Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Deputy Insurance Commissioner Brady Retires
Sep 5 2017 // Texas Department of Insurance Deputy Commissioner for Agency Affairs Kevin Brady has retired effective Aug. 31, after 33 years with the agency. As deputy commissioner for Agency Affairs, Brady oversaw government relations...
Harvey Leaves Texans to Clean Up Amid Health and Environmental Dangers
Sep 4 2017 // Harvey has moved on from the U.S. Gulf Coast, leaving behind a toxic stew of human sewage, dead cattle, leaking chemical plants, spilled gasoline storage tanks and abandoned pickup trucks. The cleanup will take patience,...
Gov. Abbott Says Texas Relief Bill May Top $120 Billion
Sep 4 2017 // Two days after President Donald Trump asked Congress for $8 billion in initial relief for Harvey, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his state may ultimately need more than the $120 billion that the U.S. spent on Hurricane...
Insured Loss Estimates from Harvey Will Take Time
Sep 4 2017 // Flood losses from Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm late on Aug. 25 near Rockport, Texas, are expected to vastly outnumber those from wind but that doesn’t mean property losses will be...
Flood Insurance Losses from Harvey Could Match Katrina’s, I.I.I. Says
Sep 4 2017 // Flood damage in Texas from Hurricane Harvey may equal that from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, according to an insurance research group. As heavy rain pounded Houston and...
Federal Emergency Declaration Approved for Louisiana
Sep 4 2017 // On Aug. 28, President Donald Trump approved Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ Federal Emergency Declaration request for Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermillion Parishes. The president’s...
Business Moves
Sep 4 2017 // Widerman & Company, Smith Brothers Insurance Widerman & Company Insurance of Haddonfield, N.J., has merged its business with Smith Brothers Insurance of Glastonbury, Conn. This combination allows Widerman &...
Analysis: 4 Things Houston Area Must Do to Prevent Future Flooding Disasters
Sep 1 2017 // An unprecedented amount of rain has fallen on the Houston area due to Hurricane Harvey, causing what’s likely the worst flooding event that the nation’s sixth-largest metropolitan area has ever experienced —...
As Harvey Winds Down, Hurricane Irma Waiting in Wings
Sep 1 2017 // Hurricane Harvey has left major devastation in Texas, but there is another hurricane called Irma out in the Atlantic that could take aim at the United States within the next week or so. Irma became a hurricane early on...
Arkema Plant Fires Underscore Chemical Industry Risk Management Challenge
Sep 1 2017 // In its devastatingly slow crawl up the industrial Gulf Coast, Hurricane Harvey is proving to be the biggest test yet of the safety and vulnerabilities of the U.S. chemicals industry. A Houston-area chemical plant was hit...
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...
