Latest Hurricane Headlines
All the headlines from our Hurricane Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S. Fla. Forecaster Suggests Link Between Hurricane Behavior, May Rainfall
Apr 28 2005 // A link between the behavior of hurricanes and the amount of rain that falls in South Florida in May has been suggested by Jim Lushine, a meteorologist and weather forecaster at the National Weather Service in...
EQECAT Issues U.S Hurricane Model Challenge
Apr 26 2005 // Richard Clinton, president of Oakland Calif.-based EQECAT, a leading authority on extreme-risk modeling, announced an initiative aimed at comparing its models of the 2004 hurricane events for Florida exposure against the...
Crawford & Co. Reports a Disappointing First Quarter
Apr 25 2005 // Atlanta-based Crawford & Co., a large independent provider of claims management solutions to insurance companies and self-insured entities has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31,...
Simulated Exercises Teach Homeowners How to Prepare for Hurricanes
Apr 22 2005 // Widespread hurricanes have blown through several Florida cities during the past several days, and Hurricane Armando, a simulated hurricane, is expected to hit Tallahassee April 23. Florida American Red Cross and Emergency...
Fla. ‘Sales Tax Holiday’ Proposed to Encourage Hurricane Preparations
Apr 21 2005 // With the beginning of the hurricane season six weeks away, Florida residents are scurrying to be ready to batten-down-the-hatches: Florida legislators are about to pass a “sales tax holiday” to enable consumers...
University Researchers Design Computer Model to Predict Hurricane Damages
Apr 21 2005 // A computer modeling system has been developed by two university researchers to predict the annual damage done by hurricanes, based on wind patterns over the land and sea in July, to predict whether damages will be greater...
Fla. Legislature Mulls Over Insurance Proposals, Sessions End in Three Weeks
Apr 20 2005 // With three weeks remaining before the end of the 2005 sessions of the Florida Legislature, it appears that only a few insurance-related proposals have made it through the process of elimination. Remaining proposals...
Fla. Homeowners Have Money, But Contractors, Roofers Unavailable to Make Repairs
Apr 19 2005 // April 18 was the deadline for insurers to finish processing and paying off 1.69 million hurricane damage claims across Florida, but they still have nine days to go before they have to tell the state how many claims remain...
The Legislature Devours the Pie
Apr 18 2005 // Everyone seems to want a piece of the insurance industry pie! As this issue went to press, Senate Bill 1488, which would create a single Florida-wide territory map and eliminate individual rate territories based on...
Florida’s CFO, Jupiter, Fla. Homeowners Discuss Unpaid Hurricane Claims; Final Meeting Slated April 9
Apr 8 2005 // Thursday night, six months after Hurricane Jeanne hit the east coast, Tom Gallagher, Florida’s CFO, met for the sixth in a series of seven town hall meetings to discuss unpaid claims with 250 homeowners in Jupiter,...
Fla. Legislation Would Require Insurance Companies to Disclose ‘Hurricane-Preparedness’ Discounts
Apr 8 2005 // Legislation now working its way through the Florida House and Senate would require insurance companies to disclose discounts they offer for policyholders who make their homes more resistant to hurricane winds. At present,...
Expert Predicts 13 Named Storms, Seven Hurricanes
Apr 5 2005 // An active storm season with 13 named storms this year has been predicted by Colorado State University researcher William Gray. The hurricane expert, who has been making such forecasts for 22 years, said he expects seven...
Single Territory Map Plan Struck From Fla. House Bill, Remains in Senate Version
Apr 4 2005 // A proposal which would create a single Florida-wide territory map and eliminate individual rate territories based on predicted hurricane risks and expected loss models was removed from House hurricane legislation last...
Hurricane Victims Need Help!
Apr 4 2005 // When I attended the Florida Department of Financial Services town hall meeting in Orlando I got a glimpse of what many insurance agents must have encountered after last year’s hurricanes–how the heck did you...
Pleas for Help Made at Orlando Town Hall Meetings; Gallagher to Suggest ‘Standard’ Policies
Apr 4 2005 // Tom Gallagher, Florida’s CEO and House Insurance Committee Chair Rep. Dennis A. Ross, R-Lakeland, listened intently to hurricane-related complaints–from families with nowhere to live, to homeowners with $500...
South Central Homeowners Market Update
Apr 4 2005 // Judging from the homeowners insurance rate changes reported by the Arkansas Insurance Department for 2004, the highest increases were effective before August. The largest hike, 28.3 percent, was filed by Federal Insurance...
Homeowners Want ‘Uncovered Perils’ Clarified; Fla. Legislators Won’t Budge
Apr 1 2005 // Homeowners with outstanding claims for hurricane damage and their attorneys, insurance company lobbyists and Florida’s House Insurance Committee members all disagree about if an insurance company is liable if a...
Q4 Rescues Hannover Re 2004 Profits from Hurricanes
Mar 30 2005 // Germany’s Hannover Re Group reported 309.1 million euros ($400 million) net after tax income for 2004, down 12.9 percent from 2003’s 354.8 million euros ($459.8 million). The company’s earnings report,...
Fla. Senate Committee Postpones Insurance Bill Until Next Week; Industry Hopes for ‘More Balanced’ Approach
Mar 30 2005 // Insurance industry representatives hope the announcement of the postponement until next week of an insurance bill now before the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee signals that a “more balanced” bill will...
Fitch Says P/C Views Record U.S. Catastrophe Losses in 2004, However Profitability Moves Up
Mar 30 2005 // The U.S. property and casualty industry posted stronger underwriting results and profitability in 2004 relative to 2003, despite sharp increases in catastrophe losses for many market participants related to the...
