October 2017

Five years ago Hurricane Sandy made a sharp left turn and slammed into the coast of New Jersey. While a total of 24 states were affected, Sandy will be remembered not for wind damage, but flooding.

The western United States, California in particular, has already suffered a grueling wildfire season this year, with just over a month to go. What caused the fires is still being debated, but once the sparks were ignited, which major factors contributed to the ongoing destruction?

Post-event surveys are treasure troves of information for catastrophe modelers. They serve as the perfect natural laboratory to test the efficacy of modeling assumptions and open up avenues for improving the models.

As Typhoon Lan approached Honshu on Saturday, October 21, Japanese researchers made their first flight into the eye of a tropical cyclone.

Because of the economic circumstances in Puerto Rico prior to the hurricane and devastation afterward, I wanted to take a closer look to understand what lies ahead for the people of the island.

Current wildfire damage to California's grape vines and their fruit is ranging from minimal to catastrophic. In cases of the latter, years of waiting will be needed to fully restore productivity.

In the wake of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season’s record-setting catastrophic loss year and in response to the increased demand of capital adequacy and requirements, sidecars gained popularity in the (re)insurance market as an important strategic tool.

As we find ourselves in the midst of a series of catastrophic natural disasters, now seems like a good time to take stock of the catastrophe bond market so far this year.

Following recent hurricanes we have all seen the catastrophic damage to homes, businesses, and communities. We hear less, however, about the increased risks to health.

I was recently asked what I thought about the impact of Hurricane Irma on loss adjustment expenses (LAE). I have spent a lot of time looking at post-catastrophe loss inflation in the past few years.