Latest Hurricane Headlines
All the headlines from our Hurricane Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Sinking of Ship ‘Bounty’ Blamed on Captain’s ‘Reckless Decision’
Feb 12 2014 // A captain’s “reckless decision to sail into the well-forecasted path of Hurricane Sandy” was the probable cause of the sinking of a tall ship off the North Carolina coast in October, 2012, the National...
Louisiana Hospital Adds Screens as Protection Against Hurricane Winds
Feb 10 2014 // West Jefferson Medical Center in Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish is working on what hospital officials describe as a hurricane-hardening project to secure its windows. New Orleans CityBusiness reports the work is part...
Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Found Negligent in Hurricane Katrina Flood Case
Feb 10 2014 // A jury has found Jefferson Parish government negligent in the way it drafted and enacted a plan that evacuated drainage pump operators on the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana but ruled the parish was...
Mississippi Bills Seek More Insurance Company Cost Disclosure, Deductibles Regulation
Jan 31 2014 // Mississippi lawmakers could require insurers to disclose how much they collect in premiums and how much they pay in claims in each ZIP code under a bill advancing in the state legislature. House Bill 753 could spark more...
Prior Experience Heightens Perceptions of Disaster Risks
Jan 31 2014 // People who have experienced a disaster such as an earthquake, flood, or terrorist attack have a heightened perception of the risks posed by these and, in some cases, unrelated risks, according to a study involving 1,045...
Florida Weighs 15-Day Hurricane Supply Tax Holiday
Jan 29 2014 // Floridians would get a 15-day sales tax holiday on hurricane preparedness supplies ranging from portable generators to radios this coming June under a proposal outlined Monday by Gov. Rick Scott. Scott, making the...
Winter Storm Costs in Ohio Could Rival Hurricane Ike Totals
Jan 21 2014 // Experts say the early January’s extreme cold and wind are expected to be one of the costliest weather events in Ohio since the remnants of Hurricane Ike hit in 2008. No solid estimate is available yet, but the Dayton...
$1.5B in Louisiana Hurricane Recovery Aid Remains Unspent
Jan 3 2014 // Louisiana has yet to spend $1.5 billion of federal disaster recovery aid provided by Congress after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike ravaged the state in 2005 and 2008. The flexible block grant rebuilding and...
Sandy Drives Older New Jersey Residents to Senior Housing
Jan 2 2014 // Chased by Hurricane Sandy from their waterfront homes, a large number of older residents in Little Egg Harbor Township, N.J., are finding new homes among the township’s five 55-and-older developments. The migration...
Report Casts Light on High Cost of Homeowners Insurance in Florida
Dec 19 2013 // Floridians are paying the highest homeowner insurance rates in the nation even though the state has not been hit by a hurricane in nearly a decade. A national report shows the average premium for most Florida homeowners is...
2013 Had Lowest Hurricane Count since 1982: Willis Re
Dec 12 2013 // The 2013 Atlantic storm season has proved one of the quietest in decades with the lowest number of hurricanes since 1982 and none of them considered ‘major’, according to insurance broker Willis Re. An...
Bond Managers Gain as Pension Funds Flock to Catastrophe Risk
Dec 12 2013 // Funds specializing in insurance-linked risks such as catastrophe bonds are benefiting as the $30 trillion pension industry increases bets in a market that hasn’t posted an annual loss. At Leadenhall Capital Partners...
Hurricane Strength Storm Xaver Slams UK, Northern Europe: AIR Analysis
Dec 6 2013 // A report from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide notes that Winter Storm Xaver hit the north of Scotland last night, Thursday the 5th of December, with wind gusts of more than 140 mph (225 km/h), recorded in the...
Reinsurers to Lower Prices Following Weak Hurricane Season: Fitch
Dec 4 2013 // The quietest U.S. Atlantic hurricane season in decades will lead to a low double-digit fall in related catastrophe reinsurance pricing in the key 2014 renewals, according to experts at Fitch Ratings. The ratings agency...
Insurance Lab in South Carolina Aims to Alter ‘Cycle of Destruction’
Dec 2 2013 // The insurance industry hopes a 21,000-square-foot lab in rural South Carolina can help revolutionize the way homes are built and stem the cost of Mother Nature’s disasters. Officials at the Insurance Institute for...
Weak 2013 Hurricane Season Coming to a Close
Nov 27 2013 // The 2013 Atlantic season has delivered the fewest hurricanes since 1982, U.S. forecasters said, despite their predictions in May that it would be a busier than normal year. Forecasters had predicted 13 to 20 named Atlantic...
Colorado State Running Out of Money for Hurricane Forecasting
Nov 21 2013 // Colorado State University, which pioneered seasonal hurricane forecasting 30 years ago, may have issued its last prediction. The school’s Tropical Meteorological Project needs $150,000 or it will end in February,...
Will Hurricane Katrina Legal Issues Be Resurrected in Sandy Claims?
Nov 18 2013 // It has been more than eight years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, and only slightly more than one year since Hurricane Sandy made landfall on or about Oct. 29, 2012. Following Hurricane Katrina,...
Indiana Students Develop Plans to Fight Nature’s Fury
Nov 13 2013 // Jerzie Eagle and Liesl Elkin pointed to their topography map that showed the eight acres of flood-prone land around Carter and Murden streets in Kokomo, Ind. This is where their arboretum will go once the city tears down...
Louisiana Citizens Insurance Settles Remaining 2005 Hurricane Claims
Nov 1 2013 // A state-run insurance company of last resort in Louisiana has settled the remaining claims in a class-action lawsuit tied to how it handled claims after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The New Orleans Advocate reports...
