All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Jan 7 2020 // The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down in a central Florida community Saturday and caused around $20,000 in damage to city property.The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado traveled a quarter of...
Jan 7 2020 // Firefighters are taking advantage of cooler weather to quell southeastern Australia’s wildfires that have killed at least 24 people and prompted stirring messages from stars at the Golden Globes.Some 130 blazes...
Jan 6 2020 // In a state burdened by billions of dollars in wildfire damage, California lawmakers are hoping for an advance loan before the next climate-fueled catastrophe hits.Lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated state Legislature...
Jan 6 2020 // Pool Re, Britain’s leading terrorism reinsurer, announced it is taking steps to help reduce costs and improve the accessibility of terrorism insurance for businesses in the U.K., in part by expanding the definition...
Jan 6 2020 // The January 2020 reinsurance renewals saw significant variation in pricing and capacity depending on geography, line of business, cedents’ loss record and client relationships, according to two reports published by...
Jan 6 2020 // Exhausted firefighters welcomed cooler weather and patchy rain in blaze-ravaged southeastern Australia Monday after a calamitous few days, even as authorities warn of a return to dangerous conditions later this week.With...
Jan 3 2020 // Optio, the London-based MGA that comprises Ascent Underwriting, Cove Programs and broker Bay Risk Services, announced it has acquired specialist political-violence and terrorism MGA Newbridge Risk Partners from Castel...
Jan 3 2020 // Australia is in the grip of deadly wildfires burning across the country, triggering an emotive debate about the impact of climate change in the world’s driest-inhabited continent. The unprecedented scale of the...
Jan 2 2020 // As massive wildfires devastate swathes of Australia and supercharge the debate over the impact of climate change, government data show the nation has never suffered a hotter or drier year than 2019.The average temperature...
Jan 2 2020 // It almost seemed like there was a major fire or explosion per month at one petrochemical facility or another in the South Central region last year. That’s not really the case, but there were a number of high-profile...
Jan 2 2020 // California wildfires dominated the news in Insurance Journal’s Western region in 2019, despite it being a quiet year relative to two consecutive years of deadly blazes that came before.Three of the year’s top...
Jan 2 2020 // It was a relatively quiet year for the Southeast in terms of major catastrophes compared with 2018 when Hurricane’s Michael and Florence caused major damage in the region. This year, Hurricane Dorian sideswiped the...
Dec 31 2019 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has posted on its website a summary of operational and policy changes that go into effect in 2020 as a result of new laws passed in 2019 by the state’s Legislature.Following...
Dec 31 2019 // Australia’s wildfire crisis intensified on Tuesday as coastal towns across the southeast caught ablaze, forcing thousands of stranded tourists and locals to seek refuge on beaches.Thick black smoke billowing from...
Dec 30 2019 // Typhoon Phanfone killed at least 41 people when it slammed into the central Philippines on Christmas Eve, with dozens still injured or missing, according to the agency which oversees disaster response.The 21st cyclone to...
Dec 30 2019 // Thousands of holiday-makers have evacuated a popular tourist spot in southeast Australia as a heatwave and strong winds fuel wildfires sweeping through the region.But with temperatures hitting 40 degrees Celsius (104...
Dec 27 2019 // Warning sirens failed to sound before a tornado struck a north Alabama community last week, killing two people, but officials said it probably wouldn’t have mattered even if they had.The area where an EF-2 tornado...
Dec 27 2019 // A project that maintains seismic monitoring stations in Alaska needs more funding to continue fully operating, officials said.Scientists, lawmakers and federal agencies are promoting the permanent installation of the...
Dec 27 2019 // The fourth and final insured property loss estimate for the hailstorms that hit the greater Sydney region in December 2018 rose to A$798 million ($553.2 million), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based...
Dec 27 2019 // Providing an annual update of its study of the impact of catastrophic events on global GDP, researchers from the University of Cambridge find that roughly $584 billion could be wiped from the global economy from such...