Latest Mississippi Headlines

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

40 Miss. Katrina Victims Receive Grants to Begin Rebuilding Homes

Aug 29 2006 // A year after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Mississippi has begun to distribute grant checks to homeowners to help them rebuild property that was damaged by the huge storm. As of Monday, the state had paid out 40...

A Year Later, Insurers Report 95% of Katrina Claims in La. and Miss. Settled

Aug 22 2006 // One year after Hurricane Katrina, the insurance industry says that nearly 95 percent of homeowners insurance claims have been settled in Louisiana and Mississippi, insurance companies have paid billions in storm damage...

Insurers: Trial Bar Short on Facts in Katrina Charges

Aug 22 2006 // Trial attorneys’ charges that the insurance industry is putting profits over people in the handling of claims from Hurricane Katrina are being dismissed by industry trade groups. The Florida Insurance Council (FIC),...

News Currents

Aug 21 2006 // Miss. weighs changes to wind pool Mississippi lawmakers are considering revamping the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association to help stabilize the state’s post Hurricane Katrina insurance crisis. The...

EPI Study Finds Coastal Population Drain Following Hurricanes

Aug 18 2006 // A study conducted by the Earth Policy Institute (http://www.earth-policy.org) concludes that a number of people who evacuated their homes in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma may have left permanently. The EPI...

Dale: Ruling, Notices Remind Miss. Residents to Get Flood Coverage

Aug 18 2006 // A federal judge’s ruling that damage from wind-driven water isn’t covered on standard homeowner policies should motivate more Mississippians to purchase flood insurance, says state Insurance Commissioner George...

State Farm Trying to Improve its Image After Hurricane Katrina

Aug 16 2006 // Representatives of State Farm Insurance Co. are on a media tour in Mississippi to give a more positive image to the company as it and others in the industry fend off lawsuits filed in the aftermath of Hurricane...

Mississippi Coastal Towns Share $4 Million to Enforce Building Codes

Aug 15 2006 // Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says more than $4 million in federal money is being divided among Mississippi coastal cities and counties so they can hire additional code-enforcement officers and building...

Judge Rules in Favor of Insurer in Miss. Wind vs. Water Case

Aug 15 2006 // In a highly anticipated ruling in one of the first wind vs. water insurance claims arising out of Hurricane Katrina, a Mississippi judge has upheld the exclusion for damage caused by water and water-borne materials in an...

Another Katrina Suit Filed Against State Farm by Mississippi Insured

Aug 14 2006 // Judy Dutruch has long questioned why her insurance company refused to send an engineer to investigate Hurricane Katrina’s destruction of her Diamondhead home on Aug. 29, 2005, before denying her claim. Batesville...

Lawmakers Told Miss. Wind Pool Law Needs Changing

Aug 9 2006 // Revamping laws governing the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association is one of the options legislators are considering in Jackson, Miss. to help stabilize the state’s post Hurricane Katrina insurance...

Fla., Miss., S.C. top five in flood insurance growth

Aug 7 2006 // Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina now rank as three of the top five states in the nation in flood insurance policy growth according to data released by the National Flood Insurance Program and FloodSmart. In order,...

MISS. APPROVES 90% WIND POOL RATE HIKE

Aug 7 2006 // Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale has approved a 90 percent rate increase for homeowner policies provided by the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association. The association, commonly known as the wind...

Miss. Katrina Suits: Key Wind-Water Ruling Expected Soon; Other Plaintiffs Seek Joint Trial

Aug 4 2006 // Lawyers for hundreds of Mississippi homeowners who sued their insurance companies for denying their claims after Hurricane Katrina are fighting to keep the cases joined in a “mass action” rather than split up...

Miss. Approves 90% Increase in Wind Pool Rates for Homeowners

Jul 30 2006 // Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale on Friday approved a 90 percent rate increase for homeowner policies provided by the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association. The association, commonly known as the...

Miss. housing grants increased by 35 percent

Jul 24 2006 // Mississippi has increased by 35 percent insurance values used in calculating homeowner grant amounts to compensate for higher post-Katrina construction costs. According to Scott Hamilton, spokesman for the Mississippi...

Applications for Mississippi grant program

Jul 24 2006 // 16,500 Insurance value increase 35 percent Cap = $150,000

Miss. housing grants increased by 35 percent

Jul 24 2006 // Mississippi has increased by 35 percent insurance values used in calculating homeowner grant amounts to compensate for higher post-Katrina construction costs. According to Scott Hamilton, spokesman for the Mississippi...

Miss. Judge Has Katrina Insurance Lawsuit Case

Jul 21 2006 // A groundbreaking case that challenges one of the nation’s largest insurers for refusing to cover damage from Hurricane Katrina’s monster storm surge went into the hands of a federal judge on Wednesday. U.S....

First Katrina Insurance Trial Set for Closing Arguments

Jul 20 2006 // A federal judge heard closing arguments Wednesday in the first courtroom challenge of the insurance industry’s denial of billions of dollars of homeowners’ claims after Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge...