Latest Hurricane Headlines

All the headlines from our Hurricane Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Florida Passes Bill Seeking to Ease Post-Hurricane Outages

May 9 2019 // Florida utilities would have to come up with a 10-year plan to strengthen and bury power lines in an effort to ease post-hurricane power outages under a bill waiting to be signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Senate...

NHC: Hurricane Florence 9th Most Destructive Storm, Caused $24B in Damage

May 7 2019 // Hurricane Florence killed 22 people across three Southeastern states, was the ninth most destructive storm in terms of property damage in U.S. history and spawned 44 tornadoes, a report from the National Hurricane Center...

Texas Revamps Insurance Licensing Process, Call Center Response in Modernization Effort

May 6 2019 // The Texas agency responsible for regulating insurance business in the state has been on a mission to modernize, increase efficiency, strengthen consumer protections and generally make the organization more...

FEMA Chief Urges New Culture of More Individual Responsibility for Disaster Mitigation

Apr 29 2019 // Americans must assume more responsibility for protecting themselves from the rising toll of natural disasters, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned. “Most people think, ‘I see it on TV,...

Florida Officials Call on U.S. Lawmakers to Pass Hurricane Michael Aid Package

Apr 29 2019 // A bipartisan group of Florida Cabinet members and state lawmakers is demanding that U.S. lawmakers pass a disaster-relief package for Hurricane Michael victims. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Attorney General...

Municipalities Try to Reassure Investors on Climate Risks in Bond Offerings

Apr 23 2019 // When Miami Beach borrowed $162 million from Wall Street this week, it wanted investors to know rising seas and extreme weather are a real risk to the city and that it’s doing something about it. An increasing number...

NOAA Upgrades Hurricane Michael to Category 5

Apr 22 2019 // Hurricane Michael, which devastated a swath of the Florida Panhandle last fall, has been upgraded to a Category 5 storm, only the fourth to make recorded landfall in the United States and the first since 1992. The...

Experts Give Texas Mixed Reviews on Disaster Preparedness

Apr 17 2019 // More than a year and a half after Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas, killing dozens, the state is still waiting on billions in federal recovery dollars. In the meantime, Texas lawmakers are looking to prepare the state...

Georgia Gov. Blasts Congress for Inaction on Hurricane Aid Package

Apr 16 2019 // Georgia’s governor and other state leaders are blasting Congress over its failure to approve a package of disaster relief measures. The $14 billion aid package is desperately needed by farmers and others who suffered...

Florida’s Citizens Says $200M in Reinsurance Needed to Protect Personal Lines Surplus

Apr 15 2019 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. plans to purchase approximately $200 million in traditional reinsurance coverage for the 2019 hurricane season to protect its Personal Lines Account (PLA) surplus it says is exposed to...

North Carolina Survey: Many Coastal Homeowners Have No Plan to Mitigate Storm Damage

Apr 11 2019 // A majority of coastal homeowners have little to no intention of reducing their homes’ structural vulnerabilities, even though they live in areas frequently affected by damaging hurricanes and flooding and their homes...

Insurers Pitch Quick-Paying Parametric Disaster Insurance to Public Sector

Apr 9 2019 // Some of the world’s largest insurers are eagerly pitching cities, states and even school districts on policies designed to pay out quickly with few questions in the event of extreme weather. The catch: Even a...

In Modernization Effort, Texas Revamps Insurance Licensing, Call Center Response

Apr 5 2019 // Note: The is the third article in a series resulting from a conversation with Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan. The Texas agency responsible for regulating insurance business in the state has been on a mission to...

Here’s the ‘Unlucky 13’ Forecast for the 2019 Hurricane Season

Apr 5 2019 // There’s a lot of reasons people think 13 is an unlucky number. This year may add another. At least 13 storm systems should reach tropical strength and get a name in 2019, with five becoming hurricanes and two...

New Texas Homeowners Policy From The Woodlands Insurance Includes Flood Coverage

Apr 4 2019 // The Woodlands Insurance Co. (TWICO), located in The Woodlands, Texas, has launched a Texas homeowners policy that will include flood insurance to all qualifying households. With a tiered offering of Twico Prime, Twico...

Hurricane Michael Debris Fueling Wildfire in Florida Panhandle

Apr 2 2019 // Nearly two dozen Florida homes have been evacuated because of a 500-acre wildfire that grew rapidly overnight because of downed trees from Hurricane Michael. Authorities say the fire broke out Saturday in the Panhandle...

NOAA Retires Hurricane Names Florence, Michael

Apr 1 2019 // The names of two hurricanes that caused widespread devastation from Florida to Virginia last year have been retired. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says Florence and Michael will be replaced with...

Hurricane Michael, Other Challenges Impacting Georgia’s Timber Industry

Apr 1 2019 // Georgia’s timber industry is facing many headwinds as it seeks to recover from the severe damage wrought by Hurricane Michael late last year. The storm erased three-quarters of a billion dollars in timber, The...

How Drones and Aerial Imagery Use Rose to New Heights Post 2018 Catastrophes

Apr 1 2019 // The importance of drones and aerial imagery rose to a new level in the wake of 2018 natural catastrophes as insurers made them an integral part of their disaster recovery procedures, particularly following the hurricanes...

Florida’s Citizens: $200M Reinsurance Buy Needed to Protect Personal Lines Surplus

Mar 28 2019 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. plans to purchase approximately $200 million in traditional reinsurance coverage for the 2019 hurricane season to protect its Personal Lines Account (PLA) surplus it says is exposed to...