Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

Magnitude 4.0 Earthquake Recorded in Oklahoma

Apr 11 2023 // CARNEY, Okla. (AP) – A magnitude 4.0 earthquake was among a series of six tremors that struck central Oklahoma last Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.No injuries or serious damage were...

Wildfire Threat Grows as Florida Drought Worsens

Apr 11 2023 // The threat of wildfires is growing in Florida over the coming weeks as more than half the state is experiencing severe to extreme drought conditions likely to persist until rainy season resumes around mid-May, state and...

Tornadoes Damage Homes, Kills One Person in Louisville, Kentucky

Apr 10 2023 // The National Weather Service said Thursday it was surveying damage from three EF-1 tornadoes that touched down in Kentucky.According to preliminary information, tornadoes hit the Pleasure Ridge Park and Newburg sections of...

Catastrophe Losses Drive 2021 U.S. P/C Insurer Impairments: AM Best

Apr 10 2023 // Seventeen U.S. property/casualty insurance companies became impaired in 2021, with seven of the impairments driven by catastrophe losses from hurricanes, primarily in Louisiana and Florida, according to an AM Best...

Lawsuit, Adjuster Say UPC Altered Louisiana Estimate After Hurricane Ida

Apr 10 2023 // The practice of insurance companies revising independent adjusters’ damage reports may be as widespread in Louisiana as it is in Florida, according to adjusters and a plaintiffs’ attorney who has filed a...

Amwins Launches Excess Wildfire Product for California Residential Properties

Apr 4 2023 // Amwins Access launched its new Excess Wildfire Product, which is intended to complement a self-insured retention plan or the California FAIR plan or a similar plan.The product is written in partnership with PartnerRe...

NHC Report Ranks Ian as Costliest Florida Hurricane, Shows Forecasting, Storm Surge

Apr 4 2023 // The National Hurricane Center’s report on Hurricane Ian, posted Monday, six months after the storm hit southwest Florida, pegs Ian as the most expensive to hit the Sunshine State, causing twice as much damage as...

The U.S. Leads the World in Weather Catastrophes – Here’s Why

Apr 3 2023 // The United States is Earth’s punching bag for nasty weather.Blame geography for the U.S. getting hit by stronger, costlier, more varied and frequent extreme weather than anywhere on the planet, several experts said....

Residents Across South, Midwest Reel From Pack of Tornadoes That Killed 26

Apr 3 2023 // WYNNE, Ark. (AP) – Residents across a wide swath of the South and Midwest raced to assess the destruction wreaked by storms that dropped possibly dozens of tornadoes and killed at least 26 people in small towns and...

New Mexico and Arizona Officials Warn of Wildfire Risk as Southwest Dries out

Apr 3 2023 // Snowcapped mountains in the Southwestern U.S. signal a possible delayed start to the wildfire season for some higher elevations, but officials in New Mexico and Arizona warned that dry, windy conditions in other areas are...

Nine People Killed in Tennessee in Powerful Tornado System that Hit Region

Apr 3 2023 // Nine people died in Tennessee’s McNairy County, east of Memphis, in the same deadly storm system that pounded parts of Arkansas and Illinois, according to Patrick Sheehan, director the Tennessee Emergency Management...

Arkansas Tornado Survivors Recount Flying Debris, Destroyed Buildings

Apr 3 2023 // WYNNE, Ark. (AP) – With tornadoes hitting the Midwest and the South this weekend, some survivors said they emerged from their homes to find buildings ripped apart, vehicles tossed around like toys, shattered glass...

Florida Governor Turns Heads with Comment that Citizens Insurance is ‘Not Solvent,’ Just as Board Approves Catastrophe Bond

Apr 3 2023 // Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised some questions when he suggested that Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-created insurer, has “not been solvent” and may be unable to pay all claims from a major...

Markets/Coverages: Reinsurance Tech Firm Tremor Launches Cat Bond Issuance Platform

Mar 30 2023 // Tremor Technologies Inc., the Boston-based reinsurance pricing and placing platform, has launched a catastrophe bond issuance platform called Tremor Issuer™.Tremor Issuer is part of the suite of Tremor services that can...

Typhoon-Prone Philippines to Launch Insurance Plan for Infrastructure Losses

Mar 30 2023 // The Philippines is readying an insurance plan that will protect the Southeast Asian nation from infrastructure losses caused by natural disasters, seeking to better respond to climate change risks.The government will put...

Southeast Beware: More Killer Tornadoes on the Way, Study Says

Mar 29 2023 // America will probably get more killer tornado- and hail-spawning supercells as the world warms, according to a new study that also warns the lethal storms will edge eastward to strike more frequently in the more populous...

Colombia, Peru Eye World Bank Catastrophe Bonds on Renewed Investor Interest

Mar 29 2023 // Colombia and Peru are considering returning to a World Bank program that issues bonds to cover claims on natural disasters after the plan faced a nearly two-year lull.The countries are among those looking to take advantage...

Mississippi Insurance Agency, Like Others Hit by Storms, Vows to Rebuild After Tornado

Mar 29 2023 // For the third time in the last 18 months, tornadoes or a hurricane have wiped out or have heavily damaged well-established insurance agencies in the Southeast.And all three of those agencies have rebuilt their businesses...

$1.5M for California Homeowners Overcharged Under Wildfire Risk Score

Mar 29 2023 // Kemper Independence Insurance Co. has issued more than $1.5 million in refunds to thousands of California homeowners after the California Department of Insurance found the carrier overcharged policyholders for wildfire...

Credit Suisse’s Catastrophe Bonds Should Outlive the Bank: DBRS Morningstar

Mar 27 2023 // Bonds designed to insure Credit Suisse Group AG against disaster could outlive the bank.Credit Suisse’s Operational Re bonds, insurance-linked securities that cover the bank against perils such as falling victim to...