News Clips - August 15, 2023
August 15, 2023
National Weather Service confirms 5 tornadoes touched down in Ohio during Saturday storms
The Columbus Dispatch, August 14, 2023
Storms that rumbled through Ohio on Saturday produced five confirmed tornadoes across the state that brought down tree limbs and damages garage roofs but caused no reported injuries. The National Weather Service in Wilmington said EF 1 tornadoes, with winds reaching 90 mph, that touched down in Kenton in Hardin County, as well as in Athens, Marion and Belmont counties. A EF 0 tornado also was confirmed to have touched down in Holmes County. In Hardin County, the tornado touched down around 12:46 p.m. The National Weather Service said the tornado had estimated maximum wind speeds of about 90 mph and it was on the ground for just over two miles, lasting about six minutes.
The tornado in Marion County touched down around 1:08 p.m. Saturday in Marseilles and was on the ground for slightly more than one-tenth of a mile, lasting about one minute. The tornado in Belmont County, the first confirmed in that county since 1950, is believed to have gained a maximum wind speed of about 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Read More
NAIC Weighs Overriding Credit-Rating Companies
Insurance Journal, August 14, 2023
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is gearing up to challenge credit graders by overruling ratings on certain assets bought by insurance companies.
The NAIC, a consortium of state regulators that sets standards for the insurance industry, is considering overruling the ratings provided by companies such as Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings with their own valuation of an asset, according to an April summary. The proposal will be discussed before the NAIC’s Valuation of Securities Task Force, a group consisting of state representatives, on Monday.
If enacted, the new process, which is likely to stick to more conservative risk evaluations, has the potential to alter the ratings of hundreds of assets insurance companies buy, according to the NAIC. The in-house credit analysis would apply to so-called outlier assets, or those with ratings discrepancies of at least three notches from different credit rating providers. In some cases, the differences can be five notches or more, according to the organization.
