Hurricane Beta: This is a Only a Test
Every year, the Florida Power & Light Co. prepares for storm season as if the next Wilma could arrive tomorrow. To test its ability to respond before and after a hurricane, FPL management and employees conduct an annual exercise simulating a hurricane landfall somewhere in the company’s service area.
BusinessWire
Senate Rejects Federal Wind Damage Coverage
The Senate rejected a bid by Gulf state senators to add wind coverage to the National Flood Insurance Program. Lawmakers from Louisiana and Mississippi cited problems that occurred after Hurricane Katrina and other big 2005 storms when private insurers covering wind damage claimed that destruction to property resulted from flooding, thus shifting the burden of payments to the federal insurance program. But the Senate voted 73-19 against the amendment
Associated Press
Insurance Lawsuits Finally Settling
Hurricane Wilma in 2005 left many Keys homes in shambles or in desperate need of repair, whose owners say they haven't gotten adequate insurance compensation. Five federal lawsuits filed against different flood insurance companies have now been settled.
InsuranceNewsNet.com
Coastal Building Codes
The Florida Building Commission recommended to the Legislature that new buildings along Florida’s coast that will be insured by the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corporation be built to stronger standards than current building codes require. The recommendations, which incorporate “Code-Plus” standards, come in response to the Legislature’s direction for the Commission to examine the hurricane risks to structures built close to the Florida coast. The proposed requirements would apply to structures built within a half-mile of Florida’s coasts beginning next Jan. 1.
Florida Department of Community Affairs
Last Chance
It took the Mississippi River 6,000 years to build the Louisiana coast.
It took man (and natural disasters) 75 years to destroy it.
Experts agree we have 10 years to act before the problem is too big to solve.
New Orleans Time Picayune
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