http://alert.air-worldwide.com/feeds.svc/EventsALERT is AIR's Loss Estimates in Real Time, a service to AIR clients that provides information about natural perils in progress. An online tool to assess exposure to natural disasters and catastrophes like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, hail storms, winterstorms, floodalert_administrator@air-worldwide.comhttp://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=600&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=600&tp=31&c=1EarthquakeJust before noon local time—11:49 AM (3:49 UTC)—today, Monday, February 6, an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.7 struck the central Philippines in the narrow strait between the heavily populated islands of Negros and Cebu. The focal depth of the quake was recorded as approximately 20 km (12.4 miles) by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a depth considered to be shallow and therefore more likely to cause damage. Local authorities issued a “Level-2” tsunami warning for the region, but lifted it two hours later.2012-02-06T17:00:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=599&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=599&tp=31&c=1Extratropical CycloneWindstorm Andrea passed through the U.K. earlier this week, fast on the heels of Windstorm Ulli, which brought widespread travel and power disruptions to Scotland. Andrea— the first named European storm of 2012— formed southwest of Iceland on Tuesday, 3 January.2012-01-06T17:00:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=598&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=598&tp=31&c=1Extratropical CycloneWindstorm Ulli is passing through Scandinavia and is expected to dissipate as it moves over the Baltic Sea today. A class 2 weather warning from the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) is still in force indicating the possibility of “danger to the public, causing major damage to property and major disruptions in essential services.”2012-01-04T17:30:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=597&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=597&tp=31&c=1Extratropical CycloneWindstorm Dagmar has moved across Russia north of St. Petersburg and begun to dissipate, its hurricane-force winds having caused power outages, tree-downings, and landslides and other disruption across northern Scandinavia on Christmas Day and the early hours of today, December 27th. Some wind gusts reached 233 kilometers per hour (about 145 miles per hour), according to Norway’s Meteorological Institute, which is describing Dagmar as possibly the third worst wind storm to strike the country in the past 50 years.2011-12-27T20:30:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=596&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=596&tp=31&c=1Extratropical CycloneLate last week, winter storm Joachim developed over the Atlantic and became a severe extratropical cyclone over Western Europe. With a central pressure that reached as low as 963.8 mb and wind gusts exceeding 150 km/h, the storm’s strength was akin to that of a weak hurricane. Joachim’s warm front carried warm and moist air into Europe, causing heavy rain and snow in combination with high winds. The storm caused power outages and travel disruption in France, Germany, and Switzerland.2011-12-20T13:15:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=595&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=595&tp=31&c=1Tropical CycloneTropical Storm Washi pummeled the northern part of the Philippine island of Mindanao late Thursday night. Heavy rainfall from Washi (locally called Sendong) lasted for ten hours, after which flash flooding caused rivers to overflow and coastal cities to flood. In some locations of Mindanao, as much as 20 centimeters of rain fell within a 24 hour period—roughly four times as much rainfall as the region typically receives in the whole of December. In isolated locations, the storm delivered up to 50 millimeters of rainfall per hour—about 10 to 20 millimeters more than had been predicted by the region’s local weather agency. Entire villages were swept away.2011-12-20T11:00:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=594&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=594&tp=31&c=1Extratropical CycloneWindstorm Friedhelm has passed into Scandinavia today after wreaking havoc across Ireland and the UK yesterday with hurricane-force gusts and heavy precipitation. The UK Met Office issued a Red Alert for the region, its strongest warning, characterizing the storm as the worst to hit the northern UK in ten years. The storm’s impact was felt most heavily in parts of northern England and throughout Scotland, where the strongest winds were measured—gusts as high as 165 miles per hour.2011-12-09T18:15:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=592&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=592&tp=31&c=1FloodHeavy rains have caused widespread flooding in France and Italy during the first week of November after a low pressure system that developed over the Mediterranean Sea moved northwards, bringing high levels of precipitation. In France last week, flood warnings were issued throughout the Riviera and westward along regions near the Pyrenees Mountains. As of yesterday, 12 French regions remained on high alert amid reports that the flooding has affected approximately 2,300 people in the Var and Alpes-Maritimes Départements of France—where at least 750 people have reportedly been evacuated.2011-11-14T17:45:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=585&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=585&tp=31&c=1FloodSince Tropical Storm Nock-Ten dropped heavy precipitation at the start of this year’s monsoon season, persistently heavy rains have resulted in Thailand’s most severe flooding in 50 years. In the north and central plains, the damage has been predominantly to residential properties and to agriculture. The major cost of the flooding, however, is a result of disruption to manufacturing and supply chains.2011-11-09T14:30:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=584&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=584&tp=31&c=1EarthquakeOn Saturday evening at 10:53 pm local time, Oklahoma experienced the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the state. With a magnitude of 5.6 and a focal depth of just three miles below the surface, the earthquake was centered about 44 miles east of Oklahoma City, the state’s capital and largest city (population 580,000 in 2010). A foreshock of M4.7 had struck 21 hours earlier. Together with numerous aftershocks, residents of Oklahoma were subjected to nearly two dozen earthquakes over the weekend.2011-11-07T16:00:00-05:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=583&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=583&tp=31&c=1EarthquakeA magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred near the coast of central Peru today at 18:54 UTC (1:54 pm local time). According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake occurred at a depth of approximately 20 miles. The epicenter was about 180 miles (286 kilometers) south-southeast of the capital Lima.2011-10-29T16:00:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=581&tp=66&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=581&tp=66&c=1Tropical CycloneAs of the National Hurricane Center’s 10:00 AM CDT advisory today, Rina has weakened further still after undergoing significant degradation yesterday. Rina is now a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, down from 85 mph yesterday. The storm is currently 90 miles south of Cozumel, Mexico, and 100miles east-northeast of Chetumal. Rina is a relatively small system; its tropical storm-force winds extend outward 85 miles. The storm is moving slowly northwest, at 6 mph.2011-10-27T12:15:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=581&tp=64&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=581&tp=64&c=1Tropical CycloneAs of the National Hurricane Center’s 12:30 PM CDT advisory today, Hurricane Rina has weakened more quickly than had been anticipated on its path toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Rina is now a Category 1 hurricane. The storm is currently 180 miles south-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico and 190 miles east-southeast of Chetumal, Mexico. Maximum sustained winds are 85 mph, down from 105 mph last night. Rina’s hurricane-force winds extend outward 25 miles from the center; tropical storm-force winds extend outward 115 miles. The storm is churning very slowly west-northwest at 6 mph.2011-10-26T17:45:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=582&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=582&tp=31&c=1FloodTorrential rainfall has caused widespread disruption and damage on both sides of the Irish Sea, although the Dublin area has been the hardest hit. The flooding was triggered by an active frontal wave moving north through eastern Ireland. This marked the boundary between warm and humid air from southern Europe, and colder air from the Atlantic Ocean. This frontal rainband moved northwards, bringing copious amounts of precipitation in a short period of time. 2011-10-26T16:17:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=581&tp=54&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=581&tp=54&c=1Tropical CycloneHurricane Rina, the 17th named storm and the 6th hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, is on course toward the resort-lined coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The Category 2 storm has caused widespread disruption to cruise itineraries in the Caribbean, and the Mexican government has issued a hurricane warning for the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula from Punta Gruesa to Cancun. Officials have initiated widespread storm preparations. Rina is not expected to affect oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.2011-10-25T14:00:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=580&tp=62&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=580&tp=62&c=1EarthquakeAIR estimates that insured losses from the M7.2 earthquake that struck eastern Turkey Sunday, October 23rd, near the city of Van will be between 100 million TRY (55 million USD) and 300 million TRY (170 million USD). The range in losses results from uncertainties that exist in estimating earthquake source parameters (e.g., magnitude, rupture length, depth, dipping angle, etc.).2011-10-24T18:45:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=580&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=580&tp=31&c=1EarthquakeIt is still in the early aftermath of yesterday's earthquake that struck near the city of Van in eastern Turkey, and damage assessments are only just emerging. Damage in the cities of Van and Ercis is widespread, and aftershocks, of which there have been more than 200, remain a concern. The U.S. Geological Survey has issued a moment magnitude estimate of 7.2 for the event and a relatively shallow focal depth of 20 km, which will have exacerbated the damage.2011-10-24T17:45:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=579&tp=62&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=579&tp=62&c=1Tropical CycloneAfter striking a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s Pacific