Insurance Dispute Lawyer Blog

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a governmental agency focused on monitoring the ocean and atmosphere throughout the year, has released its 2009 figures for what it expects to see this hurricane season:

While this might not seem like much, it is a more positive outlook than we saw last year. In last year's predictions, there was a 65% prediction of more hurricanes than normal, as compared to 25% this year. As such, the Gulf Coast region may get a calm this season which would be a very welcome reality given the past decade and the amount of devastating storms that came through recently.

For tips on how to prepare for hurricane season, check out our section on hurricane and storm tips found here.

In something that will likely not come as a surprise to residents of New Orleans, a planned command center for emergency operations in the event of a hurricane that was scheduled to be ready last Monday is nowhere near ready.

In pictures provided by WWL, the site looks more like a recent renovation than what is supposed to be the nerve center for communications should a devastating storm return to the city.

WWL's Scott Satchfield reports

When hurricanes threaten emergency operations centers, or EOC’s, across the state are the nerve centers for first responders and emergency managers. It's where they come together to make key decisions for public safety.

That won’t be happening anytime soon inside the space that is designated to become the New Orleans’ new emergency operations center.

Located on the ninth floor of City Hall, it's mostly empty aside from some wires hang from the ceiling, and piles of broken concrete sitting on the floor.

It was supposed to be ready by Monday, the first day of hurricane season.

While an office exists now, there is a very urgent need for the delays that have put off this new site's construction to be removed and work to go forward. Though it will obviously not be in place for this year, one can only hope it will be operational in 2010.

A YouTube video, embedded below, gives a quick two minute run-down of the Chinese Drywall issue and how it can effect homes and their residents. While it has a Florida focus, the same effects and problems are being reported in Louisiana and elsewhere.

Recently available online is an article profiling attorney Jeff Berniard's work in defending policyholder's rights post-Katrina. The article, written by Lawyers USA, describes Mr. Berniard's strategy and success in helping Louisiana homeowners receive the justice they deserve.

An excerpt:

New Orleans attorney Jeffrey Berniard was a refugee from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina last year when he realized that the monstrous storm could contain a silver lining for his practice.

"I had an inkling there were going to be a lot of insurance problems out there," he recalled. "So I created a strategy, and when I came back I focused on that."

Berniard was a title attorney in a small New Orleans firm when Katrina forced him to evacuate and head for his family's home in Lake Charles, La. But when he went back five weeks later, he didn't return to the firm. Instead, he set up shop on his own as "Jeff Berniard, Louisiana Hurricane Lawyer," and created a website to bring in Katrina-related insurance business.

The strategy was successful. His new website brought in a flood of insurance cases, and by May he was so swamped with work that his wife, Melissa Elaine Wilson, left her job as a lawyer in Jefferson Juvenile Court to join him.

To read the complete article, go here.

Produced by the Sun-Sentinel, a hurricane preparation video with helpful tips is available to watch on YouTube. Press play below to learn more about how to prepare for adverse weather in the coming hurricane months.

A video making its rounds from CBS chronicles the rebuilding effort going on in Galveston in the wake of Hurricane Ike and is worth a look: