern California that is threatening 4,100 structures.The Shelly Fire in Siskiyou County is now 15,232 acres and is 3%...

A Troubling Phrase: ‘Just a Category 1 Hurricane’

Jul 15 2024 // Here’s a troubling phrase hurricane forecasters hate but often hear: “It’s just a Category 1. Nothing to worry about.”Or even worse: “Tropical storm? Just some wind and rain.” But look...

Hurricane Beryl: Insurers See Minimal Impact, Brace for Active Season

Jul 12 2024 // Insurers’ losses from Hurricane Beryl will be “low and readily absorbed” and the storm is not expected to change pricing conditions in the property/casualty and reinsurance sectors, Moody’s Ratings...

Hurricane Beryl’s Remnants Spawn Severe Storms in Midwest and Northeast

Jul 12 2024 // INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Beryl dropped tornadoes and threatened flooding Wednesday as the system churned into Canada and the northeastern U.S. after leaving millions in the Houston area without...