A significant severe weather outbreak has affected areas from East Texas to the Florida Peninsula to South Carolina. These severe thunderstorms were enabled in an especially favorable environment to produce reports of tornadoes, hail and nontornadic wind gusts. One significant tornado has been confirmed by the National Weather Service to affect areas of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Probable significant tornadoes have also been reported in South Georgia. Significant property damage has been reported for areas affected by these tornadoes. Media reports also indicate downed trees and powerlines with light property damage in areas affected by other weaker tornadoes and nontornadic wind gusts. At least 19 fatalities have been reported by the media, and our first thoughts and concerns are with those directly affected by this event.

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James Waller, Ph.D, Research Meteorologist

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A recent New York Times article titled “Conditions That Form More Hurricanes Also Protect U.S., Study Finds” (1) notes a hurricane “shield” for the U.S. coast during busy hurricane seasons. The article, based on recent research by James Kossin, (2) provides valuable insight, including some notes of caution from other experts in the field, but the observations should be treated with a moment of pause. Some key points to consider:

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Here is a look back at the top CAT-i stories for the year 2016.

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Wildfire activity has rendered severe impacts to areas of Sevier County, Tennessee including the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge areas. The fire activity began late Sunday on Chimney Tops Mountain as a 10 acre fire that grew at an extreme rate Monday evening due to strong, gusty winds. Wind gusts well in excess of 60 mph carried embers a considerable distance to start new fires in extremely dry vegetation from recent drought. Gusty winds also brought trees down onto powerlines sparking new fires in surrounding dry vegetation.

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A magnitude (Mw) 7.8 earthquake struck central New Zealand on November 13, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The quake occurred at 11:02 PM local time (11:02 UTC) about 93 kilometers (57 miles) north-northeast of Christchurch and about 215 kilometers (133 miles) southwest of Wellington.

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In the Northwest Pacific Basin, Typhoon Sarika and Super Typhoon Haima have recently affected areas of the Philippines, Vietnam and Mainland China. Both typhoons made landfall in the northern Philippines within a week, as a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Reported impacts in the northern Philippines have been especially severe, with reports of moderate to complete damage over areas of northern Luzon. Damage from wind, flooding and mudslides have been reported, together with reports of downed trees and powerlines.

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Brian C. Fischer, Managing Director, GC Analytics®

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Insurers have long embraced the concept of risk tolerances. In some cases, the risk tolerances were expressly stated in a company’s enterprise risk management (ERM) policy document or in other cases exhibited in the course of normal operations.

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Julia Chu, Managing Director

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The changes in today’s property and casualty (P&C) insurance marketplace present insurers with many challenges to capital management and risk transfer techniques. Insurers are compelled to leverage their capital positions to increase and diversify their market shares to an unprecedented degree.  Preserving the status quo is not an option for long-term viability.  Profitable growth is a key priority for companies seeking additional return.  Companies need to enter new lines of business or geographies strategically with proper analysis. Guy Carpenter offers proprietary analytical tools, intellectual capital and expertise to help companies determine and evaluate their growth plans while maintaining an acceptable level of risk and profitability.

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Here we review the top five CAT-i stories covering July through September of 2016.

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Hurricane Matthew became a rare Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. The hurricane followed the western edge of a subtropical ridge to inflict catastrophic damage to Haiti as a Category 4 hurricane before crossing eastern Cuba, and turning to the northwest through the Bahamas towards Florida.

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