Latest Hurricane Headlines

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

Former FEMA director promotes state, federal disaster mediation

Jul 24 2006 // Federal and state governments need to work with insurance companies to sponsor disaster mediation programs before something happens, before people who have worked all their lives for everything they have, then all of a...

Mass. Fair Plan to Refile Next Week

Jul 21 2006 // The Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association (the Fair Plan) will submit a request for new rates by the end of next week, just under the deadline. Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne M. Bowler...

Two Miami Adjusters Arrested in $400,000 Hurricane Fraud Case

Jul 21 2006 // Two licensed public adjusters who fraudulently collected more than $400,000 from two insurance companies by submitting bogus contractor agreements have been arrested in Miami by detectives in the Department of Financial...

Three Arrested in Post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Hospital Deaths

Jul 19 2006 // Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., announced that his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has made three arrests in the investigation surrounding patient deaths at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans. The...

Lloyd’s: Stakes ‘Huge’ But Manageable If Major Hurricane Hits New York State

Jul 19 2006 // A Northeast hurricane hitting New York state could result in insured losses of $65 billion, Lloyd’s America President Wendy Baker warned today. “The stakes are huge,” Baker said in a speech to the...

Florida Announces Initial Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program Details

Jul 18 2006 // Roof deck attachment, secondary water barriers, roof coverings, brace gable ends, reinforced roof-to-wall connections, opening protection and exterior doors, including garage doors, are included in a two-step process to be...

La. Woman Arrested on Hurricane Related Fraud Charges

Jul 18 2006 // Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., announced that Martha Collins of 1715 Loretta Street, Donaldsonville, La., was arrested on fraud charges stemming from hurricane related tax refunds. According to the...

Agent Says He Never Advised Couple Against Buying Flood Insurance

Jul 17 2006 // The agent at the center of a landmark hurricane insurance case on Friday denied telling a policyholder that he didn’t need flood insurance years before Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. denied much of his claim...

Insurance Rates Skyrocket on Alabama Gulf Coast

Jul 17 2006 // Property owners are stunned by insurance rates that have tripled for some properties on the Alabama Gulf Coast after back-to-back years of hurricane damage. Owners of the 35-unit Romar Tower at Orange Beach, Ala. saw their...

Retired Meteorologist Testifies in Katrina Dispute

Jul 14 2006 // Some of Hurricane Katrina’s highest winds, not water, damaged the home of a couple suing their insurance company, an engineer testified Wednesday in what could be a landmark federal trial. Paul and Julie Leonard of...

Hurricane Info Website Launched; Poll Shows Coastal Residents Unprepared

Jul 13 2006 // The launch of a new National Hurricane Survival Initiative and a new website that answers frequently asked questions about hurricanes and enables consumers to judge their readiness for such an event has been launched by...

Montgomery Insurance Issues Hurricane Guide, Teams on Stand By

Jul 13 2006 // Southeast residents should be prepared in case a hurricane threatens the U.S. and according to Michael Plavnicky, Montgomery Insurance president and CEO, his company is fully prepared. Montgomery has issued a six-page,...

Fla. Commissioner Supports Tougher Panhandle Building Codes

Jul 12 2006 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has testified before the Florida Building Commission on the need to expand Florida’s tougher building codes to areas of the Panhandle that had been exempted. The Florida...

Fla. Public Hurricane Model Data Available Online

Jul 12 2006 // The Florida Public Hurricane Model is now available on the Office of Insurance Regulation’s website according to Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. Statewide data showing aggregate results of insurance company...

Miss. Trial Could Help Decide Claims from Hurricane Katrina

Jul 12 2006 // Hurricane Katrina left thousands of Gulf Coast homeowners battling their insurance companies. A Mississippi police officer and his wife are the first to take their fight to court. A federal judge on Monday began hearing a...

Florida State University Wins $6.2M Grant to Foretell Future Hurricane Strength

Jul 11 2006 // The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded a $6.2 million, five-year grant to the Florida State University Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Studies to develop a new tool that could possibly see the...

Sen. Smith Unveils ‘Comprehensive Plan’ to Fix Florida’s Insurance Woes

Jul 11 2006 // Without a real, comprehensive and workable plan, accumulating financial stress could destroy the viability of the Florida’s insurance market and leave millions of Floridians without affordable and reliable insurance...

Fla. Commission Hears Plea for Stronger Building Codes in Panhandle

Jul 11 2006 // Stronger hurricane-resistant construction requirements in Florida’s counties comprising the state’s Panhandle region were recommended in testimony to the Florida Building Commission by the American Insurance...

La. Commissioner Orders Insurers to Extend Hurricane Prescription Period

Jul 11 2006 // Just over a month after he asked insurance companies in his state to voluntarily do so, Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donleon issued Directive 199 mandating that all companies insuring property in Louisiana...

Tenet gets $340M From Insurers for Hurricane Damage

Jul 10 2006 // Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. said insurance companies paid it $340 million to cover claims from Hurricane Katrina, which damaged five of its hospitals in the New Orleans area and one in Biloxi, Miss. Tenet said it...