Hurricane Season News

Key Facts, Common Myths About Protecting Homes from Hurricanes

With weather forecasters calling for a worse-than-average 2010 Atlantic basin hurricane season, the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is advising property owners on the most effective ways to protect their homes and businesses from hurricane damage. IBHS is …

Property Insurers Watching Ominous Hurricane Forecasts

After significant catastrophe losses in first quarter 2010, U.S. property/casualty insurers and global reinsurers are hoping their balance sheets don’t face further financial risks, even as conditions appear ripe for the upcoming hurricane season to be potentially as active as …

Hurricane Scale No Longer Has Storm Surge, Inland Flooding Estimates

The five-category system that describes a hurricane’s strength and the havoc its winds could bring to the U.S. has been updated for the 2010 storm season. Gone from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale are estimates for storm surge and inland …

Louisiana Sales Tax Holiday for Hurricane Supplies: May 29-30

Hurricane season is fast approaching and the state of Louisiana wants to help residents prepare. On May 29 and 30, Louisianans can get a tax break when buying emergency supplies, including self-powered light sources like flashlights and candles; portable self-powered …

Insurers’ Gulf Coast Oil Spill Losses Estimated at $1.4B

Companies with exposure to the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico are insured for losses totaling about $1.4 billion, according to initial reports. “The insurance losses from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon will …

Gulf Coast Oil Spill Compared to Category 5 Hurricane

What makes an oil spill really bad? Most of the ingredients for it are now blending in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts tick off the essentials: A relentless flow of oil from under the sea; a type of crude that …

Gray to Lead Catastrophe Services for Dallas-based Cunningham Lindsey

Dallas-based independent insurance claims services company, Cunningham Lindsey, has expanded Randy Gray’s leadership responsibilities to include the Catastrophe Division. Gray currently is the vice president of operations for the South Central Region. He will assume responsibility for the Catastrophe Division …

Florida’s Northern Capital to Be Liquidated; All Policies End May 30

Judge James O. Shelfer of the Second Judicial Circuit Court of Florida has ordered Miami-based Northern Capital Insurance Co. (NCIC) into receivership for the purpose of rehabilitation. At the same time, the court ordered the subsequent liquidation of the company, …

Forecasters Predict Above-Average Hurricane Season in 2010

The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will produce an above-average eight hurricanes, four of them major, posing a heightened threat to the U.S. coastline, the Colorado State University hurricane forecasting team predicted Wednesday. In its second forecast in four months for …

Galveston Tearing Down Ike-Empty Houses

Galveston’s residential look is changing as dozens of Hurricane Ike-wrecked houses are being torn down. The city is spending $21 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a buyout program meant to clear the streets of empty and decaying …