damage News

California Wildfire Continues to Spread Rapidly to 164K Acres

A massive wildfire in Northern California has destroyed an undetermined number of buildings and is threatening thousands or properties, prompting thousands of evacuations orders, as it continued to rage on Friday morning. The Park fire, which became the state’s largest …

Northern California Fire Becomes State’s Biggest in a Day, Evacuations Ordered

A wildfire that started Wednesday near Chico, California grew quickly to 45,549 acres overnight to become the state’s largest active blaze. Evacuation orders and warnings were issued, but the number of residents affected or properties damaged or destroyed has yet …

‘Surface Waters’ on Roof Are Not ‘Flood’ Waters, Massachusetts High Court Rules

The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that rainwater accumulation on roofs of buildings does not constitute “surface waters” within the meaning of “flood” in property insurance policies. The court found that the term “surface waters” in policies is ambiguous …

How California’s Homeowners Insurance Crisis is Affecting Brokers

A growing homeowners insurance crisis for Californians is straining brokers who must work harder to get increasingly expensive and more frequently unavailable coverage for their clients, a crisis many of them blame on regulations and wildfires. Wildfires have made the …

U.S. Severe Storms Continue to Drive Global Natural Disaster Losses: Gallagher Re

U.S. severe convective storms continued to drive global natural catastrophe losses during the first half of 2024. Of the estimated $61 billion in global H1 insured losses from natural disasters, SCS accounted for a minimum $37 billion – or 61% …

Hawaiian Electric Among Firms Eyeing $4B Maui Fire Deal

Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. is among the companies that have tentatively agreed to pay more than $4 billion to resolve hundreds of lawsuits over the wildfires that ripped through Maui last year, according to people familiar with the deal. The …

Record Flooding and Tornadoes This Spring in Iowa Caused $130M in Damage

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Record flooding and powerful tornadoes ravaged parts of Iowa for weeks this spring, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, closing roads and bridges and costing over $130 million in infrastructure damage, officials said. The disasters …

Rebuilding After Hurricanes is Complex, Can Change Character of a Community

Before Hurricane Idalia smashed into a small fishing village in northwestern Florida, Charles Long, 68, was fixing up a two-bedroom house for him and his wife. After the August storm, he found remnants of it in a nearby canal and …

CenterPoint Sued Over Hurricane Beryl Power Outages in Houston

A group of Houston restaurants that lost power for days after Hurricane Beryl sued the city’s main utility, accusing CenterPoint Energy Inc. of failing to adequately invest in infrastructure and respond to widespread power outages. The lawsuit, filed by various …

Hurricane Beryl Caused $2.5-$4.5B in Estimated Insured Losses, Says Moody’s

U.S. insured losses from Hurricane Beryl will likely fall between $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion, according to estimates by Moody’s RMS Event Response. Insured losses associated with the storm include wind, storm surge, and precipitation-induced flooding. Moody’s estimates total non-U.S. …