Latest Hurricane Headlines
All the headlines from our Hurricane Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fla. Gubernatorial Hopefuls Focus on Rising Insurance Costs
Aug 31 2006 // Gerlinde Thomas doesn’t often get deeply involved in politics, and during a recent interview she wasn’t even 100 percent sure what party she’s in. “I think I’m a registered Democrat,”...
Plaintiffs Crowd La. Courthouse, Suing Insurers Just in Case
Aug 31 2006 // The line of people suing insurance companies – just in case something derails Louisiana’s one-year extension of the deadline for victims of last year’s hurricanes – spilled out of the clerk of...
La.’s Road Home Forced to Shut Down Online Applications
Aug 31 2006 // A Louisiana state agency doling out $7.5 billion in federal housing aid to hurricane victims shut down its online application system after it discovered personal information was inadvertently being shared with others. The...
UPDATE 4: Ernesto Gains Strength, Heads Toward the Carolinas
Aug 31 2006 // Ernesto may not be a hurricane, but it continues to be a very persistent tropical storm. After passing over Florida with a lot of rain and wind, but minimal damage, Ernesto has gained new strength with maximum sustained...
UPDATE 2: Weakened Ernesto Crosses Cuba; Florida on Watch
Aug 29 2006 // A significantly weaker Tropical Storm Ernesto crossed over the eastern Provinces of Cuba on Monday, bringing heavy rains. More than 500,000 people were evacuated from the region by authorities as a precaution, but so far...
Milwaukee Man Says He’d Still be Hooked on Drugs if Not for Hurricane
Aug 29 2006 // If Hurricane Katrina had not devastated New Orleans, James DeAngelis says he would still be there hooked on crack, cocaine, marijuana and alcohol _ his life for the past decade. After the hurricane, the 39-year-old ended...
A Year Later: La. Issues Updated Hurricane Katrina Insurance Figures
Aug 29 2006 // The Louisiana Department of Insurance has issued an updated statewide estimate of reported claims and insured losses paid-to-date (information as of July 31, 2006) for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. This...
One Year Later: Reflections on White House Handling of Katrina
Aug 29 2006 // Hurricane Katrina lashed President Bush’s image as a take-charge commander in chief when it battered and deluged the Gulf Coast. Ever since, the president has sought to overcome the political damage done when he...
Texas Insurers Say They Learned Lessons from Hurricane Katrina
Aug 29 2006 // Texas insurers were thankful that Hurricane Katrina avoided the state’s coastal property, but the storm provided the industry valuable lessons in dealing with future catastrophes. Hurricane Katrina forced companies...
UPDATE 1: Hurricane Ernesto Menaces Haiti, Cuba; Florida in Storm’s Path
Aug 27 2006 // As of 11:00 am EDT, when the National Hurricane Center in Miami issued its latest bulletin, Tropical Storm Ernesto had become a Category 1 hurricane, the first of the current season. The hurricane’s center was...
Florida Declares State of Emergency in Response to Ernesto Threat
Aug 27 2006 // As of 11 a.m. EDT, Tropical Storm Ernesto was moving over eastern Cuba bringing heavy rains, floods and mudslides, according to the National Hurricane Center. A hurricane watch has been extended along Florida’s...
National Hurricane Center Chief Mayfield to Retire
Aug 27 2006 // Max Mayfield, long-time director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla., will retire at the end of the year after 34 years of federal service. Mayfield said he wishes to spend more time with his wife and family,...
Reinsurers Tell Fla. Panel Rate Freedom Key to Insurance Fix
Aug 27 2006 // The basic solution to Florida’s hurricane insurance crisis is for consumers to pay more, despite double-digit increases already levied over two years, insurance officials said Thursday, the anniversary of Hurricane...
TS Ernesto Threatens Gulf; Could Become Season’s First Hurricane
Aug 26 2006 // Miami’s National Hurricane Center is currently tracking Tropical Storm Ernesto as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. As of 11:00 a.m. EDT the storm’s center was located near latitude 15.1 north/longitude 71.2 west...
La. Judge Rules Claims Deadline Extension Laws Constitutional
Aug 25 2006 // A Louisiana state judge on Aug. 23 ruled as constitutional two new state laws giving insurance policyholders more time to sue their insurers or file claims over damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. District Court Judge...
Industry Group: Rita Did $150M Damage to 23 La. Chemical Plants
Aug 24 2006 // Major repairs are done and production is back to pre-storm levels at Southwest Louisiana’s 23 biggest chemical plants and oil refineries – but Hurricane Rita did about $150 million in damage to the plants...
Ala. Gov. Riley Tours Shrimping Community One Year After Katrina
Aug 24 2006 // Alabama Gov. Bob Riley praised the hurricane recovery efforts that have put shrimp boats back on water, rebuilt homes and removed debris in Bayou La Batre, but much work is still ahead, he said during a tour...
Many New Orleanians Unable to Find Affordable Insurance
Aug 23 2006 // Attorney Vallie Schwartz fell in love with the 130-year-old Victorian shotgun in New Orleans’ French Quarter, which like all grand houses in this former Spanish enclave has tall, cathedral ceilings and brightly...
Rebuilt Homes Higher, More Varied, In Line with Stricter Building Codes
Aug 22 2006 // As homeowners along the Gulf Coast have started rebuilding and repairing since Hurricane Katrina hit nearly a year ago, they’ve been learning a new vocabulary and have been bombarded with recommendations. In many...
Coalition Says Insurer Group’s Disaster Plan is Insufficient
Aug 22 2006 // With the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina one week away, the American Insurance Association (AIA) has unveiled a National Catastrophe Agenda designed to reinforce resilience to catastrophic hurricanes. But not...
