Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Floridians Concerned About Disaster Recovery, Hurricane Deductibles: Survey
Sep 17 2020 // As Hurricane Sally bears down on the Gulf Coast, a new survey is highlighting the concerns many Florida residents have about the impact of catastrophic storms on their communities and everyday lives, as well as if they are...
U.S. Gulf Inundated by Massive Floods from Hurricane Sally
Sep 16 2020 // Hurricane Sally slammed the U.S. Gulf Coast with high winds and heavy rains on Wednesday, turning coastal towns into lakes in the latest in a busy season of dangerous storms in the United States. The storm landed as a...
3 Reasons People Don’t Buy Homeowners’ Insurance
Sep 16 2020 // I recently learned about two separate times when families lost everything when their homes burned. These are tragic losses and thankfully, the only things that were lost were replaceable items. No one got hurt, but they...
Hurricane Sally Makes Landfall on Alabama’s Gulf Coast
Sep 16 2020 // Hurricane Sally made landfall on Alabama’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday morning as a Category Two hurricane, spreading strong winds inland across southeastern Alabama and western Florida. Upon landfall, winds were clocked...
Florida Couple Accused of Hurricane Irma Disaster Assistance Fraud
Sep 15 2020 // A Florida husband and wife have been charged with lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma. Christina Catalano, 38, and Joseph Catalano, 54, both of Holiday, were arrested Sept. 9, according to federal court...
Florida Bars Reopening at 50% Capacity
Sep 14 2020 // Florida bars will be allowed to reopen at 50% capacity starting Monday, state officials announced Thursday. At the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Halsey...
Hurricane Irma’s ‘Last Gasp’: 3-Year Claims Deadline Put to the Test
Sep 10 2020 // It’s been 3 years since Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, and the trail of damage left in its wake is still being felt across the state today, particularly by the insurance industry as it...
Hospitals, Nursing Homes Fail to Separate COVID Patients, Putting Others at Risk
Sep 10 2020 // Nurses at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center were on edge as early as March when patients with COVID-19 began to show up in areas of the hospital that were not set aside to care for them. The Centers for Disease Control and...
Police Investigating Explosion in Florida Industrial Park
Sep 9 2020 // UPDATE: This story has been updated with additional details. Police shut down a section of U.S. 1 in central Florida Tuesday due to fires from an explosion. Palm Bay police said in a Twitter post that officers were...
3.8M Earthquake Rattles Residents on Alabama-Florida State Line
Sep 8 2020 // No damage was reported after a weak earthquake occurred along the Alabama-Florida line Thursday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 3.8 quake happened just after 10 a.m. north of Mount Carmel,...
FAIA Chief Grady Says Goodbye, Shares Top Moments in 22-Year Career
Sep 7 2020 // Jeff Grady For 22 years, the Florida Association of Insurance Agents has been led by Jeff Grady, president and chief executive officer, who admits that when he started all those years ago he did not expect to “fall...
Federal Judge Dismisses Florida Dentist’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Claim
Sep 4 2020 // A federal judge in Florida has dismissed a suit for business interruption insurance payments by a Florida dentist who claimed the damages were caused by COVID-19 virus and related civil authority shutdowns of dental...
Florida Workers’ Comp Rates Going Down, Again
Sep 4 2020 // The downward trend for Florida workers’ compensation rates is set to continue next year thanks to favorable loss experiences from policy years 2017 and 2018. The latest filing from the National Council on...
Workers at Florida Utility Company Sickened by Hazmat Situation
Sep 4 2020 // Three people doing maintenance work at an Orlando Utility Company power plant were taken to a hospital Wednesday morning after they came in contact with sulfur dioxide, officials said. Crews were called to the Stanton...
South Florida Eases Coronavirus Restrictions on Restaurants, Tattoo Parlors
Sep 3 2020 // Some coronavirus restrictions started easing up Monday in parts of South Florida. In Miami-Dade County, restaurants were allowed to welcome back diners to indoor seating for the first time in almost two months, provided...
Florida Moratorium on Residential Evictions, Foreclosures Extended
Sep 2 2020 // Scores of Floridians struggling with rents and mortgages were given another reprieve when Gov. Ron DeSantis again extended a moratorium against residential evictions and foreclosures. The governor did so Monday night, just...
Florida High Court Rejects Strems Bid to Dissolve Suspension; Contempt Petition Filed
Sep 2 2020 // A Florida attorney accused of causing great public harm through a “vast campaign of unprofessional, unethical, and fraudulent conduct,” by way of thousands of insurer lawsuits has lost his latest battle to...
Florida Borrows $2.25B for Hurricane Fund While Rates Are Low
Sep 1 2020 // With hurricane season barreling down on Florida, the state is seizing on low interest rates to borrow $2.25 billion for its catastrophe insurance fund. The State Board of Administration Finance Corp. is joining state and...
What Tampa Bay’s Worst-Case Scenario, ‘Hurricane Phoenix’ Could Look Like
Aug 31 2020 // It is only a simulation. It’s also the worst-case scenario. One day, it could be reality. “Hurricane Phoenix” is the hypothetical disaster that would change life in the Tampa Bay area forever. Imagine a...
Sidewalk Collapse in Florida Kills Worker, Injures 3 Firefighters
Aug 31 2020 // A county worker was killed and three firefighters were injured after a sidewalk in a Florida suburb collapsed on Friday. The Seminole County Fire Department tweeted that firefighters responded to a report of a trapped...
