Catastrophe & Restoration

Insurance companies have paid more than $509 million on nearly 15,000 residential, personal and commercial claims filed after the Joplin, Mo. tornado May 22.

An estimated 9,500 claims resulting from June 1 tornadoes that devastated several Mass. communities may total up to $175 million.

Bermuda's Hiscox and Montpelier Re, as well as Luxembourg's Flagstone Re, say second quarter severe weather in the U.S. cost them each tens of millions of dollars. Hiscox's estimate of losses from the Japan earthquake is now at the high end of its range.

Bermuda's Hiscox and Montpelier Re, as well as Luxembourg's Flagstone Re, say second quarter severe weather in the U.S. cost them each tens of millions of dollars. Hiscox's estimate of losses from the Japan earthquake is now at the high end of its range.

The Atlantic season's first tropical storm hit Mexico's central Gulf coast Thursday, hurling heavy rains over a wide swath of the country.

The thunderstorms in the U.S. that struck from May 20 to May 27 may have caused between $4 billion and $7 billion in insured losses, according to catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide.

Two industry-supported bills that would provide federal financial incentives to strengthen homes against major storms were introduced in the House the first week of June.

It has been reported that a number of the people injured as a result of the Joplin tornado have been infected with a deadly fungal infection, mucormycosis.