Latest Hurricane Headlines

Risk Managers See More Commercial Lines Premium Decreases in Q2

Jul 22 2010 // Decreases in average renewal premiums continued to show up for commercial clients during the second quarter of 2010, according to risk managers. Premium decreases of between 2.5 and 3.8 percent were reported for property,...

Is Global Warming Causing More Frequent, More Powerful Hurricanes?

Jul 21 2010 // A workshop held in Lloyd’s Old Library sought to answer that question, by examining the impact global warming could have on the hurricane season. Lloyd’s cited the fact that “analysis of weather patterns...

Private Firm WSI Cuts U.S. Hurricane Forecast to 19 Named Storms

Jul 21 2010 // Private weather forecaster WSI Corp cut its forecast for named storms in the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season on Tuesday, but still sees an active season with water temperatures and wind conditions conducive to violent...

Gale Force Winds Needed to Re-Inflate Insurance Share Prices

Jul 16 2010 // Nobody wishes for a natural disaster, but there’s nothing like a big U.S. hurricane to revitalize shares in property and casualty insurers, currently weighed down by persistently weak insurance prices. Nine analysts...

Munich Re Provides $96 Million Cat Bond to Mass. Property Association

Jul 12 2010 // Munich Re has provided the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association (MPIUA) with a $ 96 million catastrophe bond issuance that “transfers hurricane risk in Massachusetts to the capital...

Massachusetts Fair Plan Gets $96M Catastrophe Bond

Jul 12 2010 // The Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association (MPIUA) has received a $96 million catastrophe bond issuance that transfers hurricane risk in Massachusetts to the capital markets, a number of reinsurers...

New Storm Brewing in Gulf

Jul 6 2010 // An area of disturbed weather over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico could strengthen into a tropical storm later this week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Monday. If it revs up to cyclone force, the system would...

WMO Foresees La Nina in Pacific this Year

Jul 6 2010 // La Nina is likely to cool the tropical Pacific in coming months, a phenomenon which usually causes stronger monsoons across Asia and eastern Australia, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday. The...

Wortman Retiring as CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

Jul 6 2010 // John Wortman, CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. (Citizens), the state’s property insurance of last resort, has announced plans to retire. “John Wortman has been a tremendous asset to Louisiana...

Price Scare

Jul 5 2010 // Seven years and running, the soft market shows few signs of loosening its grip on commercial insurance pricing, according to a recent industry study. Average premiums in every line tracked by the RIMS Benchmark Survey fell...

Jul 5 2010 // 77.2% In most hurricane-prone states, homeowners have few choices for insurance coverage, with just eight property and casualty insurers in each state controlling up to 77.2 percent of the market share, according to Weiss...

It Figures

Jul 5 2010 // 77.2% In most hurricane-prone states, homeowners have few choices for insurance coverage, with just eight property and casualty insurers in each state controlling up to 77.2 percent of the market share, according to Weiss...

Caribbean Countries Renew Hurricane, Earthquake Coverage

Jul 2 2010 // All sixteen members of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF – www.ccrif.org) have renewed their policies for hurricane and earthquake coverage for the 2010/11 year beginning on June first, the...

AIR Estimates Mexico’s Hurricane Alex Insured Loss under $200 Million

Jul 2 2010 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insurable losses (losses from properties that are eligible for insurance, whether or not they are actually insured) from Hurricane Alex are not expected to exceed...

Hurricane Alex Weakens to Tropical Storm

Jul 1 2010 // Hurricane Alex weakened to a tropical storm Thursday as it moved further inland over northeastern Mexico, dumping heavy rains that flooded cities but sparing U.S. oil facilities near its path. Rain from the first named...

Texas Attorney General: Alex Triggers Price Gouging Law

Jul 1 2010 // Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has advised South Texans affected by Hurricane Alex that Gov. Rick Perry’s disaster declaration activates state laws that prohibit price gouging. Hurricane Alex had developed into a...

Hurricane Alex Could Reach Land Today in Mexico, Texas

Jun 30 2010 // Hurricane Alex strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday and was expected to make landfall later in the day but skirt Mexican oil rigs and U.S. oil fields, alleviating concerns in crude markets. The first named...

Hurricane Alex to Hamper BP’s Gulf Oil Disaster Containment Effort

Jun 29 2010 // Tropical Storm Alex is expected to reach hurricane strength on Tuesday, with high winds and vast waves set to hamper BP Plc’s latest efforts to contain the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Shares in London-based...

Louisiana Hurricane Recovery Board Disbanding

Jun 29 2010 // The Louisiana Recovery Authority’s board ended its multibillion dollar rebuilding work on June 24, nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore. The LRA board of directors – a volunteer board largely...

Texas Prepares as Tropical Storm Alex Heads Toward Hurricane Status

Jun 29 2010 // As of 10 a.m. CDT on June 29, Tropical Storm Alex was nearing hurricane strength in the western Gulf of Mexico and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects it to reach hurricane status later in the day. The storm is...