Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Thousands of Harvey Victims Rescued; At Least 38 Deaths; Damage Survey Begins
Sep 1 2017 // Soldiers and police in helicopters and high-water trucks rescued thousands of Texans stranded by floodwater from Hurricane Harvey on Thursday, which has killed dozens of people and displaced more than a million others as...
Texas Workers’ Comp Division Releases Disaster Guidelines for Insurers
Aug 31 2017 // The Texas Department of Insurance – Division of Workers’ Compensation has issued guidelines for insurers concerning workers’ compensation claims filed by insureds in counties named in Gov. Greg Abbott’s...
Arkema Chemical Plant in Texas Explodes After Harvey Knocks Out Power
Aug 31 2017 // French chemical company Arkema SA said its plant in Crosby, Texas, was hit by explosions after a major flood caused by Hurricane Harvey knocked out power supplies that are needed to refrigerate volatile chemicals. Having...
Update: Claims Teams Begin Handling Onslaught of Harvey Claims
Aug 31 2017 // Hurricane Harvey has set a U.S record, according to the National Weather Service, dumping 51.88 inches of rain in parts of Texas. As the tropical storm moves over southern Louisiana, claims catastrophe teams are moving in...
Tallying Massive Costs of Harvey to Victims, Insurers, Taxpayers and Economy
Aug 31 2017 // Hurricane Harvey’s costs to the victims in its path, to U.S. taxpayers, to insurers and to the economy were still being calculated on Wednesday, with few firm estimates available yet. Texas could need more than $125...
Harvey, Houston, America, Politics and Building Codes
Aug 31 2017 // Jerry Garcia’s home in Corpus Christi missed the worst of Hurricane Harvey by just a few miles and lost nothing more than some shingles and his backyard pier, which turned up further down Oso Bay. A 5-foot bulkhead...
Law’s Ambiguity a Source of Mixed Messages Over Texas Cat Claims Statute
Aug 30 2017 // Ambiguity surrounding a Texas law that goes into effect on Sept. 1 has insurance industry representatives and attorneys who represent insurance policyholders sending conflicting messages to insureds who may have suffered...
Harvey Bears Down on Louisiana as Flooding Paralyzes Houston
Aug 30 2017 // Tropical Storm Harvey bore down on Louisiana on Wednesday, pouring down more water after setting rainfall records in Texas that caused catastrophic flooding and paralyzed the U.S. energy hub of Houston. The storm that...
Neighbors Evacuated as Texas Chemical Plant Poses Explosion Risk
Aug 30 2017 // All residents within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of a chemical plant in southeast Texas were evacuated on Tuesday as a “precautionary measure” on Tuesday because of the rising risk of an explosion, the local fire...
Harvey Update: Trump Vows Model Recovery; Thousands Rescued; Deaths, Costs Increasing
Aug 29 2017 // With Texas still being lashed by rain and rescues still underway, President Donald Trump vowed that the government’s response to Hurricane Harvey would serve as a model for disaster recovery. “We want to be...
Texas Regulators Offer Guidance to Insurers on Harvey Response
Aug 29 2017 // The Texas Department of Insurance has issued several bulletins offering guidance to insurers related to Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall near Rockport, Texas, late on Aug. 25. The bulletins are in response to the...
Insurers Will Easily Swallow Harvey’s Claims but Growing Climate Risk Predicted
Aug 29 2017 // Damages from Hurricane Harvey’s ravaging of Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast are estimated to be well below those from the major storms that hit New Orleans and New York in recent years, insurance executives have...
Harvey’s Insured Losses Hurt Insurers’ Stocks, Could Boost Reinsurers’ Prices
Aug 29 2017 // Hurricane Harvey’s whipsaw of wind and rain across Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast hurt the shares of U.S. property and casualty insurers on Monday as Wall Street analysts estimated insured losses as high as $20...
Key House Chairman Wants Flood Insurance Reforms, Not Just Renewal
Aug 29 2017 // A key Republican said Hurricane Harvey will spur Congress to reach a deal to fund the nation’s flood insurance program before it expires next month, even though divisions persist over how much the federal government...
Trump to Send Congress ‘Very Expensive’ Disaster Aid Request for Harvey Victims
Aug 29 2017 // U.S. lawmakers are expected to pass a large aid package for victims of Hurricane Harvey, but specifics of the plan and its price tag are unclear as Congress awaits a funding request from the Trump administration. Rain...
Harvey Inflicts Even More Death and Destruction as Flood Waters Keep Rising
Aug 29 2017 // Flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey, which has already killed at least seven people in Texas and was expected to drive tens of thousands from their homes, are likely to rise, officials warned on Monday, as heavy rain...
IIAV ‘Redoubling’ Hurricane Preparedness Efforts Since Following Harvey’s Texas Impact
Aug 28 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia (IIAV) is motivated to “redouble its efforts” around hurricane preparedness, particularly as it relates to flood damage, since following Hurricane Harvey’s...
Harvey’s Catastrophic Costs Mount; Many Lack Adequate Insurance
Aug 28 2017 // Hurricane Harvey’s second act across southern Texas is turning into an economic catastrophe — with damages likely to stretch into tens of billions of dollars and an unusually large share of victims lacking...
Harvey’s Flooding of Houston ‘Beyond Anything Experienced Before’
Aug 28 2017 // Catastrophic flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Harvey inundated Houston on Sunday, forcing residents of the fourth most populous U.S. city to flee their homes in boats or hunker down in anticipation of several more days...
Hurricane Harvey Could Spur Congress to Act on Flood Insurance
Aug 28 2017 // The destruction that heavy rain and floods from Hurricane Harvey could inflict on Texas would add to the pile of debt owed by a federal flood insurance program that is due to expire in September, advocacy groups said. The...
