Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

After Deadly Oklahoma Tornado, Storms Bring Twisters to Midwest

May 9 2024 // DETROIT (AP) — Severe storms battered the Midwest on Tuesday, unleashing a curtain of heavy rain, gusty winds and tornadoes throughout the region a day after a deadly twister ripped through a small Oklahoma town and...

Tornadoes in Tennessee, North Carolina Kill Three, Damage Properties

May 9 2024 // High winds, hail, heavy rain and tornadoes battered Southern states from Alabama to North Carolina Wednesday and Thursday morning, leaving three people dead and hundreds of properties with heavy damage.USA Today, CNN and...

Typhoon Season in Northwest Pacific Seen Less Active Than Normal

May 8 2024 // Typhoon activity in the Northwest Pacific region is expected to be about 20% below normal this year, forecaster Tropical Storm Risk said in its first outlook of the season.The London-based group said it expects 15...

Maui Sues Cell Carriers Over Failure of Wildfire Warning Alerts During Outage

May 8 2024 // Had emergency responders known about widespread cellphone outages during the height of last summer’s deadly Maui wildfires, they would have used other methods to warn about the disaster, county officials said in a...

New $20M Coverage for California Commercial Property E&S Risks in Wildfire Areas

May 8 2024 // Wildfire Defense Insurance Services is offering a $20 million excess and surplus commercial property coverage for E&S risks in wildfire prone areas of California.The coverage is for total insured value up to $20...

The Top 15 U.S. Metros with High Exposure to Wildfire Risk

May 7 2024 // The number of wildfires per year is going down, but the increasing size and intensity of the fires is creating more property damage than ever before – in fact, the average fire size has tripled over the past 30 years, a...

M4.1 Earthquake Shook Parts of Los Angeles Area: USGS

May 2 2024 // A magnitude 4.1 earthquake shook parts of the Los Angeles Area, including the cities of Corona, Anaheim, and Santa Ana on at 1:49 p.m. local time on the afternoon of Wednesday, the USGS confirmed. The epicenter was in the...

1 Person Killed, Homes Destroyed After Tornado Rips NE Kansas

May 2 2024 // WESTMORELAND, Kan. (AP) — One person died Tuesday when a tornado ripped through the small city of Westmoreland in northeastern Kansas, destroying houses, RVs and outbuildings, authorities said.Pottawatomie County...

AIG Profit Exceeds Expectations on Lower Catastrophe Losses

May 2 2024 // American International Group Inc. (AIG) reported profit above analysts’ estimates in the first quarter as lower-than-expected catastrophe losses contributed to strong underwriting results.Adjusted earnings for the...

Growing Wildfire Risk Leaves States Grappling With How to Keep Insurers From Fleeing

May 1 2024 // Months after a catastrophic fire burned more than 2,200 homes in Hawaii, some property owners are getting more bad news—their property insurance won’t be renewed because their insurance company has deemed the risk...

Tornadoes Damaged 7,200 Residential Properties, Left $2B in Reconstruction Costs

May 1 2024 // The tornadoes that ripped through parts of Nebraska, Iowa and Oklahoma late last week damaged some 7,200 homes, leaving a reconstruction tab of $2.1 billion, according to CoreLogic, the data analytics firm.Some 127...

Warren Buffett’s PacifiCorp Now Faces $30B Claim Demand in Oregon Wildfires

May 1 2024 // Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s PacifiCorp now faces a demand for $30 billion from victims of Oregon’s 2020 Labor Day wildfires, an escalation of a legal onslaught on the largest grid operator in the western US.While...

Tornadoes Kill 4 in Oklahoma, Leaving Trail of Destruction

Apr 30 2024 // SULPHUR, Okla. (AP) — Tornadoes killed four people in Oklahoma, including an infant, and left thousands without power Sunday after a destructive outbreak of severe weather flattened buildings in the heart of one rural...

Tornado in Southern China Kills 5 People, Damages Factories in City of Guangzhou

Apr 30 2024 // A tornado struck the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Saturday, killing five people and damaging more than 140 factory buildings, state media said.The China Meteorological Administration said the tornado struck about...

Parts of US Gulf Coast Face Possible Tornadoes: Weather Watch

Apr 29 2024 // States across the US Gulf Coast are bracing for possible tornadoes as certain parts of the region face a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms, according to the US Storm Prediction Center.Severe thunderstorm warnings and...

Multiple Tornadoes Hit Nebraska and Iowa, Leaving Trails of Damage

Apr 28 2024 // OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday, damaging hundreds of homes and other structures as it tore for miles along farmland and into subdivisions. Some injuries were reported but...

New Jersey Forest Service Says 510-Acre Wharton Wildfire Is 100% Contained

Apr 25 2024 // The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said it has reached 100% containment of a 510-acre wildfire in the area of Jackson Rd. in Wharton State Forest.The fire burned in both Waterford Twp, Camden County and Shamong Twp,...

Markets/Coverages: Ariel Re and Hiscox Re & ILS Launch Cyber Catastrophe Consortium

Apr 25 2024 // Re/insurer Ariel Re and Hiscox Re & ILS, the reinsurance and insurance linked securities arm of insurer Hiscox, announced the launch of CyberShock, a cyber catastrophe consortium.The CyberShock consortium is designed...

SageSure and SURE Close $130 Million Gateway Re 2024-2 Catastrophe Bond

Apr 25 2024 // SageSure, a managing general underwriter focused on catastrophe-exposed markets, and SureChoice Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (“SURE”), a policyholder-owned reciprocal exchange, announced the close of the...

Catastrophe Monitoring Firm ICEYE Completes $93 Million Funding Round

Apr 24 2024 // ICEYE, the microsatellite manufacturer and catastrophe monitoring company, announced definitive agreement signed for an oversubscribed $93 million growth funding round.The financing will further accelerate investment in...