Latest Windstorm Headlines
All the headlines from our Windstorm Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Several Mississippi Counties Hit by Tornadoes
Dec 11 2008 // The National Weather Service says several possible tornadoes were reported in several counties late Tuesday night, damaging homes and knocking down trees and power lines. However, no injuries have been reported. Forecaster...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association: 63% of Ike Claims Closed
Dec 11 2008 // Texas’ insurer of last resort for wind and hail coverage along the coast reports that 63 percent of claims from Hurricane Ike have been closed and that more than $519 million has been paid to policyholders so...
Officials: Texas Should Have Storm Recovery Plans
Dec 5 2008 // The future of the state’s oldest medical school – hard hit by Hurricane Ike – and whether Texas should fund recovery programs to complement federal assistance were two of the highlights of a legislative...
Iowa Gets $125 Million in Federal Grants for Tornado, Flooding Recovery
Dec 2 2008 // Iowa lawmakers announced on Nov. 24 that the state will get $125 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for flood and tornado recovery efforts. Gov. Chet Culver said the money...
Southern California Soaked but Stable in Storm
Dec 1 2008 // Wet and weary residents in areas scarred by Southern California wildfires were back in their homes for Thanksgiving after a day of rains brought evacuations and anxiety but none of the threatened flash floods or...
Storm Planners Reflect on Strategies for Busy Hurricane Season
Dec 1 2008 // In New Orleans, a dire warning to flee emptied the city before Hurricane Gustav in early September. In Houston less than two weeks later, a plea to say in place might have kept evacuation routes from clogging before...
IAG Estimates Queensland Storm Claims at $38 to $44 Million
Nov 24 2008 // The Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) announced that it has received around 6,000 claims as a result of the storms that hit southeast Queensland (See IJ web site –...
North Carolina Still Tallying Costs of Deadly Weekend Tornado
Nov 19 2008 // North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley said more than 60 homes were either damaged or destroyed by a fatal tornado in North Carolina over the weekend, but the financial costs still were unclear. Easley met with officials in Kenly...
Storms Tear through Eastern Australia; One Death Reported
Nov 18 2008 // A series of violent storms tore across Australia’s East Coast, sweeping one man down a storm drain to his death, blowing roofs off houses and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of buildings. Sunday’s...
Rate Change Granted for Texas Windstorm Insurance Association
Nov 18 2008 // Commercial and residential rates for policies written through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) will rise in February when rate increases approved by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) go into...
Storms Blamed for Increase in Kansas Homeowner Insurance Premiums
Nov 14 2008 // Kansas appears to be seeing the effects of tornadoes in June in its insurance rates and not even Dorothy’s red shoes can click this bad news away. The Kansas Insurance Department says that since July 1, premiums for...
Even Buffett Can’t Escape Markets, Storms; Berkshire Profit Falls 77%
Nov 10 2008 // Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Friday third-quarter profit fell 77 percent, the fourth straight quarterly decline, hurt by weaker results from insurance underwriting and a big loss on derivatives...
$395 Million Approved for Flood, Tornado Recovery in Iowa
Nov 2 2008 // Iowa communities are getting help recovering from a series of natural disasters this year with nearly $395 million in state and federal funding. The money will go to at least 3,200 projects. The biggest chunk of it, about...
Selective Insurance Posts Profit Despite Storm Claims, Investment Decline
Oct 31 2008 // New Jersey-based Selective Insurance Group, Inc. today reported its financial results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008 that included a profit despite storm claims and a drop in investment income. Selective...
3 Months After Tornado, Some in New Hampshire Still Fighting Red Tape
Oct 30 2008 // Three months after a tornado ripped a 50-mile swath through central New Hampshire, some residents still are caught in a swirl of red tape as they fight to rebuild their damaged or destroyed homes and get on with their...
Storms Take Toll on Louisiana Nonfarm Jobs
Oct 29 2008 // Louisiana experienced a loss of 17,500 jobs in the seasonally adjusted number of nonfarm jobs from August to September 2008, the Louisiana Workforce Commission announced recently. However, the September nonfarm job total...
Reinsurers Expect Financial Storm Will Cause Premium Increases
Oct 28 2008 // The world’s reinsurers expect the intensifying financial market storm will allow them to push through higher prices for the risk cover they offer insurance companies. The world’s No. 2 and No. 4 reinsurers,...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Pool’s Mobile Claim Office Closing Nov. 5
Oct 28 2008 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) reported that adjusters have now made contact with all policyholders except those who have recently reported claims. As a result TWIA will close its mobile catastrophe claim...
W.R. Berkley Estimates $41M Storm, $143M Investment Losses for Q3
Oct 20 2008 // W. R. Berkley Corp. estimates that it will report after-tax storm losses of $41 million, or $0.24 per share, from Hurricanes Ike, Gustav and Dolly as well as an unusually high number of wind and hail storms in the...
SBA: $50M Approved for Louisiana Storm Victims
Oct 20 2008 // The U.S. Small Business Administration says it has approved more than $50 million in low-interest loans to Louisiana homeowners, renters and businesses that suffered damages in September 2008 hurricanes. The SBA is the...
