Federal programs that have elevated thousands of U.S. homes above floodwaters may violate civil rights law by shutting out many homeowners who are Black or Hispanic or who have low incomes.

Property and casualty insurers are bracing for another year of record losses from catastrophic hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, flooding, and other natural disasters already unfolding.

White House officials met last week at Florida International University (FIU) to announce an initiative to help state and local governments adopt modern building codes and standards and help communities become more resilient to hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, and other extreme weather events.

In 1994, the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake hit California, damaging 40,000 buildings and causing insured losses of $12.5 billion. If an earthquake like Northridge were to occur today, it could cost nearly $19 billion in insured losses. By 2044, there is a 93% possibility that an earthquake of that magnitude or greater will strike California.

The Biden administration is proposing a massive overhaul of federal flood insurance that would prevent the government from insuring newly built homes in flood-prone areas and would drop coverage for homeowners who receive repeated claims payments.

Already this year, three Florida insurers have been declared insolvent due to their failure to obtain full reinsurance as the 2022 hurricane season bears down. ‘We have the potential of a massive failure of Florida insurers, probably the worst on record,’ says Triple-I communications director Mark Friedlander.

As NatCats increase in frequency, getting adjusters to the scene of a claim has been ‘tougher than it’s been in years past.’ Claims experts blame economic strain and inflationary pressures, as well as to the ongoing war for talent.

Extreme weather events have become common, some bringing unprecedented levels of destruction to structures and facilities, overwhelming owners, property managers and insurers. In response, nearly all major insurers have created centralized Cat units dedicated to handling claims arising from extreme weather events.

Severe convective storms are among the most common, most damaging natural catastrophes in the United States. In 2021, they resulted in the third-costliest year on record for the U.S. insurance industry, according to Aon, and catastrophe modeling firm RMS says the average annual insured loss from such storms nearly equals that from hurricanes, at around $17 billion.

A series of powerful thunderstorms that affected Ontario and parts of Quebec this weekend is already being billed by the industry as the first major Cat of 2022. And while industry experts anticipate a large number of insured damages, one predicts the storm may result in a lot of ‘hidden damage.’

The US weather service NOAA has just announced its forecast for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, and they are another organisation saying it is likely to see above-normal levels of tropical storm activity, with a 65% chance of an above-normal season in 2022.

The First Street Foundation has expanded its portfolio of peer reviewed, property specific, climate adjusted physical risk models with the launch of the First Street Foundation Wildfire Model, estimating the risk of wildfire on a property-by-property basis across the United States today, and up to 30 years into the future.

A fast-moving geomagnetic storm blasts the North American power grid, leaving a large swath of the Northeastern U.S. temporarily uninhabitable.

Hurricanes Laura and Ida has resulted in over $20 billion in insurance losses, insurance commissioner Jim Donelon said.

Triple-I non-residential scholar Phil Klotzbach has proposed what he says is a better way to predict hurricane damage than the wind scale currently in use. Speaking at National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, Fla., the Colorado State University research scientist recommended using barometric pressure instead of the Saffir-Simpson wind-based scale.