In order to best utilize your time this weekend, check out some helpful tips on how to prepare yourself, and your family, for hurricane season. WTKR has more
Have supplies on hand to last at least three days. Put these essentials in your kit:
Food that won’t spoil, such as canned goods and packaged foods
While the Army Corps of Engineers continues to design, build and implement a storm preparedness system that prevents the type of flooding New Orleans saw after Hurricane Katrina, the price has gone shockingly high. Per an Associated Press article, creating a satisfactory system of floodgates and other water barriers will cost nearly two billion dollars, nearly 15% of the budgeted money the area was given to rebuild.
Top brass at the Army Corps of Engineers say the estimated price of a major project to build three floodgates and a 1.8-mile storm surge barrier to protect New Orleans from hurricanes is now $1.8 billion.
The cost of closing off the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal has risen since the project began last year. The structures being built on the eastern flank of New Orleans are among the most important features in the Army Corps’ plan to defend the city against hurricanes.
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
This weekend is as good a time as any to prepare your family, home, business and/or property for hurricane season. Our blog has featured various tips on how to be ready in the event of a hurricane and what steps you can take to insure you are on solid footing in the aftermath of a storm.
Simply go to the Storm and Hurricane tips section of this blog to find out more information.
In a report by Fox News, most coastal residents are not prepared for hurricane season.
Many Americans who live in Gulf and Atlantic Coast states are not prepared for an active 2009 hurricane season, despite being slammed last year, a new Mason-Dixon poll found.
More than half those surveyed, 66 percent, said they don’t have a hurricane survival kit and 62 percent said they don’t feel vulnerable to a hurricane or related tornado or flooding.
Today, according to the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, marks the beginning of hurricane season.
The Atlantic hurricane season is officially from 1 June to 30 November. There is nothing magical in these dates, and hurricanes have occurred outside of these six months, but these dates were selected to encompass over 97% of tropical activity. June 1st has been the traditional start of the Atlantic hurricane season for decades. However, the end date has been slowly shifted outward, from October 31st to November 15th until its current date of November 30th.
Now, before it’s too late, make sure your insurance premiums are up to date, your coverage is what you wanted and your home plan on emergency preparation is ready. For more information on how to be prepared for storms and hurricanes, check out our blog posts that go over a variety of ways to be prepared in the event of a disaster or tropical storm.
While a tropical storm can pop at any point that the water and air temperatures are “right,” June 1st is commonly considered to be the beginning of “Hurricane Season.”
Things to consider now, or at least before June 1st, are your preparedness for a large tropical storm or hurricane, the storage of important documentation relating to insurance and your home and/or property, evacuation plans and various other steps. Feel free to browse our section on storm and hurricane preparedness tips, located here, and make sure you complete your checklist before storm season gets here.
In the event a storm does cause damage to your home and you feel the insurance companies are not giving you the covered financial restitution you feel you deserve, contact a legal professional immediately. The Berniard Law Firm prides itself on taking on insurance companies and defending Gulf Coast residents against bullying or undercutting insurers.
In the face of inclement weather, be it a tornado, hurricane, tropical storm, etc., it is important to be fully prepared and ready, as well as up-to-date with breaking news and forecasts. That is why an all-hazards alert radio is a great idea for families to keep in their basements in the event of bad weather.
Furthermore, the National Weather Service projects constant weather updates on a series of stations throughout the country.
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Courtesy of the Insurance Information Institute
Hurricane Insurance Fact Sheet
Insurance companies have paid an estimated $40.6 billion on 1.7 million claims for damage to homes, businesses and vehicles in six states from Hurricane Katrina, the largest loss in the history of insurance. By contrast, Hurricane Andrew resulted in $15.5 billion in losses in 1992 ($20.9 billion in today’s dollars) and 790,000 claims.The four hurricanes in 2005—Katrina, Rita, Wilma and Dennis—generated more than $57 billion in insured losses and 3.3 million claims. Some 15,000 adjusters from across the United States were involved in helping policyholders recover from these storms.
More than 95 percent of the 1.1 million homeowners insurance claims from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi, totaling more than $15.5 billion, were settled within one year of the storm.
In Mississippi, more than 334,800 homeowners claims, totaling $5.2 billion, have been settled. In Louisiana, more than 658,700 homeowners claims, totaling $10.3 billion, have been settled.
Nearly all of the 305,000 claims from damaged vehicles, totaling $2 billion, have been settled in both states.
Despite the attention focused on lawsuits filed following this catastrophic storm, the number of claims in litigation accounts for a very small percentage of the total number of claims filed. Estimates show that fewer than 2 percent of homeowners claims in Mississippi and Louisiana were disputed either through mediation or litigation.
Insurers remain committed to ensuring that all claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina are settled fairly and completely.
A poll conducted by IPSOS Public Affairs in 2006 found that 89 percent of homeowners in Louisiana and 93 percent in Mississippi are satisfied with their insurance company. The survey reported that four in five people (82 percent in Louisiana and 80 percent in Mississippi) who filed a hurricane-related claim are satisfied with the way it was managed by their insurer. While satisfaction numbers are slightly higher inland, most residents in the hardest-hit coastal areas describe themselves as satisfied with the way their claim was handled.
While significant problems with rebuilding persist along the Gulf Coast—including severe damage to public infrastructure, a shortage of contractors and reduced population—the billions of dollars in claims paid to date are helping fuel an increase in residential building. Building permits have risen by 4 percent in Louisiana and 32 percent in Mississippi, compared with a 4 percent decline nationally during the same period.
Insurance company claims payments equal 11 percent of state income in Louisiana and 10 percent in Mississippi.
These are really some eye opening statistics. It’s extremely important that residents of the Gulf Coast make sure they retain the proper insurance levels necessary to secure their home and property in the event of a storm or hurricane. If you feel you are under-insured, contact an insurance agent immediately to bolster your “portfolio” to protect yourself from the ravages Gulf Coast, especially Louisiana and Texas residents, storms can cause. When you are insured, it is important to make sure your documents are in order and duplicates are stored in a safe place outside of your home (ex: bank, safety deposit box, family storage/location outside of the hurricane “zone,” etc.) For more tips on how to protect yourself from hurricanes or for general ‘how-to’ ideas, check our section on storm and hurricane tips.
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