Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Latest Storms May Finally Shift Focus to Disaster Mitigation by Local Communities
Oct 17 2018 // Hurricane Michael’s devastation could spur policymakers to better prepare vulnerable communities for the effects of climate change. The images of entire towns in Florida’s panhandle all but erased by storm...
Florida Red Tide Not Diminished by Hurricane Michael
Oct 17 2018 // Hurricane Michael failed to break up a patchy and toxic algae bloom that has lingered in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s shoreline for the last year, experts said Monday, meaning the red tide outbreak could continue...
Weaker Building Codes in Florida Panhandle Scrutinized After Michael
Oct 17 2018 // Unlike in South Florida, homes in the state’s Panhandle did not have tighter building codes until just 11 years ago; it was once argued that acres of forests would provide the region with a natural barrier against...
Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty Acquires Allstar Assurance of Florida
Oct 16 2018 // Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty, Inc. has acquired Allstar Assurance, headquartered in Weston, Fla. Allstar Assurance has been serving south Florida for over 14 years offering multi-line property and casualty...
Florida Orders Insurers to Halt Rate Hikes; Sets Up Hurricane Michael Claims Village
Oct 16 2018 // Florida’s insurance regulator has issued an emergency order that ensures “additional protections” to Florida policyholders – including freezing any rate hikes for 90 days – to support recovery efforts...
Rescuers Continue to Search Florida Towns Demolished by Hurricane Michael
Oct 15 2018 // Dozens of people remained missing on Sunday in Florida Panhandle communities reduced to ruins by Hurricane Michael as rescuers said they expected the death toll to rise and survivors grappled with power outages and...
Karen Clark: Hurricane Michael Losses Could Reach $8B
Oct 15 2018 // Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Co. (KCC) estimates insured losses from Hurricane Michael will be close to $8 billion, according to the KCC high resolution U.S. Hurricane Reference Model. This estimate includes...
Market Changes Not Expected From Hurricane Michael; Florida Insurers ‘Heavily’ Reinsured
Oct 15 2018 // Losses to the insurance industry from Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm that hit the Florida Panhandle before continuing a path of destruction through several other Southeast states, will be substantial but not enough...
People
Oct 15 2018 // EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants has tapped Josh Close as client services coordinator in the firm’s Birmingham, Ala.-based national energy construction practice, reporting to EPIC Principal Brian Tanner. Close...
2 Recent Florida Supreme Court Rulings Could Impact Industry
Oct 15 2018 // Two recent decisions from the Florida Supreme Court that reversed rulings by the same District Court of Appeal will have a serious impact on the insurance industry. The consequential rulings came on Sept. 20, 2018 in the...
Business Moves
Oct 15 2018 // Weinstein Insurance Services, NSI Insurance Group NSI Insurance Group has expanded its South Florida operations through a merger with Weinstein Insurance Services, an independent agency in Coral Gables, Fla. Weinstein...
Hurricane Michael’s Destruction in Photos
Oct 12 2018 // Images compiled by Insurance Journal show the devastation to the Florida Panhandle caused by Hurricane Michael, which hit the region Oct. 10 as a Category 4 storm. Loss estimates range from $3 to $9 billion, according to...
Insurers, Reinsurers Can Handle Hurricane Michael Losses: Fitch
Oct 12 2018 // The property/casualty re/insurance industry should be able to absorb the losses from Hurricane Michael, on top of losses from Hurricane Florence, as capital remains very strong, according to Fitch Ratings. Hurricane...
Rescuers Search for Survivors as Death Toll from Hurricane Michael Rises
Oct 12 2018 // Using heavy equipment to push aside debris and with helicopters circling overhead, rescuers in the Florida Panhandle searched for trapped residents as officials warned on Friday the death toll from HurricaneMichael was...
A.M. Best: Insurer Losses from Hurricane Michael Will Be ‘Significant’
Oct 12 2018 // Insurers, reinsurers and ILS investors could face significant losses from Hurricane Michael, a major Category 4 storm that began its assault on the Florida Panhandle Wednesday, according to a briefing from A.M. Best. Best...
Michael Leaves Path Of Destruction Through Florida Panhandle
Oct 11 2018 // Hurricane Michael’s assault on the Florida Panhandle left nothing more than empty foundations and heaps of rubble in some parts of the small towns it crashed into with near-record force. Communications outages and...
Reinsurers Including AIG’s Validus Await Hurricane Michael Claims
Oct 11 2018 // American International Group Inc.’s Brian Duperreault spent his first year as chief executive officer on a rebuilding effort, and his biggest acquisition is the one that can magnify the insurance giant’s...
After Battering Florida, Hurricane Michael Heads for Georgia, Carolinas
Oct 11 2018 // Hurricane Michael, the third most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. mainland, headed northeast on Thursday, weakened but still set to soak Georgia and the Carolinas after devastating the Florida Panhandle. A man was...
AIR: Hurricane Michael Strongest Storm to Hit Florida Panhandle on Record
Oct 10 2018 // Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm hitting Florida Wednesday with wind speeds of more than 150 miles per hour, is not just a major storm for the State of Florida, it is the strongest storm to hit the Florida Panhandle...
Georgia Insurance Chief Says to Prepare for Hurricane Michael; State of Emergency Issued
Oct 10 2018 // Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared a State of Emergency Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Michael, which was expected to slam Florida as a Category 4 storm then travel northeast towards Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday...
