NHC: Tropical Storm Sally Strengthens to Hurricane

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Louisiana and Mississippi residents were under evacuation orders on Monday as former Tropical Storm Sally strengthened to a hurricane status and churned across the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The second storm in less than a month to threaten the region, Sally was upgraded to hurricane status in the NHC’s 11:30 am CDT public advisory. It was headed toward a slow-motion landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast, with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (137 km/h), the center said. Residents from Louisiana to Florida were told to expect heavy rains and high winds.

Mississippi and Louisiana issued mandatory evacuation orders to residents of low-lying areas, and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards appealed for a federal disaster declaration and advised people living in Sally’s path to flee.

Residents of southwest Louisiana are still clearing debris and tens of thousands of homes are without power after Hurricane Laura left a trail of destruction.

The U.S. Coast Guard was limiting traffic from port of New Orleans due to the storm and energy companies scrambled to pull workers from offshore oil and gas production platforms.

Chevron Corp, Equinor and Murphy Oil Corp shut in wells as a precaution, and refiner Phillips 66 halted processing at its Alliance refinery on the Louisiana coast. Royal Dutch Shell Plc cut production to minimum rates at its Norco, Louisiana, refinery

Sally is the fourth storm this year to affect production in the Gulf and the 18th named storm in the Atlantic.

At 7 a.m. CDT, Sally was 115 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, packing winds of 65 miles per hour, according to the NHC.

It warned the storm’s advance would slow in the next two days, dumping 8- to 16-inches (20-40 cm) on the coast and causing widespread river flooding.

(Reporting by Jennifer Hiller and Gary McWilliams; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Louisiana Property Insurer Market Share Data from AM Best:

Data Year: 2019
State/Territory: Louisiana
Line of Business: Homeowners Mult Peril
Source: AM Best

		Direct	Market
Overall		Premiums	Share
Rank		Written	(DPW)
(DPW)	Company Name	($000)	(%)

1	State Farm Group	509,075	25.96
2	Allstate Insurance Group	212,629	10.84
3	USAA Group	121,149	6.18
4	Liberty Mutual Insurance Companies	109,098	5.56
5	Louisiana Farm Bureau Mutual Ins Co	92,586	4.72
6	United Insurance Group	78,799	4.02
7	FedNat Insurance Group	75,778	3.86
8	Progressive Insurance Group	75,518	3.85
9	Lighthouse Insurance Group	60,209	3.07
10	GeoVera U.S. Insurance Group	35,643	1.82
11	Farmers Insurance Group	34,773	1.77
12	Shelter Insurance Companies	33,870	1.73
13	Centauri Insurance Group	30,653	1.56
14	Chubb INA Group	30,394	1.55
15	Assurant P&C Group	27,767	1.42
16	Munich-American Holding Corp Companies	25,862	1.32
17	Southern Fidelity Insurance Company	24,946	1.27
18	American National Prop & Cas Group	23,802	1.21
19	American International Group	22,299	1.14
20	Tokio Marine US PC Group	21,662	1.10
21	Americas Insurance Group	20,925	1.07
22	AmTrust Group	18,093	0.92
23	Allied Trust Insurance Company	17,946	0.92
24	Gulfstream Insurance Group	17,692	0.90
25	Access Home Insurance Company	17,418	0.89
26	IAT Insurance Group	16,947	0.86
27	MetLife Auto & Home Group	16,905	0.86
28	National General Companies	16,170	0.82
29	Capitol Preferred Insurance Co, Inc.	14,476	0.74
30	Bankers Financial Group	13,592	0.69
	Selection Total	1,816,676	92.65
	Total US PC Industry (Louisiana)	1,960,741	100.00

Data Year: 2019
State/Territory: Louisiana
Line of Business: Private Flood
Source: AM Best

		Direct	Market
Overall		Premiums	Share
Rank		Written	(DPW)
(DPW)	Company Name	($000)	(%)

