Latest Hurricane Headlines

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

Munich Re Study Cites Changes in Atlantic Hurricane Risk

Dec 16 2005 // A report prepared by Dr. Eberhard Faust, who heads Munich Re’s Climate Change Research Department, points to some significant changes in the hurricane risk factors in the North Atlantic. Munich Re notes: “The...

Sen. Lott Suing State Farm for Hurricane Katrina Damages to His Pascagoula, Miss. Home

Dec 16 2005 // U.S. Sen. Trent Lott is suing his insurance company over his beachfront Pascagoula home, which was leveled by Hurricane Katrina. The law office of Lott’s brother-in-law, high-profile plaintiff’s Richard...

Unitrin Specialty Paid 92% of Hurricane Claims!

Dec 16 2005 // Unitrin Specialty to date has paid or settled over 92% of our claims from the hurricanes that hit Louisiana. How have we settled claims so quickly? Within hours of the disaster, Unitrin Specialty created a claims...

Katrina & Rita Opened a “Pandora’s Box” for P/C Industry, Says S&P

Dec 15 2005 // A new report from Standard & Poor’s notes that “Hurricane Katrina, followed closely on its heels by Hurricane Rita, wound up revealing the flaws in many insurance-industry assumptions.” The article,...

Bush Wants Added $1.5B to Rebuild Levees; Gov. Blanco Seeks Assistance

Dec 15 2005 // In an effort to avoid a repeat of Hurricane Katrina’s deadly damage on the levee system in New Orleans, President George W. Bush is asking for another $1.5 billion to help restructure the system. With the 2006...

La. Blue Roof Warranty Following Hurricane Lasts Only 30 Days

Dec 15 2005 // The free blue plastic sheeting installed on 78,700 hurricane-damaged roofs in Louisiana carries only a 30-day warranty, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Operation Blue Roof provides sheeting to...

Fitch Comments on New Reinsurers

Dec 15 2005 // Fitch ratings has issued a statement analyzing the prospects for the new reinsurance companies, established in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The rush to set up what Fitch calls the “Class of 2005” resembles...

Gray Line New Orleans to Show Off Katrina’s Destruction with Tours

Dec 14 2005 // Gray Line New Orleans will begin giving visitors a closeup look next month at Hurricane Katrina’s damage in the city of New Orleans. According to a promotion on the company’s Web site, tour participants can get...

Hurricane Experts Mayfield, Bailey, Key Speakers at Feb. 8 Windstorm Insurance Conference

Dec 14 2005 // Two leading hurricane experts, Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, and Bill Bailey, director of the Hurricane Insurance Information Center will summarize the conclusion of the 2005 hurricane season and...

Hurricane Katrina: The Long Road to Recovery <em>An Insurance Journal Exclusive Video Report from the Gulf States</em>

Dec 14 2005 // With Gulf Coast residents and the insurance industry trying to recover from the country’s worst natural disaster ever, two Insurance Journal reporters set out to see for themselves the effects of Hurricane...

Swiss Re Reviews 2005, Takes Look Ahead at Upcoming Industry Year

Dec 14 2005 // Andreas Beerli, CEO of Swiss Re’s Property & Casualty business in the Americas, recently hosted the company’s annual year-end economic and insurance industry review and outlook and led the discussion about...

Mississippi’s Insured Losses From Hurricane Katrina Pegged At $12B

Dec 13 2005 // Insurers in Mississippi are expected to pay out $12 billion in insured losses stemming from Hurricane Katrina. According to Property Claims Services, the New Jersey-based subsidiary of the Insurance Service Office, which...

Texas ‘Victims’ Plead Guilty for Making False Hurricane Katrina Claims

Dec 13 2005 // Two McLennan County, Texas women, apprehended after they claimed to be victims of Hurricane Katrina and attempted to obtain federal emergency benefits, have pleaded guilty to filing false, fictitious or fraudulent claims...

American National Reports After-Tax Katrina Loss of Nearly $80M

Dec 13 2005 // Texas-based American National Insurance Company reported that its subsidiary property and casualty companies, including American National Property and Casualty (ANPAC) and ANPAC Louisiana Insurance Company and their...

Insurance Dept. Approved Miss. Homeowners Rate Increases Before Hurricane Katrina

Dec 12 2005 // Recent increased in homeowners insurance rates in south Mississippi can not be attributed to Hurricane Katrina, according to Insurance Department officials, who indicate that Allstate, USAA and the Southern Farm Bureau all...

Hurricane Katrina: The Long Road to Recovery

Dec 12 2005 // With Gulf Coast residents and the insurance industry trying to recover from the country’s worst natural disaster ever, two Insurance Journal reporters set out to see for themselves the effects of Hurricane...

PIA of La. Resolutions Seek Hurricane Relief Assistance

Dec 12 2005 // Thanking insurance carriers on behalf of Louisiana insurance agents and the policyholders they represent for the carriers’ hard work and assistance in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Professional...

Hurricane Wilma Reduced Fla. Orange Growers Production

Dec 9 2005 // Hurricane Wilma darkened the outlook for Florida orange growers, reducing production estimates by 15 percent, the Agriculture Department said. Still, this year’s crop will outdo last year’s by about 8 percent...

Colorado State Experts Predict 17 Named Atlantic Tropical Storms, Nine Hurricanes in 2006

Dec 8 2005 // Predictions of 17 named storms in the Atlantic basin next year, with nine developing into hurricanes, have been predicted by William Gray and Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University. The experts forecast five major...

Aspen Updates Losses from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma

Dec 6 2005 // Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited has updated its assessment of estimated losses from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Based on the information available and evaluations to date, Aspen estimates that its...