Latest Hurricane Headlines

All the headlines from our Hurricane Topic Page, ordered by recency.

CCRIF in Pact with Jamaica Government for $100,000 Sandy Disaster Relief

Apr 16 2013 // On Friday April 12, 2013 the Government of Jamaica and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), formalizing a donation of $100,000 made by CCRIF to the...

‘Sandy’ Officially Retired from List of Atlantic Storm Names

Apr 16 2013 // “Sandy has been retired from the official list of Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone names by the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee because of the extreme impacts it caused from Jamaica and...

2013 Hurricane Prediction: 72% Chance on East Coast; 48% for Florida

Apr 10 2013 // The Colorado State University team is predicting an above-average 2013 Atlantic basin hurricane season with 18 named storms and a 72 percent chance one will make landfall somewhere along the entire Eastern seaboard. Nine...

Houma, Louisiana Floodgate to Be Ready for Hurricane Season

Apr 10 2013 // The flow of the Houma Navigation Canal in Louisiana completely stopped recently for the first time in the waterway’s 50-year existence. The door of the Bubba Dove Floodgate was connected and fully closed as part of...

Pension Funds Looking for Higher Yields from Cat Bonds

Apr 9 2013 // Pension funds are turning to specialist bonds that bet on the likelihood of a natural disaster, in a search for yield and returns that are not correlated to the rest of the market. What was once considered an exotic...

Hurricane Center Learns Lesson from Sandy; Changes Warnings

Apr 8 2013 // Responding to criticism after Superstorm Sandy, the National Hurricane Center says it will change the way it warns people about tropical storms that morph into something else. At the height of Sandy, as the hurricane...

Insurance Covered Half of U.S. Disaster Costs in 2012: Swiss Re

Apr 8 2013 // Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters caused $186 billion in economic losses globally in 2012 and took approximately 14,000 lives, according to global insurer Swiss Re’s latest sigma study. The United States...

Forecaster Gray Sees Active Hurricane Season Ahead

Apr 3 2013 // Forecaster William Gray said he expects a very active hurricane season, but he’s not yet giving likely numbers of named storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes. Gray told hundreds of people at the National Hurricane...

ImpactWeather: Hurricanes in 2013 Will Be More Severe Than in 2012

Mar 29 2013 // Houston-based ImpactWeather predicts that 2013 will bring a series of hurricanes more severe than 2012. In an announcement released by the company, Senior ImpactWeather Meteorologist Chris Hebert provided the following...

Katrina, Sandy Offer Similar Lessons for Builders

Mar 28 2013 // Lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy about how best to limit damage to buildings closely track those of Katrina, a federal engineer said. Elevating generators and pumps is a good idea but enclosing elevated foundations...

Insurance Covered Half of U.S. Disaster Costs in 2012: Swiss Re

Mar 27 2013 // Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters caused $186 billion in economic losses globally in 2012 and took approximately 14,000 lives, according to global insurer Swiss Re’s latest sigma study. The United States...

Swiss Re Study for 2012 Losses: $77 Bn Insured; $186 Bn Economic

Mar 27 2013 // Swiss Re has released its latest sigma study, which found that economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters reached $186 billion in 2012. Insured losses amounted to $77 billion, making 2012 the third...

FIGA Reforms Should Increase Flexibility, Not Eliminate It

Mar 25 2013 // When it comes to property insurance reform in Florida, everyone is basically focused on proposals that deal with the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and the (over) regulation of...

Receivership Proposed for Texas’ Insurer of Last Resort

Mar 25 2013 // In a meeting on March 25, the board of directors of Texas’ insurer of last resort in coastal areas is expected to discuss the organization’s dire financial condition and the possibility of placing the...

With Rates Expected to Drop, Cat Fund Reform Should Be a No-Brainer

Mar 18 2013 // For four out of the last seven years, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund has been projected to have a shortfall should a major hurricane impact the state and cause the fund to pay out to its coverage limits. This is...

S&P Rates Florida Cat Fund Bonds ‘AA-‘

Mar 14 2013 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its “AA-” rating to Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF), Florida’s $2 billion revenue bonds series 2013A. The outlook is stable, according...

Louisiana Commissioner Praises Court Ruling on Emergency Rule

Feb 28 2013 // Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon announced he is pleased that the 19th Judicial District Court has upheld an emergency rule put in place during Hurricane Isaac and his authority to do so during catastrophic...

Report: Sandy Was 2nd-Costliest Storm in U.S.

Feb 25 2013 // Superstorm Sandy was the deadliest hurricane in the northeastern U.S. in 40 years and the second-costliest in the nation’s history, according to a report released Feb. 12. The storm’s effects reached far and...

10 Things to Know About the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association

Feb 25 2013 // Changes to the way the state handles coastal property insurance issues are certain to be made during the 2013 Texas legislative session. Here are 10 things to know about Texas’ property insurer of last resort, the...

N.J. Congressional Delegation Expresses Concern Over NFIP Claims

Feb 15 2013 // On Tuesday Feb. 12, New Jersey’s Congressional delegation sent a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator W. Craig Fugate, expressing their concern over what the delegation described as “the...