1	Assurant P&C Group	3,737	25.48
2	Arch Insurance Group	2,392	16.31
3	Zurich Insurance US PC Group	2,080	14.18
4	Swiss Reinsurance Group	1,626	11.09
5	American International Group	990	6.75
6	Liberty Mutual Insurance Companies	889	6.06
7	Alleghany Corporation Group	781	5.33
8	National General Companies	628	4.28
9	XL Reinsurance America Group	469	3.20
10	Allianz US PC Insurance Companies	399	2.72
11	Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group	379	2.59
12	Bankers Financial Group	184	1.25
13	Progressive Insurance Group	88	0.60
14	Nationwide Group	7	0.04
15	Hartford Insurance Group	6	0.04
16	Hanover Ins Group Prop & Cas Cos	4	0.03
17	CNA Insurance Companies	2	0.02
18	Tokio Marine US PC Group	2	0.01
19	Trisura US Insurance Group	2	0.01
20	Fairfax Financial (USA) Group	1	0.01
	Selection Total	14,666	100.01
	Total US PC Industry (Louisiana)	14,665	100.00

Data Year: 2019
State/Territory: Louisiana
Line of Business: Federal Flood
Source: AM Best

		Direct	Market
Overall		Premiums	Share
Rank		Written	(DPW)
(DPW)	Company Name	($000)	(%)

1	Wright National Flood Insurance Company	86,139	33.97
2	Allstate Insurance Group	35,550	14.02
3	Assurant P&C Group	29,503	11.63
4	National General Companies	21,511	8.48
5	Selective Insurance Group	12,964	5.11
6	Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Group	11,942	4.71
7	USAA Group	9,394	3.70
8	Progressive Insurance Group	9,011	3.55
9	Hartford Insurance Group	8,799	3.47
10	Bankers Financial Group	7,642	3.01
11	Liberty Mutual Insurance Companies	5,788	2.28
12	American National Prop & Cas Group	4,733	1.87
13	Centauri Insurance Group	2,414	0.95
14	American Family Insurance Group	1,534	0.60
15	Farmers Insurance Group	1,451	0.57
16	IAT Insurance Group	1,378	0.54
17	United Insurance Group	1,303	0.51
18	Gulfstream Insurance Group	745	0.29
19	Tokio Marine US PC Group	485	0.19
20	MetLife Auto & Home Group	419	0.17
21	Southern Fidelity Insurance Company	286	0.11
22	QBE North America Insurance Group	219	0.09
23	Trisura US Insurance Group	132	0.05
24	Westfield Group	99	0.04
25	Capitol Preferred Insurance Co, Inc.	91	0.04
26	First American PC Companies	63	0.02
27	Conifer Insurance Group	48	0.02
28	American Capital Assurance Corp	29	0.01
	Selection Total	253,672	100.03
	Total US PC Industry (Louisiana)	253,593	100.00

Data Year: 2019
State/Territory: Louisiana
Line of Business: Commercial Multi-Peril (Non-Liability)
Source: AM Best

		Direct	Market
Overall		Premiums	Share
Rank		Written	(DPW)
(DPW)	Company Name	($000)	(%)

1	State Farm Group	45,994	12.56
2	Chubb INA Group	25,364	6.92
3	American International Group	24,509	6.69
4	Liberty Mutual Insurance Companies	22,090	6.03
5	Nationwide Group	21,879	5.97
6	Travelers Group	21,135	5.77
7	Markel Corporation Group	17,889	4.88
8	GuideOne Insurance Companies	17,233	4.70
9	Allianz US PC Insurance Companies	15,041	4.11
10	Zurich Insurance US PC Group	13,947	3.81
11	Church Mutual Insurance Group	13,187	3.60
12	CNA Insurance Companies	12,607	3.44
13	Hartford Insurance Group	10,683	2.92
14	Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group	8,156	2.23
15	Munich-American Holding Corp Companies	7,663	2.09
16	AmTrust Group	7,295	1.99
17	Bankers Financial Group	6,498	1.77
18	Hanover Ins Group Prop & Cas Cos	6,304	1.72
19	Allstate Insurance Group	4,666	1.27
20	National General Companies	4,502	1.23
21	Tokio Marine US PC Group	4,419	1.21
22	American Capital Assurance Corp	3,750	1.02
23	Argo Group	3,167	0.86
24	Great American P & C Insurance Group	3,099	0.85
25	IAT Insurance Group	2,955	0.81
26	FCCI Insurance Group	2,750	0.75
27	FM Global Group	2,637	0.72
28	EMC Insurance Companies	2,635	0.72
29	Global Indemnity Group	2,367	0.65
30	MS&AD US Insurance Group	2,270	0.62
	Selection Total	336,691	91.91
	Total US PC Industry (Louisiana)	366,322	100.00