Disaster (Flood,Coastal,EQ,W-Fire,etc.) News

Munich Re: ‘Ever Higher’ Nat Cat Costs; Ups Chile Quake Loss to $1 Billion

A bulletin from Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, concludes that the “long-term trend towards ever higher natural catastrophe costs” looks set to continue, according to an analysis from its Geo Risks experts. Their conclusions are based on “the large …

Florida Senator: Obama Not Doing Enough for State

U.S. Sen. George LeMieux criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill Saturday, saying he hasn’t done enough to help Florida and the other affected states or their residents. Obama visited Louisiana’s Gulf Coast on Friday, hours after …

Rating Agencies React to BP’s Oil Spill; Best Revises Jupiter Outlook

The mounting financial costs for British Petroleum from the multiple impacts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have placed its formerly strong ratings in peril. Financial rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s have both lowered their ratings on …

Aon Scientist Analyzes Insurance Coverage for Volcanic Eruptions

Volcanic eruptions are right up there with hurricanes and earthquakes on the list of nature’s most formidable catastrophes. The April eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland was but one manifestation – gritty clouds of ash – of the dangers …

Why Some Volcanic Eruptions Produce Ash Clouds and Others Don’t

Volcanoes exist in many parts of the world, and their eruptions can be terrifying and devastating, as Aon Benfield’s Professor Russell Blong discusses in the previous article at: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2010/06/04/110441.htm. However, not all volcanic eruptions produce clouds of gritty ash that …

BP Lowers Containment Cap onto Wellhead But Uncertainty Remains

BP Plc managed Thursday to lower a containment cap onto its ruptured deep-sea wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico in a high-stakes bid to siphon off some of the oil billowing from its gusher. U.S. President Barack Obama canceled his …

Oil Reaches Alabama’s Dauphin Island; Florida Panhandle on Alert

Teams of workers in protective boots and gloves scoured Alabama’s Dauphin Island Wednesday for washed up tar balls and tar patties that have put the 14-mile-long resort in the front line of the state’s fight against the Gulf of Mexico …

BP CEO: Industry Needs to Reassess Deep-Sea Operations, Safety

Oil companies need to improve safety technology for deep-water drilling and the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico should prompt the industry to rethink its business model for such operations, BP chief Tony Hayward said in comments published on …

Oil Rig Tragedies Shock Insurers, Destabilize Market, Says Willis

The U.S. Deepwater Horizon and Venezuelan Aban Pearl drilling rig losses have left upstream energy insurers with an unprecedented bill of $795 million within the space of a single month, destabilizing the market and driving up rates, according to a …

Florida’s Pensacola Beach First in State to Suffer Oil Effects

Oil sheen and tar balls have washed ashore on a northwest Florida beach crowded with holidaymakers and swimmers in what appeared to be the first impact on the state from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, authorities and witnesses said …