Latest Hurricane Headlines
All the headlines from our Hurricane Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tropical Storm Arthur Inches Closer to East Coast; Minor Impact Expected to North Carolina
May 18 2020 // Tropical Storm Arthur inched closer to the U.S. East Coast on Sunday, although its impact was expected to be limited to some minor flooding and rough seas along the North Carolina coast. Arthur formed off the coast of...
Florida’s Capitol Preferred to Shed Nearly 24K Policies; Regulator to Monitor Operations
May 15 2020 // Capitol Preferred Insurance Co., one of the top writers of homeowners insurance in Florida, has received approval from the state’s insurance regulator to shed 23,800 policies just weeks before the start of hurricane...
Florida Makes Plans for Dealing with Pandemic During Hurricane Season
May 7 2020 // As Florida slowly reopens, officials are now contemplating what they should do if the coronavirus outbreak lingers into hurricane season, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. Hurricane season begins June 1 and...
South Carolina: Hurricane Response Plan a ‘Good Question’ Amid Virus Outbreak
Apr 21 2020 // With hurricane season less than two months away, officials in South Carolina said they don’t yet have a good plan in place if a storm hits during the coronavirus outbreak, particularly for people potentially...
South Carolina Begins Clean Up After At Least 9 Tornadoes Hit State
Apr 16 2020 // South Carolina continued to clean up Tuesday from the state’s deadliest tornado outbreak in 36 years. Nine people were killed as a series of twisters moved from one end of the state to the other Monday morning....
Suddenly There Is Big Demand for Pandemic Cover, Says Underwriter
Apr 14 2020 // In the midst of this pandemic, insurance buyers and their brokers are looking for COVID-19 pandemic coverage, which is like buying property insurance when your house is on fire, according to Tracey Gibbons, senior vice...
Forecaster Sees ‘Greater Than Average’ Hurricane Season This Year
Apr 6 2020 // The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season could see a greater than average number of major hurricanes because of warmer seas and favorable weather patterns, forecasters from Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology...
What Florida Agents Need to Know During Coronavirus Crisis
Apr 1 2020 // Watch the Full Interview Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Florida is a catastrophe-prone state when it comes to weather, but the challenges that come from a non weather-catastrophe like the current COVID-19 pandemic bring...
Georgia Adjuster Accused of Stealing $215K from Business Affected by Hurricane Michael
Mar 25 2020 // An insurance adjuster was charged with stealing more than $215,000 in insurance money from a Georgia business damaged by Hurricane Michael, authorities said. Steven Eric Chastain is accused of stealing insurance checks...
Former Mississippi Attorney General Hood Joins Policyholder Defense Practice
Mar 24 2020 // Former Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has joined Weisbrod Matteis & Copley PLLC, a litigation firm with a focus on representing policyholders affected by natural disasters. He will serve as counsel in the...
FEMA Tackles COVID-19 While Also Facing Past Disasters, Spring Flood Season
Mar 23 2020 // It wasn’t until Wednesday, five days after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it was “leading the federal coordination” to the...
Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to Hurricane Disaster Assistance Fraud
Mar 19 2020 // A Florida woman has pleaded guilty to lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma. Bernita Willette Carswell, 36, pleaded guilty in Jacksonville federal court last week to one count of disaster assistance fraud, according...
A&M Study: Texas’ Future Depends on Climate Preparedness
Mar 6 2020 // Texans should expect warmer weather, more wildfires and urban flooding, and increased impact from hurricanes through 2036 thanks to climate change, according to a new study from the Office of the Texas State Climatologist...
USDA Adds New Hurricane Insurance Endorsement for 2020 Crop Year
Mar 5 2020 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) has implemented a new crop insurance endorsement, Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI), the agency announced. HIP-WI covers a...
Three Florida Men Plead Guilty to Scamming Homeowners After Hurricane Michael
Mar 2 2020 // Three men have pleaded guilty to scamming Florida Panhandle homeowners out of about $319,000 by promising to repair hurricane damage and never doing the work. Edward Newton, Christoper Mayes and Christian Pantazonis each...
Update on Puerto Rico Disaster Recovery
Feb 28 2020 // The newly appointed U.S. official charged with overseeing disaster recovery in Puerto Rico said this week that while the pace of federally funded projects to help hurricane and earthquake victims has quickened, he’s...
Georgia to Receive $347M in Long-Awaited Hurricane Michael Relief
Feb 28 2020 // Georgia’s governor and agriculture commissioner on Wednesday announced that $347 million in federal disaster relief funding would soon be available to farmers, nearly a year and a half after Hurricane Michael caused...
Florida Carriers Seek Staggering Rate Increases Amid Market Turmoil
Feb 25 2020 // It’s no surprise that Florida carriers are raising homeowners’ insurance rates given several years of catastrophes and losses from litigation related to assignment of benefits and water damage claims. What may...
CoreLogic: 2019 Was 7th Year in Last Decade with 10 or More Disasters of $1B-Plus
Feb 24 2020 // Last year was a particularly hazardous one, with natural catastrophes causing excessive damages in what appears to be an ongoing trend of higher losses in the past decade, while also posing a danger in many U.S....
A Tale of Two Californias: Managing Wildfire Risk in the Year 2030
Feb 24 2020 // For most of the 20th century, the insurance industry considered wildfires to be little more than a nuisance. They were frequent but rarely resulted in more than a handful of claims, and underwriters priced for them in the...
