Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Targets Urgent Projects as Wildfire Season Looms
Apr 15 2021 // California is in such an urgent race with another devastating wildfire season that officials began soliciting local project ideas even before they had money to pay for them. It faces such a threat of drought that the...
California Plans $536M for Wildfire Mitigation Before Fire Season
Apr 14 2021 // California will authorize $536 million for wildfire mitigation and forest management projects before the worst of the fire season strikes later this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders said. That more than...
Weak Tornado Confirmed in South Carolina from Weekend Storms
Apr 13 2021 // The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday that a weak tornado hit near Moore in upstate South Carolina on Saturday. Surveyors say the EF-O tornado had top winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and a path of 1.1 miles (1.75...
State of Emergency Declared in South Louisiana Parish After Tornado
Apr 12 2021 // A south Louisiana parish is declaring a state of emergency after a tornado killed one person and injured seven in Palmetto on April 10. St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard said on Facebook that two of the injured...
U.S. Raises Average Number of Named Storms for Atlantic Hurricane Season
Apr 12 2021 // The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has changed the number of storms that constitute an average Atlantic hurricane season, the agency said in a statement on Friday. NOAA’s Climate...
Researchers Predict Above-Average Hurricane Season This Year
Apr 8 2021 // Colorado State University hurricane researchers are predicting an above-average Atlantic hurricane season in 2021, citing the likely absence of El Niño as a primary factor. The CSU Tropical Meteorology Project team is...
California’s PG&E Sees Criminal Charges in 2019 Wildfire
Apr 8 2021 // A California prosecutor has filed 33 criminal charges accusing troubled Pacific Gas & Electric of inadvertently injuring six firefighters and endangering public health with smoke and ash in a 2019 fire blamed on its...
M4.0 Earthquake Confirmed in Los Angeles Area
Apr 7 2021 // A 4.0 magnitude earthquake gave the Los Angeles area a jolt before dawn Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The 4:44 a.m. quake was centered in the Inglewood area east of Los Angeles International Airport,...
Three Dozen California Bills Focus on Wildfire, Others Are Concerning for Insurance Industry
Apr 6 2021 // Roughly three dozen pieces of California legislation are directly related to wildfire, and while those bills should hold much interest for the insurance community, there are other bills making their rounds that should draw...
Oklahoma, Farmers Insurance Reach $25M Settlement Over Earthquake Claims
Apr 5 2021 // Oklahoma has reached a $25 million settlement with Farmers Insurance over the company’s handling of earthquake claims, state officials say. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter and Insurance Commissioner Glen...
Palomar Holdings in California Closes $400M Cat Bond with Torrey Pines Re
Apr 5 2021 // La Jolla, Calif.-based Palomar Holdings Inc. announced that through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Palomar Specialty Insurance Co. and Palomar Excess and Surplus Insurance Co., the company has successfully closed a $400...
Hurricane Center: Delta Caused $2.9B in Damage
Apr 5 2021 // Hurricane Delta, which made landfall in southwestern Louisiana in early October 2020 about 11 miles from where the devastating Hurricane Laura hit a little more than a month earlier, cost $2.9 billion in the United States...
Catastrophe Bonds Positioned to Tap Into Demand for Socially Responsible Investments
Apr 5 2021 // Catastrophe bonds are being hailed as the next frontier for socially responsible investing. Such debt, which insures against natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics, is gaining traction with...
Some Georgia Schools to Remain Closed for 2 Weeks After EF-4 Tornado
Apr 5 2021 // Some schools in a county hard-hit by recent storms will remain closed for a couple of weeks as cleanup continues, school officials said. The entire district remained closed, Coweta County Superintendent Evan Horton said...
Alaska Wary of ‘California Style’ Blackouts; Study Assesses Global Hailstorm Trends
Apr 1 2021 // Alaska could face “California-style” blackouts as climate change increases the state’s wildfire risk. That’s according to an article this week in the Anchorage Daily News. The article centers on...
‘Not Over Yet,’ But Crews Gaining Control of South Dakota Wildfires
Mar 31 2021 // Firefighters have begun to gain control of wildfires in the Black Hills of South Dakota that have forced the evacuation of more than 400 homes and closed the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Three separate wildfires were...
CoreLogic: Southeast Tornado Outbreak Affected Nearly 10K Homes
Mar 31 2021 // Nearly 10,000 homes were impacted by tornado damage that occurred across Alabama and Georgia last week, according to data from catastrophe modeling firm CoreLogic. The March 25 deadly tornado outbreak occurred thanks to...
North Carolina Residents Struggle to Recover from Strongest Tornado on Record
Mar 31 2021 // It’s been over a month since a tornado tore through southeastern Brunswick County. In Ocean Ridge Plantation, the neighborhood that bore the brunt of the storm damage, some homeowners remain in limbo. Carol Phillips...
Lawmakers from California Want U.S. Departments to Be Year-Round Wildfire Agencies
Mar 31 2021 // California’s U.S. senators and nearly two-dozen representatives are asking the Agriculture and Interior departments to transition their agencies to a year-round wildland workforce because blazes are no longer limited...
Supreme Court Could Use TransUnion ‘Terrorist List’ Case to Curb Class Actions
Mar 31 2021 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday signaled it could narrow the scope of a class action lawsuit against TransUnion in which thousands of people sought damages after the credit reporting company flagged their names as...
