A strong earthquake hit New Zealand’s South Island, causing strong ground motions and damage in Christchurch, New Zealand. Reported as a preliminary magnitude 7.4 event, the (revised) magnitude 7.0 event occurred at 4:35 AM local time on Saturday, September 4. The 12 kilometer deep earthquake occurred about 35 miles WNW of Christchurch and 200 miles [...]
Climate change could significantly increase the risk of hurricanes and storms in the Caribbean and threaten future development in the region, concludes a new study released by the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF). Damage from wind, storm surge and inland flooding already amounts to 6% of GDP per year in some countries, according to [...]
AIR Worldwide is estimating that insured losses from Hurricane Earl’s passage near the northern Leeward Islands earlier this week are between USD$50 million and USD$150 million. The estimate includes wind damage to insured onshore properties in the Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, St. Martin and Puerto Rico. Nearly half of the total is attributed to St. [...]
Hurricane Earl, a Category 4 storm, is making its way towards the East Coast of the United States. The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for the East Coast of the U.S. from north of Surf City, North Carolina to the North Carolina/Virginia border. The Center said that Earl is forecasted to bring [...]
With predictions for a severe 2010 hurricane season, coastal residents should heed the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina by making sure to have the right type and amount of insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). August 29 marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the most costly insured disaster in United States history, [...]
The Weather Network launched an archive of lightning strike data. The Canadian owned and operated service is an extension of the Pelmorex Lightning Detection Network (PLDN) and will provide organizations across Canada the ability to validate historical lightning strikes with pinpoint accuracy. Organizations can now authenticate lightning strikes as the possible cause of forest fires, power [...]
The first half of 2010 was the warmest period since meteorological records began in 1880, says Munich Re. Germany experienced its fourth warmest July, with temperatures averaging 20.2°C, which is 3.3°C higher than the climatological average (16.9°C). The consequences were all too evident: unable to cope with the heat, the air-conditioning broke down on a [...]
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) says that a storm that pummeled Calgary and parts of southern Alberta with golf ball-sized hail earlier this summer has resulted in a record amount of insured damage for a hailstorm in Canada. The July 12 weather event produced a sudden downpour and fierce hail large enough to dent cars. [...]
The Colorado State University hurricane team is reiterating its prediction for an above-average 2010 Atlantic hurricane season based on unusually warm tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures and the development of La Nina. For the August forecast, the team stuck with its June prediction of 18 named storms forming in the Atlantic basin between June 1 [...]
Flooding that ravaged fields across a large swath of the Prairies this summer could end up costing the farming industry as much as $3 billion, BMO Capital Markets said. Deputy chief economist Doug Porter said the situation is not quite as dire as the 2003 mad cow crisis that, by some estimates, cost the beef [...]
View the video here on your mobile device. Golf-ball sized hail caused property damage. Flooding wiped out part of a major highway. Heavy rains caused more flooding and more sewer damage. There was even a tornado. It’s been an intense summer for Saskatchewan residents and insurers. Tim Kydd, SGI’s Assistant Vice President of Communications told [...]
Swiss Re today has entered into a historic agreement with the Alabama State Insurance Fund (“SIF”), to provide a three-year parametric insurance cover for the SIF’s primary catastrophic hurricane exposure. Parametric solutions compensate the buyer based on the physical characteristics of a disaster. The payment can be used for any purpose, including emergency response costs, [...]
The season for hurricanes and tropical storms is officially underway, prompting Newfoundland and Labrador’s Honourable Dianne Whalen, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Minister Responsible for Emergency Preparedness, to remind residents to prepare for the possibilities. The Canadian Hurricane Centre, in conjunction with Environment Canada, has forecast a rather active season in the Atlantic region this [...]
In the aftermath of this year’s heavy rainfall and devastating floods, BMO Bank of Montreal has launched a Financial Flood Relief Program for its commercial customers affected by the extensive damage. “We want to assist our farm customers that were affected by the flooding. This program will help alleviate the difficulties being faced by farmers [...]
New research identifying Haiti and Mozambique as the countries most vulnerable to economic losses from natural disasters also classifies a number of industrialized economies, including Italy, Japan, China, USA, Spain and France, as "high risk" environments for investors, insurers and business. The Natural Disasters Economic Losses Index (NDELI), released by risk intelligence and ratings company [...]