coast on October 11 as a Category 2 hurricane, Jova weakened as it traveled inland towards the north, dissipating late last night over the state of Nayarit. Because it was a small storm and weakened to tropical storm strength within 12 hours of landfall, damage from Jova’s winds has been limited. However, heavy rainfall, which began as Jova’s outer rain bands approached the coast prior to landfall and is finally subsiding after the storm’s dissipation, has caused serious flooding and landslides in parts of Colima and Jalisco.2011-10-13T14:45:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=579&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=579&tp=31&c=1Tropical CycloneHurricane Jova made landfall as a Category 2 storm in a sparsely populated stretch of the Mexican state of Jalisco, near the town of Chamela at 23:00 local time yesterday (6:00 UTC today). Maximum sustained winds at landfall were nearly 100 mph, as originally forecast. High waves and heavy rain were also reported. Today, Jova’s most significant threat is that from precipitation; even prior to making landfall, Jova’s outer rain bands brought heavy rainfall to Mexico’s southwest coast.2011-10-12T12:02:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=579&tp=64&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=579&tp=64&c=1Tropical CycloneWith its outer rain bands already bringing heavy rainfall to Mexico’s southwest coast, Hurricane Jova is poised to make landfall as a strong Category 2 hurricane in Jalisco state this afternoon or early evening between the port city of Manzanillo in Colima state in the south and the resort city of Puerto Vallarta in the north. The coastline in this region is dotted with popular beach resorts. The National Hurricane Center said that Jova has weakened since yesterday and that its maximum sustained winds currently are 100 miles per hour with higher gusts, a strong Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.2011-10-11T16:30:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=579&tp=54&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=579&tp=54&c=1Tropical CycloneJova, the ninth hurricane of the eastern Pacific season and the tenth named storm, is 250 miles southwest of the port city of Manzanillo (population 100,000) in the state of Colima, Mexico. As of the National Hurricane Center’s 8:00 a.m. PDT advisory today, the storm is tracking east at 5 mph. Having undergone significant intensification overnight, maximum sustained winds are now 125 mph with higher gusts.2011-10-10T14:30:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=578&tp=54&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=578&tp=54&c=1Tropical CycloneTyphoon Nalgae is the nineteenth named tropical cyclone of the 2011 Northwest Pacific typhoon season, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Nalgae (named “Quiel” by the Philippines state weather bureau, PAGASA) formed on September 24 east of Guam from an area of convection with a weak low-level circulation center. Over the next several days, Nalgae became better organized under moderate vertical wind shear and high sea surface temperatures of 29°C–30°C. It strengthened to tropical storm strength and was named by the JMA on September 26. A deep subtropical ridge—the same ridge that steered Typhoon Nesat to a landfall in the Philippines earlier this week—is limiting poleward movement, keeping Nalgae on a nearly due west course. The storm is expected to make landfall in Cagayan province on Saturday morning, local time.2011-09-30T13:30:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=577&tp=62&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=577&tp=62&c=1Tropical CycloneTyphoon Nesat made landfall as a moderate Category 1 storm on the northeastern corner of the island of Hainan at 2:30 pm local time (6:30 UTC) Thursday, near the city of Wenchang in Wengtian Township. Its maximum sustained wind speeds at the time were 135 km/h. After crossing the northeastern tip of the island and moving along Hainan’s northern coast, Nesat turned sharply north, crossed the narrow (25 km) Qiongshou Strait, and made a second China landfall on the western coast of the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong province. Nesat is the 17th typhoon of the 2011 season, and the strongest to strike China this year.2011-09-29T17:15:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=577&tp=31&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=577&tp=31&c=1Tropical CycloneTyphoon Nesat (known locally as “Pedring”) made landfall in the eastern Isabela and Aurora provinces on the Pacific coast of the Philippines at 18:21 GMT Monday, September 26 with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kilometers per hour), making it a category 2 typhoon. Nesat came ashore exactly two years after Typhoon Ketsana, the most devastating typhoon for the Philippines in the 2009 Pacific typhoon season.2011-09-27T17:00:00-04:00http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=576&tp=72&c=1http://alert.air-worldwide.com/EventSummary.aspx?e=576&tp=72&c=1Tropical CycloneTyphoon Roke, the 15th named storm of the 2011 Northwest Pacific typhoon season, made landfall near Japan’s Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture at 2:00 pm local time (05:00 UTC) on September 21st. Maximum sustained winds at landfall were 180 km/h, making Roke a strong Category 2 storm. After crossing more than 350 kilometers of the main Japanese island of Honshu—during which time it was undergoing extratropical transition and its winds were weakening to about 150 km/h—Roke moved out to sea in the North Pacific Ocean, where it has since further weakened.2011-09-22T17:15:00-04:00