North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Review: Sixteen tropical storms formed during the 2008 season, compared to the 1950 to 2007 average of 9.7, an increase of 65 percent. The season also witnessed the first tropical cyclone ever to make four landfalls in one state (i.e., Hurricane Fay, impacting Florida). Read the article >> Tropical Cyclones Making U.S. Landfall: Six ... Continue Reading »
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Atlantic Basin Tropical Cyclone Forecasts for 2009
Dr. Rebecca Cheetham, European Model Development Team, Instrat® Contact Colorado State University On December 10, 2008, Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray at Colorado State University released their forecast for the 2009 season, making predictions for somewhat above-average activity in the North Atlantic basin (based on the average 1950 to 2000 season). The team also ... Continue Reading »
Synopses of Significant Tropical Cyclones in 2008
Dr. Rebecca Cheetham, European Model Development Team, Instrat® Contact Of the 16 named storms in 2008, eight went on to make landfall in the United States and Caribbean and cause significant levels of damage (see map). ... Continue Reading »
Tropical Cyclones Making U.S. Landfall in 2008
Dr. Rebecca Cheetham, European Model Development Team, Instrat® Contact Six tropical cyclones made landfall in the United States in 2008. Edouard, Fay, and Hanna made U.S. landfall as tropical storms, while Dolly, Gustav, and Ike came ashore as Category 2 hurricanes. Hurricanes Dolly and Gustav both caused considerable amounts of damage, and Hurricane Ike has been provisionally ... Continue Reading »
2008 North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Review
Dr. Rebecca Cheetham, European Model Development Team, Instrat® Contact Sixteen tropical storms formed during the 2008 season, compared to the 1950 to 2007 average of 9.7,1 an increase of 65 percent. The season also witnessed the first tropical cyclone ever to make four landfalls in one state (i.e., Hurricane Fay, impacting Florida). Hurricane Ike was dramatically larger than ... Continue Reading »
Cats and Credit Push Prices Up
Global Reinsurance Review January 2009 Reinsurance rate increases were moderate on average at the January 1, 2009 renewal. The Guy Carpenter World Rate on Line (ROL) Index rose 8 percent, in response to the dual pressures of a financial catastrophe and the second most expensive property catastrophe year on record. The degree to which prices increased was tempered by large ... Continue Reading »
2008 Catastrophe Update
Julian Alovisi, Assistant Vice President, Instrat® Contact A record-setting Atlantic hurricane season and above-average manmade catastrophe losses put 2008 among the costliest years on record. While the economic downturn dominated the headlines throughout the year, lurking in the shadows was one of the most active hurricane seasons on record. Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, combined ... Continue Reading »
Switzerland: Catastrophe Reinsurance Market 2008
Hanspeter Hilfiker, Senior Vice President Contact 2008 Reinsurance Market Position Earthquake is covered through an Interkantonaler Rückversicherungs-Verband (IRV) fund in 18 of the 19 monopoly cantons. It has a total capacity of CHF2 billion (USD 1.8 billion). The earthquake coverage provided by the monopoly insurers is voluntary and does not require any additional premium. ... Continue Reading »
Nordic Region: Catastrophe Reinsurance Market 2008
Stefan Schneider, Assistant Vice President Contact 2008 Reinsurance Market Position All major catastrophe model vendors are active in the Nordic region and have models for windstorm. In 2008 RMS and EQECAT released new model versions. A significant change is that forestry exposure now is included in the models, which in the light of the Erwin loss in 2005 is considered to ... Continue Reading »
Germany: Catastrophe Reinsurance Market 2008
Stephanie Vogg, Vice President Contact 2008 Reinsurance Market Position For several years, catastrophe modeling has provided the basis for decisions on levels of reinsurance retentions and limits. All well-known modeling firms have products for modeling German storms. Some reinsurers also have developed in-house tools to estimate catastrophe exposure. The availability of new ... Continue Reading »
