Latest Hurricane Headlines
All the headlines from our Hurricane Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Hurricane Fund May Come Up Short If Big Storm Hits: Panel
May 14 2012 // Florida may not have enough money to pay off hurricane insurance claims if a big storm hits this year. An advisory panel last Thursday concluded that the state may fall nearly $2 billion short of the total needed to cover...
Virginia Hurricane-Prep Sales Tax Break Starts May 25
May 10 2012 // Virginians who want to stock up on batteries, bottled water and other supplies for the hurricane season will get a tax break this month. Starting May 25 and continuing for seven days, a sales tax holiday will spare them...
Louisiana Commissioner: Property Insurance Market Has Recovered
May 10 2012 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon told an Alexandria civil club that the state’s property insurance market is “more competitive than ever.” The Town Talk reports Donelon spoke on May 8 to the...
Florida Approves Hurricane Shelter Plan
May 10 2012 // The construction of new public schools across Florida has contributed to a significant increase in the number of hurricane shelter spaces, according to a plan approved this week by Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida...
Massachusetts to Host Hurricane Preparedness Conference
May 7 2012 // Hundreds of emergency management and public safety officials from across Massachusetts are meeting this week for a hurricane preparedness conference. The all-day conference hosted by the state Emergency Management Agency...
Swiss Re in New $400 Million Nat Cat Bond for Europe, U.S. Wind Risks
May 7 2012 // Swiss Re Ltd. Announced that it has secured $400 million in natural catastrophe coverage through a newly-formed issuer Mythen Ltd., which it described as a “flexible program that allows Swiss Re to cede wind risks in...
AAMGA President Chaffin Stresses Need for Perpetuation; Cites Effect of Revised Catastrophe Model on E&S Business
May 7 2012 // Relationships are important to the success of any insurance business, but it’s perpetuation that matters most when it comes to survival. R.C. Chaffin, president and CEO of Coral Gables, Fla.-based SeaCoast...
Rate Hike Proposal Goes to TWIA Board
May 7 2012 // In advance of the June 1 start of hurricane season, the actuarial underwriting committee of Texas’ property insurer of last resort for coastal counties is recommending a rate increase. The committee on April 20...
Fewer Storms for 2012 Hurricane Season?
May 7 2012 // The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season is projected to be less active than in recent years with 11 tropical storms, six of which will intensify into hurricanes, according to Andover, Md.-based private forecaster Weather...
Rate Hike Proposal Sent to Board of Texas Windstorm Insurer
Apr 27 2012 // In advance of the start of hurricane season, the actuarial underwriting committee of Texas’ property insurer of last resort for coastal counties is recommending a rate increase. The committee on April 20 voted for a...
Fewer Storms Forecast for 2012 Hurricane Season
Apr 26 2012 // The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season is projected to be less active than in recent years with 11 tropical storms, six of which will intensify into hurricanes, U.S. private forecaster Weather Services International said on...
Fewer Storms Forecast for 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Apr 25 2012 // Fewer Storms Forecast for 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season is projected to be less active than in recent years with 11 tropical storms, six of which will intensify into hurricanes, U.S....
Hurricane Recovery Money Redirected to Superdome Upgrades
Apr 23 2012 // The Jindal administration has gotten permission to redirect federal hurricane recovery money from housing aid programs to Superdome upgrades. Federal approval was discussed on April 19 in the Senate Finance Committee and...
Severe Weather Has Home Insurers Rethinking Coverages
Apr 10 2012 // As weather disasters strike with more frequency, U.S. homeowners first get hit with the destruction or total loss of property. Many are then hit with the unexpected loss of homeowners insurance policies as insurance...
Tiny Gulf Coast Town Struggling with Ike Recovery
Apr 2 2012 // Every spring, Karen Littlejohn boxes up her family’s winter clothes in their FEMA trailer, shuttles them to a tiny, dank room at church, places them beside the other contents of her life, and thinks, “Next...
Louisiana Congressman Objects to Shifting Recovery Money to Dome
Mar 30 2012 // A New Orleans U.S. representative from the New Orleans area has objected to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal administration’s plan to redirect federal hurricane recovery money from housing aid programs to Superdome...
Nix the Tape on Home Windows, Say Hurricane Officials
Mar 29 2012 // Officials with the National Hurricane Center had a message this week for residents living in hurricane-prone areas: Don’t tape your windows. Center officials are joining with a consumer advocate group at the National...
$370 Billion Econ. Losses for 2011; $116 Billion Insured, Says Swiss Re
Mar 28 2012 // Although everyone is more or less aware that 2011 was a very bad year for losses from natural catastrophes, the figures compiled by Swiss Re evince just how bad they actually were. In its latest sigma study the reinsurer...
FEMA Director: Private Sector Needs ‘Seat at the Table’ in Disaster Response
Mar 28 2012 // The private sector should be engaged early and often in preparing for and responding to natural disasters like hurricanes, the top U.S. emergency management official says. Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal...
Alabama Has Not Yet Addressed Home Insurance Costs, Availability
Mar 26 2012 // Gov. Robert Bentley has not yet kept a campaign promise he made in 2010 to have the Legislature address the rising cost and declining availability of homeowners’ insurance in Alabama. Almost a year has passed since...
