Latest Hurricane Headlines

All the headlines from our Hurricane Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Louisiana Citizens Seeking Increased Credit for Storm Season

Jul 22 2013 // As the peak of hurricane season approaches, the governing board for Louisiana’s property insurer of last resort agreed to boost its bank line of credit, to give the company enough money to cover costs in case of a...

Louisiana Clarifies Insured Loss Estimate from Hurricane Katrina

Jul 18 2013 // A recent report by financial website Kiplinger rated Louisiana as the most disaster prone state in the nation. News reports on this story have cited loss estimates of $3 billion for Hurricane Katrina and $2 billion for...

Alabama Officials Practice for Hurricane Season

Jul 18 2013 // Alabama Emergency Management Agency officials received an early wake-up call Tuesday and were told that a hurricane named Juliet had made landfall about 2 a.m. near Pascagoula, Miss. Hurricane Juliet wasn’t real, but...

North Carolina Residual Market Issues $500 Million in Cat Bonds; Rate Hikes Go Into Effect

Jul 16 2013 // North Carolina’s two residual homeowners insurance markets have jointly issued $500 million in pre-event catastrophe bonds to ensure they have enough money on hand to quickly pay claims following hurricanes and other...

North Carolina Begins Surveying Outer Banks Residents on Evacuation

Jul 15 2013 // State and federal emergency officials will survey hundreds of Outer Banks residents to find out if they would ever evacuate for a hurricane so they can estimate how crowded roads will be when people are told to leave ahead...

Tropical Storm Chantal May Form in Atlantic This Week

Jul 7 2013 // Tropical Storm Chantal strengthened as it moved west across the Atlantic toward the Lesser Antilles, including the islands of Martinique and Saint Lucia, on a track that may take it east of Florida, the U.S. National...

Assurant Finalizes 2013 P/C Reinsurance Program

Jul 2 2013 // Assurant, Inc., a provider of specialized insurance and insurance-related products and services, has finalized the structure of the company’s 2013 Property Catastrophe Reinsurance Program, including $185 million of...

How Catastrophe Experts Model Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge

Jul 1 2013 // The 2004 and 2005 North Atlantic hurricane seasons were a turning point in the way the property/casualty insurance industry viewed hurricane risk. The needs of the insurance industry required catastrophe models to...

The Disaster Issue – Where Insurers Fear to Tread

Jul 1 2013 // One storm is all it takes these days. Anyone who’s been paying attention needn’t be reminded that even a post-tropical cyclone can cause major damage. That’s what Sandy was when she came on shore in New...

Florida Panel Certifies Latest AIR Hurricane Model Release

Jun 25 2013 // The Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology (FCHLPM) has certified the latest version of AIR Worldwide’s hurricane model. The commission has been certifying models for use by insurers for...

Florida Taxpayers Owe Binnun a Debt of Gratitude

Jun 19 2013 // Florida’s state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. announced earlier this week that Chief Financial Officer Sharron Binnun has resigned to take a job in the private sector. Her departure from Citizens is...

Claims Pros’ Own Survival Skills Tested in Oklahoma Tornadoes

Jun 17 2013 // Michael Pelonero came to Moore to help victims of the May 20th tornado. But he hadn’t planned on trying to outrun one. When a massive EF-5 twister cut a swath through the central Oklahoma suburb of Moore, it left 24...

Homeowners Struggle with Rising Insurance Costs

Jun 17 2013 // When Stan Virden moved into his 2,400-square-foot house overlooking a rock-lined canal in 1996, he paid less than $1,000 a year for homeowners insurance. Now, as he seeks to move to Atlanta to be near family, Virden says...

Insured Property Values in Coastal States Top $10 Trillion; Florida Has Most at Risk; Miami Ranks 2nd Among Metros

Jun 17 2013 // In separate reports AIR Worldwide and CoreLogic estimated insured property values in coastal areas of the United States reaching into the trillions of dollars. CoreLogic, focusing on residential properties exposed to storm...

U.S. Insurers Financially Prepared for Hurricanes in 2013: Fitch

Jun 7 2013 // There is sufficient capacity available in insurance and reinsurance markets to provide sufficient coverage and withstand potential losses from hurricane related perils this storm season, according to Fitch Ratings’...

Tropical Storm Andrea Weakens Over Florida After Fueling Tornadoes

Jun 6 2013 // Tropical Storm Andrea lost strength as it passed over northern Florida on Thursday evening and is forecast to drench much of the U.S. Southeast with heavy rain as it cuts across Georgia and swing up the Atlantic Coast, the...

Tropical Storm Andrea Hits Florida; Warnings Posted for Eastern U.S.

Jun 6 2013 // Tropical Storm Andrea pelted Florida’s northern Gulf Coast on Thursday and was forecast to drench much of the U.S. Southeast as it cuts across Georgia and up the Atlantic coast, the National Hurricane Center...

Louisiana Citizens Tweaks Claims Handling in Advance of Hurricane Season

Jun 5 2013 // Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. announced it has made significant enhancements to increase efficiency of claims filing, adjuster deployment and claims processing, in advance of the 2013 hurricane season. The...

N.Y. Assembly Approves a Flurry of Post-Sandy Insurance Reform Bills

Jun 5 2013 // The New York State Assembly approved on Tuesday a comprehensive post-Sandy insurance reform package comprised of 14 pieces of legislation. All approved measures now move to the state Senate for further consideration. The...

Alabama Hurricane Planners Confront Residents’ Fading Memories

Jun 5 2013 // Memories have faded since Hurricane Ivan slammed Alabama in 2004, the last time the state suffered a direct hit from a hurricane. Most of the damage is gone, replaced by new structures or empty lots along the beach. So...