Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hurricane Harvey’s Flood Insurance Losses Could Match Katrina’s
Aug 28 2017 // Flood damage in Texas from Hurricane Harvey may equal that from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, said an insurance research group on Sunday. As heavy rain pounded Houston and...
Hurricane Harvey Shutters Key Oil, Gas Operations in Texas
Aug 27 2017 // Key oil and gas facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast have temporarily shut down as Hurricane Harvey pounds the region with torrential rain and high winds, virtually assuring gasoline prices will rise in the storm’s...
Harvey Smashes Homes, Businesses; Heavy Rain Continues
Aug 27 2017 // Hurricane Harvey rolled over the Texas Gulf Coast on Saturday, smashing homes and businesses and lashing the shore with wind and rain so intense that drivers were forced off the road because they could not see in front of...
Insurance Adjusters Mobilized to Deal with Harvey Cat Losses
Aug 27 2017 // Teams of insurance adjusters were mobilized Friday in Texas cities closest to Hurricane Harvey’s expected path of destruction. Hurricane Harvey made landfall late Friday evening as a category 4 hurricane. According...
How Hurricane Harvey Is Affecting Catastrophe Bonds
Aug 27 2017 // Bonds tied to weather risks tumbled the most in seven months as Hurricane Harvey advanced on Texas’s Gulf Coast. The Swiss Re Cat Bond Price Return Index dropped 0.44 percent this week, the steepest decline since...
Saturday Update: Hurricane Harvey Expected to Weaken to Tropical Storm
Aug 26 2017 // Early this morning, Hurricane Harvey weakened to a category 1 hurricane as it moved farther inland over southeastern Texas. It continues to bring “life-threatening storm surge, rainfall, and wind hazards to portions...
Harvey Hits Texas With Massive Winds, Torrential Rain
Aug 26 2017 // Harvey became the strongest hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, making landfall in the heart of the U.S. energy sector and bringing the danger of a life-threatening storm surge. Harvey came ashore as a Category 4...
A.M. Best Weighs Hurricane Harvey’s Financial Hit; Ranks Top 30 Texas Insurers
Aug 25 2017 // With Hurricane Harvey threatening the Texas coastline, A.M. Best said it has begun to assess the potential financial impact this event may have on the U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry. The most recent track of Harvey...
As Harvey Nears, Central Texas Coast Shuts Down
Aug 25 2017 // The National Hurricane Center has called off the hurricane watch from Port Mansfield, Texas, south to the mouth of the Rio Grande, but the Hurricane Harvey scenario for Corpus Christi and the surrounding areas on the...
Harvey Now a Hurricane, Sustained Winds Near 85 MPH
Aug 24 2017 // The National Hurricane Center says Harvey is now a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 85 mph and higher gusts. At 1 pm CDT, the hurricane was located around 335 miles southeast of Corpus Christi,...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Says It’s Ready for Harvey
Aug 24 2017 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association said it has initiated its catastrophe plan and that it is ready for Tropical Storm Harvey. Tropical Storm Harvey has crossed the boundaries of 80 degrees west longitude and 20...
Harvey Set to Bring ‘Catastrophic’ Flooding Across Texas
Aug 23 2017 // Harvey, which could strengthen into the first hurricane to strike Texas since 2008, forced workers off Gulf of Mexico platforms, sent cotton rallying and has airlines preparing for flight disruptions. Tropical Storm...
A.M. Best Assigns ‘A’ Rating to New Texas Insurer, Starr Specialty
Aug 23 2017 // Ratings agency, A.M. Best, has assigned a Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “a” to Starr Specialty Insurance Co. (Starr Specialty),...
Hurricane, Storm Surge Watches Issued for Texas Coast as Harvey Nears
Aug 23 2017 // The National Hurricane Center has issued a storm surge watch for Texas coast from Port Mansfield to High Island and a hurricane watch from north of Port Mansfield to San Luis Pass. The government of Mexican government also...
Texas Researchers Testing System that May Help Prevent Wrong-Way Driving
Aug 22 2017 // Kevin Balke turned his SUV southeastward, checked his instruments and confirmed he was ready. Nearly a mile of concrete stood before him with plenty of room to run, but he wouldn’t need all of it to prove his point...
Seeman Holtz Acquires Agency Acquisitions LLC in Texas
Aug 21 2017 // Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty Inc. has acquired Agency Acquisitions LLC, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. Agency Acquisitions specializes in trucking insurance. Seeman Holtz said the acquisition will add a niche...
Business Moves
Aug 21 2017 // Morse Insurance Agency Inc., Quaglia Insurance Morse Insurance Agency Inc. has acquired Quaglia Insurance in Attleboro, Mass. As part of the transition, Quaglia’s Attleboro office will be closing. However, Stacy...
21 States See Drop in Longer-Term Opioid-Related Workers’ Comp Claims: WCRI
Aug 21 2017 // As states institute opioid policies to address the opioid epidemic, a new study has found considerable decreases in the prevalence of longer-term dispensing of opioids to injured workers in a number of states studied. The...
People – South Central
Aug 21 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) elected Rick Dudney of TCOR Management in New Braunfels to serve as chairman for 2017-2018 during IIAT’s 120th Annual Conference and Trade Show in Fort Worth. Dudney...
Former Texas Insurance Agent Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Fraud
Aug 21 2017 // A former Texas insurance agent has been sentenced to five years in prison for insurance and identity theft fraud, according to state insurance regulators. Dermaine Clark of San Antonio also was ordered to pay more than...