Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
FEMA Denies Georgia County’s Request for Help After March Tornado
Jun 26 2023 // Months after an EF-3 tornado tore through a Georgia county southwest of Atlanta officials said a federal agency has denied its request for additional help in the recovery. ”Obviously we’re extremely...
Canada’s Explosive Wildfires Damage Forest Set Aside for Carbon Offset Project
Jun 26 2023 // Canada’s explosive wildfire season has already pumped millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Some of that carbon is coming from vegetation burned at a carbon offset project, highlighting the...
Europe’s Firefighters Call for More Resources as Climate Change Hikes Wildfire Threat
Jun 23 2023 // Firefighters across Europe are calling for more resources as climate change increases the threat of wildfires across the region. While the European Union announced a doubling of its aerial firefighting fleet for this...
North Texas Tornado Kills At Least Four People
Jun 22 2023 // At least four people are dead and nine are injured after a tornado hit Matador, a small town of nearly 800 people northeast of Lubbock, late Wednesday night. The tornado was brought on by several severe storms in the...
Hawaii Volcano Stops Erupting, Ending Lava Show
Jun 22 2023 // The nearly two-week eruption of a Hawaii volcano, one of the most active in the world, has come to a pause, scientists said. After a three-month hiatus, Kilauea began erupting again June 7 – displaying fountains of...
Tropical Storm Bret Spins Up With Possible Hurricane Threat to Caribbean
Jun 21 2023 // Tropical Storm Bret formed in the central Atlantic Ocean on Monday, with forecasters saying it could pose a hurricane threat to the Lesser Antilles by Thursday and the Dominican Republic and Haiti by the weekend. The...
Fitch: US Insurance Market Forecast to Withstand Losses From Large Hurricane This Year
Jun 21 2023 // With ample capital, Fitch Ratings’ latest annual ‘U.S. Hurricane Season’ report indicates U.S. property and casualty (P/C) and reinsurers can absorb losses if a large hurricane makes landfall this...
Multiple Tornadoes in Mississippi Kill One, Leave Severe Damage
Jun 20 2023 // Multiple tornadoes swept through Mississippi over the weekend, killing one and injuring nearly two dozen, officials said. State emergency workers were still working with counties Monday morning to assess the damage from...
Verdict in Oregon Wildfires Case Highlights Risks Utilities Face Amid Climate Change
Jun 20 2023 // A jury verdict that found an Oregon power company liable for devastating wildfires – and potentially billions of dollars in damages – is highlighting the legal and financial risks utilities take if they fail to...
Tornadoes, Strong Winds Caused Property Damage Across South
Jun 19 2023 // Damaging winds and possible tornadoes toppled trees, damaged buildings and blew cars off a highway Wednesday as powerful storms crossed the South from Texas to Florida to Georgia late last week. The National Weather...
33 Million Homes at Risk, but New Models Aim to Better Predict Storm Surge, Losses from Hurricanes
Jun 19 2023 // About 33 million U.S. homes with a combined reconstruction cost value of $11.6 trillion are at risk of hurricane-force winds. But two new computer models promise to help property owners and insurers better predict where...
Jamaica Finance Minister Sees ‘Definite Interest’ in Regional Caribbean Catastrophe Bond
Jun 16 2023 // Jamaican Finance Minister Nigel Clarke said he is seeing “definite interest” from other Caribbean countries to join in issuing a regional catastrophe bond that would protect their budgets from hurricanes and...
KCC Estimates June Texas Hailstorm Losses at $1B
Jun 16 2023 // The impact from a June hailstorm over Texas with baseball to softball-sized hail is expected to cause over $1 billion in insured losses, according to catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark and Company. The storm occurred...
3 Dead, Dozens Injured in Texas Panhandle Tornado
Jun 16 2023 // At least three people died and dozens more injured when a tornado struck the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on June 15. The National Weather Services in Amarillo said the tornado hit at 5:10 p.m. CT. Perryton, a town of...
Study Blames Climate Change for Summer Wildfire Rise in California
Jun 15 2023 // A study out this week shows that nearly all of the observed increase in summer wildfires in California over the past half-century is attributable to man-made climate change. An international team of scientists looked at...
Allstate Announces May Catastrophe Losses, Auto Rate Hikes
Jun 15 2023 // Allstate Corp. today released estimated catastrophe losses for the month of May of $885 million or $699 million, after-tax. There were a dozen events in May causing $893 million in catastrophe losses, Allstate said, but...
PacifiCorp Could Owe Billions After Jury Verdict in Devastating Oregon Wildfires
Jun 15 2023 // A jury in Oregon this week found the electric utility PacifiCorp responsible for causing devastating fires during Labor Day weekend in 2020, ordering the company to pay tens of millions of dollars to 17 homeowners who sued...
$2M Insurance Policy in Effect for Hawaii Coral Reefs in Time for Hurricane Season
Jun 14 2023 // An environmental group has a $2 million insurance policy on Hawaii’s coral reefs, which is in effect in time for a busier hurricane season that could damage the vital natural resources that are increasingly under...
Canadian Wildfires Shutter Sawmills, Drive Up Lumber Prices
Jun 13 2023 // Canada’s worst-ever spring wildfire season has forced its forestry industry to shutter sawmills, driving up lumber prices and setting production back for months just as housing construction has slowed due to higher...
Report: Wildfire Fears at ‘All-Time High’ and Driving Insurer Decisions in Property Market
Jun 12 2023 // Despite a relatively average 2022 wildfire season, fears of wildfires remain at an “all-time high,” and those fears appear to be one driver of decision-making on property insurance. A new report from Gallagher...
