Latest Coastal Headlines

All the headlines from our Coastal Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Mississippi Ends Special Subsidy for Coastal Wind Pool

Mar 17 2010 // Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has vetoed a bill that would have continued a program that designated part of the state’s insurance premium tax to fund the state’s property insurer of last resort.Barbour said...

Insurers Restricting Coastal Exposure

Mar 7 2010 // The coastal home insurance market continues to tighten. State Farm is only writing a new homeowners policy in Mississippi if another is dropped and Allstate has stopped writing mobile homes on the South Carolina coast....

Some Scientists Defend Tsunami Warnings

Mar 2 2010 // The warning was ominous, its predictions dire: Oceanographers issued a bulletin telling Hawaii and other Pacific islands that a killer wave was heading their way with terrifying force and that “urgent action should...

Louisiana Dedicates Nearly $20M for Hurricane Protection System

Mar 1 2010 // Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said a partnership agreement between the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the South Lafourche Levee District will dedicate $19.8 million in state surplus funds to make...

North Carolina Court Reviews Coastal Rate Hikes

Jan 24 2010 // A North Carolina appeals court is weighing whether to reverse a decision that resulted in homeowners insurance prices going up by almost 30 percent along the coast and down by a third in inland counties.A three-judge Court...

North Carolina Court Hears Challenge to Coastal Insurance Rate Hike

Jan 19 2010 // A North Carolina appeals court is weighing whether to freeze or even reverse homeowners’ insurance premiums that soared by up to almost 30 percent along the coast while sliding by a third in counties farthest from...

Mississippi Allows 19.5% State Farm Coastal Rate Hike

Dec 1 2009 // Insurance rates for about 26,000 State Farm homeowners in three Mississippi coastal counties will rise 19.5 percent beginning in February.Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney announced the rate increase, noting...

Florida Approves Rate Hikes for ‘High Risk’ Coastal Properties

Nov 22 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has approved rates hikes for about 330,000 of Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s so-called high-risk coastal property accounts. The statewide average increases include a...

Winds Headed for Coastal Washington State

Nov 16 2009 // The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for coastal areas of Washington State. The warning covers six areas: San Juan County, Whatcom County, Skagit County, the Adiralty Inlet area, the North Coast, and...

Decades in the Making, NAIC Outlines Natural Catastrophe Plan

Nov 1 2009 // Though it may seem like the debate over the creation of a national catastrophe insurance plan is a relatively recent phenomenon, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners actually began addressing the issue as...

Economic Outlook for Coastal Mississippi, Alabama Brightens

Oct 8 2009 // The economic outlook should brighten in 2010-2011 for the Mississippi and Alabama coasts, but that’s not the case for the New Orleans area, an economist said this week at a regional economic forum.Lack of business...

Antarctic, Greenland Coastal Ice Thinning Surprises Experts

Sep 24 2009 // Scientists are surprised at how extensively coastal ice in Antarctica and Greenland is thinning, according to a study on Wednesday that could help predict rising sea levels linked to climate change.Analysis of millions of...

Army Engineers Recommend $1.2 Billion Coastal Plan for Mississippi

Sep 22 2009 // An Army Corps of Engineers’ report is recommending a $1.2 billion coastal restoration plan for Mississippi.William Walker, director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, called this a “significant...

North Carolina Coastal Broker Ready to Ride Beach Plan Reform Wave

Sep 21 2009 // The Web site for Hanover Excess (www.hanoverxs.com) proclaims that the people at this North Carolina excess and surplus brokerage believe in the “pursuit of excellence while keeping a sense of humor.”David...

It Was No Katrina But Some in Coastal America Remember Ivan’s Terror

Sep 17 2009 // People who lived through Hurricane Ivan can’t forget the haunting images left by one of the strongest storms ever recorded: condo towers collapsed in roiling surf, splintered homes or flat slabs, fragments of...

Gulf Coast Construction ‘Woefully Inadequate’ to Survive Storm Flooding

Sep 17 2009 // Government minimum flood elevation requirements for properties vulnerable to storm surge throughout the Gulf Coast region are “woefully inadequate,” according to a new study of property damage caused by...

Ike Study: Hurricane Storm Surge a Threat to More Coastal Properties

Sep 14 2009 // Government minimum flood elevation requirements for properties vulnerable to storm surge throughout the Gulf Coast region are woefully inadequate, according to a new study of property damage caused by Hurricane Ike, which...

E&S Brokers Look for Rays of Light at the End of the Tunnel

Sep 7 2009 // A poor economy, natural catastrophes and an extended soft market have all combined to nip growth in the excess and surplus lines (E&S) insurance market over the last year.Although there are a few bright spots at the...

Coastal Home Owners Face Huge Losses from Rising Seas

Sep 3 2009 // Australians Lesley and Doug McGrath have for decades battled ocean swells that have eaten away at the backyard of their multi-million dollar Sydney home. They bought an old beach shack on Collaroy Beach in 1976 and...

Mississippi Insurance Chief Criticizes State Farm’s 45% Coastal Rate Hike

Aug 25 2009 // State Farm is looking to raise coastal homeowners insurance rates in Mississippi an average 45 percent but the state regulator isn’t very receptive to the idea.“I am not going to approve the present...