Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Research Warns Rare Winter Tornadoes May Get More Intense
Dec 16 2021 // Nasty winter tornadoes — like the deadly ones last week that hit five states — are likely to be stronger and stay on the ground longer with a wider swath of destruction in a warming world, a new study shows. The...
Typhoon Rai Threatens Philippines, Forcing Thousands to Flee Homes
Dec 16 2021 // Typhoon Rai has rapidly intensified as it nears central and southern Philippine provinces on Thursday, forcing thousands to flee their homes and leaving thousands stranded as airlines canceled flights. The typhoon...
Tornadoes Destroyed Kentucky Insurance Agency, Damaged Others as Claims Pour In
Dec 16 2021 // A number of insurance agencies in southwestern Kentucky sustained damage at their own offices during the massive tornado rampage last weekend, including one insurance firm that lost its entire building in hard-hit...
Insurers Begin Work in Areas Hard-Hit By Weekend Tornadoes
Dec 15 2021 // Insurance claims and loss estimates are beginning to come in from the group of deadly and damaging tornadoes that moved through the central and southern U.S. last weekend. The Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed...
Oklahoma Wildfire Destroys 5 Homes, 14 Barns
Dec 15 2021 // A wildfire that forced evacuations in rural southwestern Oklahoma last week destroyed five homes, 14 barns and nine vehicles, officials said Monday. Three of the burned homes were unoccupied, said Comanche County Emergency...
Planning Questions Emerge at Tornado-Destroyed Kentucky Candle Plant
Dec 14 2021 // The Mayfield Consumer Products factory was the third-biggest employer in this corner of western Kentucky, an important economic engine that churned out candles that lined the shelves of malls around the U.S. But why its...
Father, Son Charged With Starting Massive California Wildfire Plead Not Guilty
Dec 14 2021 // A father and son charged with starting a massive California wildfire that destroyed many homes and forced tens of thousands of people to flee Lake Tahoe communities earlier this year pleaded not guilty in court. The El...
AM Best Sees Tornado Losses as Manageable for Insurers
Dec 14 2021 // Analysts at ratings firm AM Best said they expect the insured losses from the tornadoes that devastated central and southern U.S. last weekend will dampen underwriting results for insurers but that insurers will be able to...
Insured Loss From Tornado Outbreak Estimated at $3 Billion by KCC
Dec 14 2021 // The insured loss from the December 9-12 tornado outbreak that devastated parts of central U.S. has been estimated to be about $3 billion. Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company said its estimate includes...
Why OSHA Is Investigating Amazon Worker Deaths at Illinois Building Hit by Tornado
Dec 14 2021 // EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — The U.S. workplace safety watchdog is investigating the circumstances around the collapse during Friday night’s storm of an Amazon.com Inc building in Illinois in which six workers died, an...
Tornadoes That Ripped Across Central U.S. Could Be Costliest Outbreak on Record
Dec 13 2021 // A group of tornadoes that tore across the central U.S. on December 10 and 11 resulted in widespread damage in several states and could serve as the nation’s costliest tornado outbreak on record. “Based on...
Tornados Leave 2 Dead in Arkansas; Governor Says State Avoided Worst of Storm
Dec 13 2021 // Two people were killed in northeastern Arkansas as tornadoes struck several states in the region, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Saturday, Dec. 11 in Monette. One person at Monette Manor nursing home in Monette and one person...
From Wildfires to Floods, Climate Change Worsens Extreme Weather Across Globe
Dec 13 2021 // Extreme weather events in 2021 shattered records around the globe. Hundreds died in storms and heatwaves. Farmers struggled with drought, and in some cases with locust plagues. Wildfires set new records for carbon...
Crews Continue Searching for Missing After Tornadoes Ravage Communities
Dec 13 2021 // Rescuers combed through fields of wreckage after a tornado outbreak roared across the middle of the U.S., leaving dozens dead and communities in despair. A twister carved a track that could rival the longest on record as...
Magnitude 4.3 Earthquake Shakes North-Central Kansas
Dec 9 2021 // A moderate earthquake shook parts of north-central Kansas on Dec. 8 as residents were starting their day, officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday,...
Wrapping up Hurricane Season: Ida, Katrina, and the Importance of Adequate Loss Modeling
Dec 9 2021 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. With the 2021 hurricane season coming to an end, insurers and government agencies are beginning to take stock of what occurred and how damages stacked up compared to...
Evacuation Orders Lifted for Central Colorado Wildfire
Dec 7 2021 // Firefighters made progress containing a 15-acre wildfire in a central Colorado mountain community as authorities lifted evacuation orders Monday for residents who were forced to leave their homes a day earlier. Clear Creek...
Property Catastrophe Reinsurance Renewal Rates to Rise by More Than 10%: Fitch
Dec 7 2021 // Reinsurance rates are expected to increase by more than 10% in catastrophe-related lines of business when contracts are renewed in January 2022, which supports an improving sector outlook for 2022, according to Fitch...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Committee Recommends Willis Re for Reinsurance Broker
Dec 7 2021 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s Actuarial & Underwriting Committee met on December 6 to review best and final offers from respondents to the Association’s request for proposals for reinsurance...
Climate Modeling Confirms Historical Records Showing Rise in Hurricane Activity
Dec 6 2021 // New results show North Atlantic hurricanes have increased in frequency over the last 150 years Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office When forecasting how storms may change in the future, it helps to know something about their...
