Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

15 Homes Evacuated as Crews Battle Another Wildfire in New Jersey

Nov 8 2024 // The latest forest fire to break out in New Jersey spurred authorities to evacuate more than a dozen homes Wednesday as crews worked to contain the blaze, but no injuries or property damage has been reported.The New Jersey...

Liberty Mutual Quadruples Q3 Net Income Despite Catastrophe Losses

Nov 7 2024 // Liberty Mutual Holding Company said consolidated third quarter net income more than quadrupled to $897 million compared to $215 million during the same period a year ago.Catastrophe losses remained elevated at nearly $1.1...

Zurich’s Exposure to Hurricanes Helene, Milton Below $360M as Catastrophe Losses Rise

Nov 7 2024 // Zurich Insurance Group said on Thursday that its exposure to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which recently wreaked havoc in the United States, would be less than $360 million, as insurers face increasing losses from natural...

About 17% of Gulf of Mexico Oil Production Shut Due to Hurricane Rafael

Nov 7 2024 // About 17% of crude oil production and 7% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was shut in response to Hurricane Rafael, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Wednesday.Energy producers...

AIG CEO Zaffino on Approach to Catastrophe Losses in Today’s Reinsurance Market

Nov 6 2024 // American International Group CEO Peter Zaffino said he expects the reinsurance market’s attachment points to remain on top of losses generated by the frequency and severity of natural catastrophes.Losses will instead...

Finland Records First Hurricane-Force Winds Off West Coast

Nov 5 2024 // Finland’s coastal waters were hit by hurricane-force winds for the first time, as more extreme weather batters Europe.Storm Lyly brought an average wind speed of 33.5 meters per second on Friday to Kylmapihlaja, off...

Malibu Retrofit at $300,000 Shows Limits of Wildfire-Prepping

Nov 5 2024 // Evelin Weber and her neighbors fled their Malibu homes as the deadly Woolsey Fire tore across the California coast in 2018. Ever since, haunted by fears of another blaze, she’s spent $300,000 on fireproofing her...

Severe Storms and Tornadoes Hit Oklahoma, Leaving 11 Hospitalized

Nov 5 2024 // OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Severe storms and tornadoes battered Oklahoma early Sunday, tossing cars and ripping roofs off buildings in the middle of the night and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without...

Will People Leave Florida After Hurricanes? History Suggests Not

Nov 4 2024 // ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The news rippled through Treasure Island, Florida, almost like a third storm: The mayor planned to move off the barrier island a month after Hurricane Helene flooded tens of thousands of homes along...

Hawaii Attorney General Probe into Deadly Wildfire Won’t Lead to Criminal Charges

Nov 4 2024 // An investigation by the Hawaii attorney general’s office into the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, which destroyed most of the historic town of Lahaina, won’t lead to any criminal charges.Hawaii...

Claims From Hurricane Milton Continue to Rise in Florida

Nov 4 2024 // Two weeks after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, as a Category 3 storm, claims and loss totals continue to rise. As of Oct. 21, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said carriers reported more...

Regional Banks With Florida Operations Brace for Loan Defaults After Hurricanes

Nov 1 2024 // Several regional lenders allocated loan-loss provisions in the third quarter to cover potential defaults by borrowers grappling with recent hurricanes, primarily in Florida, highlighting the risks extreme weather and...

Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits Taiwan as Shanghai Braces for Downpour

Oct 31 2024 // Typhoon Kong-Rey made landfall in Taiwan packing dangerous winds, with Shanghai bracing for the heaviest November rain burst since 1981 as the large storm tracks toward mainland China.Kong-Rey had maximum sustained winds...

Aerospace Startup Partners With NASA, USGS to Monitor Wildfires, Storms From Space

Oct 31 2024 // Aerospace startup Sceye has partnered with NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to deploy climate management tools to monitor wildfires and storms from the edge of space, the company and the government agencies exclusively...

Allstate Turns in Net Income of $1.2B After Q3 Hurricanes

Oct 31 2024 // Allstate Corp. said its net income attributable to common shareholders for the third quarter was about $1.2 billion compared to a loss of $41 million during the same time a year ago.The Northbrook, Illinois-based insurer...

Update: Taiwan to Suspend Stock Trading Due to Super Typhoon Kong-Rey

Oct 30 2024 // Taiwan will suspend trading on its $2.5 trillion stock exchange Thursday as a powerful typhoon barrels toward the archipelago.Super Typhoon Kong-Rey has intensified as it skirts the Philippines and tracks toward Taiwan,...

Global Natural Catastrophe Insured Losses Exceed $102B During Q1-Q3 2024: Aon

Oct 29 2024 // The third quarter of 2024 saw a significant number of natural disaster events, which drove year-to date economic losses above at least $258 billion and insured losses of at least $102 billion, according to Aon plc in its...

Program Uses AI to Send Cash Payments to 1,000 Households Hit by Hurricanes

Oct 29 2024 // Nearly 1,000 hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will benefit this week from a new disaster aid program that employs a model not commonly used by philanthropy in the United States: Giving people...

Delta Sues CrowdStrike Over ‘Catastrophic’ Software Glitch

Oct 29 2024 // Delta Air Lines Inc. sued cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. over the chaos caused this summer by a “catastrophic” software update that disabled millions of computers worldwide and grounded much of...

Washington Commissioner: Most Homes in 2023 Wildfire Were Underinsured

Oct 29 2024 // An analysis of the claims paid out after the Gray and Oregon Road fires in Washington last year found that most of the homes destroyed were underinsured.The fires destroyed 366 homes, burning more than 20,000 acres outside...