Weather Risk

Damage caused by the massive storm system responsible for deadly tornadoes, including the one that struck Moore, Okla., has renewed the argument over a potential link between severe weather and climate change.

The storm system that produced deadly tornadoes this past week, including the one that leveled Moore, Okla., is expected to cause between $2 billion and $5 billion in insured property losses, according to catastrophe modeler Eqecat.

The National Resources Defense Council says private insurers are turning away from climate-change risks, sending an unmistakeable signal that such risks are increasing and that costs to society are climbing, but an insurance industry association disputed some of the figures used to arrive at that assumption.

A relentless drought, tenacious wildfires, extreme weatherover the past year, all of these have plagued the U.S. agricultural business, leading to lingering uncertainty for farmers and the agents and brokers that serve them.

Six months after Sandy, it's clear that we don't just need better claims. We need better risk financing.

Before Superstorm Sandy struck New Jersey and New York, the storm made a turn to the northwest toward land, rattling the ocean floor and setting off seismometers across the U.S., according to University of Utah researchers.