Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Maui Wildfire Survivors Camp Pushing Mayor to Convert Vacation Rentals into Housing
Nov 28 2023 // A group of Lahaina wildfire survivors is vowing to camp on a popular resort beach until the mayor uses his emergency powers to shut down unpermitted vacation rentals and make the properties available for residents in...
Federal Cyber Insurance Backstop Is Warranted With Focus on Catastrophic Risk
Nov 28 2023 // Much more work and collaboration needs to be done but the U.S. Treasury has reached a “tentative conclusion” that a potential federal cyber insurance backstop will be focused on catastrophic cyber...
FBI Closes Probe of Car Wreck at Niagara Falls Bridge, No Indication of Terrorism
Nov 27 2023 // FBThe FBI has ended its investigation of a fiery car wreck that killed two people at a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls after finding no evidence that it was a terror attack, easing a period of high tensions as Americans...
Alabama Begins $13.6M Rebuild of Pier Damaged in Hurricane Sally
Nov 27 2023 // GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — Hurricane Sally wiped out a 200-foot (61-meter) section of the Gulf State Park Fishing Pier on the Alabama coast in September 2020 just as it was about to reopen after a $2.4 million rebuild...
Wildfires Prompt North Carolina, Tennessee Campgrounds to Evacuate; West Virginia Blaze Contained
Nov 22 2023 // Wildfires prompted campgrounds in North Carolina and Tennessee to evacuate starting Sunday while firefighters prepared for high winds and low humidity on Monday, though officials hoped for some help from expected rain. The...
National Weather Service Surveying Tornado Damage in Arizona Town
Nov 21 2023 // A tornado that hit the town of Star Valley in Ariona prompted the National Weather Service`s Flagstaff branch to survey damage to the area, the organization said. Officials from the town located about 95 miles northeast of...
Dollywood Temporarily Suspends Park Entry Due to Nearby Wildfire
Nov 20 2023 // Dolly Parton`s Dollywood temporarily suspended entry Thursday into the Tennessee amusement park as wildfire crews on Thursday battled nearby flames. Park officials say they paused entry to allow fire crews enough room to...
Revisiting Terrorism Issues
Nov 20 2023 // Yesterday was my son’s 12th birthday but he didn’t spend it unwrapping presents or gorging on ice cream and cake. Most of our evening was spent solemnly observing unspeakable horror and devastation as the...
Mississippi Loosens Burn Ban After More Rain and Fewer Wildfires
Nov 17 2023 // JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Recent rain has helped improve drought conditions enough for Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves to partially lift a statewide burn ban. Reeves, the Mississippi Forestry Commission and the Mississippi...
Fatalities From Maui Wildfire Reach 100 After Death of Woman
Nov 17 2023 // The death toll from the wildfire that devastated the historic Maui town of Lahaina last summer has risen to 100 after a 78-year-old woman injured in the disaster died last month, officials said. The victim was among those...
Magnitude 3.6 Earthquake Rattles Parts of Northern Illinois, Parts of 3 Other States
Nov 16 2023 // STANDARD, Ill. (AP) __ A magnitude 3.6 earthquake rattled northern Illinois and parts of three other states early Wednesday, awakening some residents and spurring reports to 911 about homes shaking, the U.S. Geological...
Low-Intensity Fires Reduce Wildfire Risk by 60%, Study Finds
Nov 16 2023 // There is no longer any question of how to prevent high-intensity, often catastrophic, wildfires that have become increasingly frequent across the Western U.S., according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University...
Hurricane Otis’ Insured Losses Estimated at $2.5B-$6B: Moody’s RMS, Verisk
Nov 15 2023 // Moody’s RMS, the risk modeling and solutions company, estimates private market insured losses from Hurricane Otis to range between US$2.5 billion and US$4.5 billion. On the other hand, Verisk puts insured losses at...
5.3 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Remote Area of West Texas
Nov 14 2023 // MENTONE, Texas (AP) – An earthquake struck a sparsely populated and remote area of West Texas last Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, and the temblor could be felt hundreds of miles away. The USGS reports...
Piercing Through Rain, Smoke and Fog: How Radar Satellites See Catastrophes
Nov 14 2023 // Executive Summary: The potential for satellite technology to revolutionize claims management has long been recognized but has only recently been realized with technological advancements. Satellite-based data can give the...
Federal Court Splits North Carolina Hurricane Insurance Claims
Nov 14 2023 // A North Carolina investment firm and its property insurer have each won partial victories in a dispute over hurricane insurance claims that has been in court since 2019. A federal district court judge for Eastern North...
Hawaii Wildfire Burning in Rainforest on Oahu
Nov 13 2023 // A wildfire burning in a remote Hawaii rainforest is underscoring a new reality for the normally lush island state just a few months after a devastating blaze on a neighboring island leveled an entire town and killed at...
Cyber ‘Catastrophe Bonds’ Move Step Closer to Hitting Public Debt Markets
Nov 13 2023 // Cyber catastrophe bonds may be about to move out of the shadows of private deal-making and into the public debt markets. So-called cat bonds, which farm out hard-to-insure risks to capital market investors in exchange for...
The Value of Combining Models in Wildfire Risk Management
Nov 9 2023 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Welcome to the final installment of our four-part series on wildfire hazard and risk management where we will explore the optimal use of CoreLogic’s wildfire risk...
Virginia Governor Declares State of Emergency Over Wildfires
Nov 8 2023 // Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency to assist firefighter response efforts on two wildfires around the state due to dry conditions and high winds. Two fires—the Quaker Run Fire in Madison...
