All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Sep 8 2025 // As natural catastrophes become more frequent and destructive, a key backstop intended to help cover losses has gotten harder to access.The reinsurance industry, which exists to help primary insurers cope with losses when...
Sep 5 2025 // Firefighters are slowly gaining on several wildfires burning in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada area, forcing evacuations and destroying buildings in a historic mining town.The TCU September Lightning Complex fires,...
Sep 3 2025 // A quick-moving wildfire burned homes in a California Gold Rush town settled around 1850 by Chinese miners, forcing evacuations and destroying properties.The fire rapidly expanded to 6,473 acres, forcing the evacuation...
Sep 2 2025 // Hurricane Katrina claimed hundreds of lives, destroyed homes and changed how emergency response is dealt with forever.In this episode of “The Story Behind the AP Story,” retired Associated Press journalist...
Sep 2 2025 // Eight months after the Palisades and Eaton wildfires in Los Angeles, commercial and residential policyholders continue to report unreasonably long delays, dubious denials, and conspicuously low settlements. Most...
Aug 29 2025 // Scientists at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Global Systems Laboratory said it has developed an hourly assessment of wildfire potential across the U.S.The Boulder, Colorado-based lab’s...
Aug 29 2025 // When Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans in August 2005, causing greater insurance losses than any other natural disaster in history, it became clear that a lot of the city’s flood protection engineering —...
Aug 29 2025 // Canada’s record-breaking 2023 wildfire season led to a spike in air pollution in the country and in the US, erasing recent progress in cleaning up the air, according to new analysis.The wildfires, which burned 42...
Aug 29 2025 // The wildfires that raged across Greece, Turkey and Cyprus this summer were 22% more intense and 10 times more likely than they would have been in a world without climate change, according to scientists.The extremely hot,...
Aug 28 2025 // A fast-growing wildfire burning in central California’s Sierra National Forest in Fresno County in a remote area is the latest blaze of concern for firefighters.The Garnet Fire has burned more than 13,900 acres and...
Aug 28 2025 // The remnants of Hurricane Erin will contribute to torrential rain across the Swiss Alps over the next two days, raising the risk of dangerous flooding and landslides.Switzerland’s state forecaster has issued the...
Aug 28 2025 // The California property insurance market is undergoing a dramatic shift. As admitted carriers restrict their appetite for business in the state—particularly in high-risk zones—surplus lines insurers are increasingly...
Aug 27 2025 // Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina swamped parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, the property insurance sector is better prepared for another catastrophic storm and the litigation that may follow, according to industry...
Aug 27 2025 // Lists published every hurricane season, adjusting the amounts of insurance losses for past events for inflation to current-dollar levels, give a misleading picture of the potential for a single event costing insurers $100...
Aug 26 2025 // The California Department of Insurance (CDI) has made some serious moves to tackle the state’s insurance crisis head on, last year launching its Sustainable Insurance Strategy (SIS). With the SIS came a set of...
Aug 26 2025 // Containment has increased on a rural California wine country wildfire that was burning out of control and threatening thousands of properties.The Pickett Fire exploded in the Napa Valley last week, prompting evacuations...
Aug 25 2025 // The Gulf Coast of the United States is increasingly vulnerable to hurricanes, a scientist has warned in a new study, 20 years after Katrina devastated New Orleans and hundreds of miles of coastline.Mark Bove, a...
Aug 25 2025 // Typhoon Kajiki made landfall along the northern part of Vietnam’s central coast on Monday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that prompted a warning of possible flash floods and landslides across multiple...
Aug 22 2025 // Hurricane Erin is muddling computer models and making forecasters, analysts and traders question the accuracy of the outlook for heat, wind and storms across Europe next week.Erin, which churned through the Atlantic 330...
Aug 22 2025 // Volvo Launches Independent AgencyAuto manufacturer Volvo has launched an independent insurance agency offering not just car insurance for Volvos but also home and umbrella insurance. The Mahwah, New Jersey-based Volvo Car...