The National Hurricane Service announced the first named story of the year, Subtropical Storm Andrea, yesterday. The NHC reported that Andrea, which is about 100 miles off the coast of Georgia, has sustained winds of 45 mph.

Hurricane season for the eastern Atlantic doesn’t officially start until June 1.

Experts warn the ruling will spur plaintiffs to sue smokestack industries for allegedly contributing to climate change, which in turn could be cited as the source of various torts, from Hurricane Katrina, to wildfires in drought-ravaged areas, to crop damage, and so on and so on.

Experts add that it is unlikely the plaintiffs will ultimately prevail, but that does not eliminate lengthy and costly litigation by defendants to avoid liability. And it does nothing to exonerate companies whose reputation has been damaged by such allegations in the court of public opinion.

At the Berkshire Hathway annual conference in Omaha, Nebraska, last weekend, Chairman Warren Buffet said that the risk of global warming causing more frequenct and severe hurricanes means that the company’s reinsurance subsdiary will charge more for the coverage in the future, reports MarketWatch.com

“On balance it’s probably getting more negative for us and we have to be careful. It would be crazy to offer catastrophe reinsurance at the same rate in 2007 as we did in 2006,” said Mr. Buffett, whose reinsurance operations are among the leading writers of property catastrophe reinsurance.

Now, however, Real Madrid management, president Ramón Calderón and manager Fabio Capello, say that following his plans to relocate to Hollywood, Beckham will never play for Real Madrid again, spending his remaining six months on the bench, trying to avoid injury from slivers, water bottles and boredom.

Money well spent? How do you say “refund” in Spanish?

Of particular interest was his closing prediction that we have not seen the end of cycles in the commercial property/casualty insurance market:

“You know the insurance industry has historically been a cyclical industry, especially the property and casualty industry. And after Katrina, many voices have said that after what’s taken place in Katrina now we’re going to change the future of the insurance industry. No more cycles. It will be a more stable industry.

“I predict that’s nonsense. There’ll continue to be cycles. The insurance industry’s run by people, and people don’t suddenly change that way of thinking and you’ll find cycles beginning all over again.”

Mr. Wynn’s suit arises from his frustration that Lloyd’s has not estimated the damage to the painting and made him an offer.

Lloyd’s says it usually works the other way around: You tell us what you think the claim is worth and we’ll let you know if we agree or disagree. In other words: give us your claim and we’ll poke holes in it.

Meanwhile, as it awaits Mr. Wynn’s claim, Lloyd’s reportedly has already agreed to finance restoration of the work, a 1932 painting titled “La Reve.”

After inspecting what remained after the blast, it was discovered the the box contained fire sprinkler parts destined for the ship as part of an upcoming refurbishment. Oops.

According to news repords, the bomb squad “determined the sprinkler parts contained a substance that ‘closely resembles’ plastic explosives,” specifically military-grade C4.

Risk managers planning a similar upgrade of their highly protected risk facilities might want to warn the mailroom.