Declarations

A Case by Case Basis

“TWIA’s guidelines are, and will continue to be, to look at each claim on an individual case by case basis and determine if the damage claim is covered under their policy.”

—Jerry Johns, a spokesman for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), says rumors that the association will deny Hurricane Ike claims on a blanket basis are unfounded, untrue and completely misleading. He said more than 1,400 TWIA adjusters had begun contacting customers and acknowledged the association “recognizes that the question of whether the damage was caused by flooding or wind will become an issue.”

Fully Engaged

“I can attest to the fact that insurers are at the forefront of helping affected policyholders get back on their feet as quickly as possible.”

—Gov. Marc Racicot, president of the American Insurance Association (AIA), in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff assured Chertoff that the insurance industry is fully engaged in the recovery from Hurricane Ike. Insurers were making ready before Hurricane Ike made landfall and that catastrophe response teams were preparing operations “as the storm was gathering strength in the Gulf,” Racicot said. “Since landfall, hundreds of claims handlers from all over the country have been deployed to the region.”

He Understands?

“I absolutely understand they want to get back to their homes. … I’d like to get back to the mansion.”

—The media has widely reported this quote attributed to Texas Gov. Rick Perry comparing his inability to move back into Texas’ Governor’s Mansion to the urgency felt by Hurricane Ike victims to get back to their homes. While the Governor’s Mansion is being repaired, taxpayers in Texas are paying nearly $10,000 a month to rent a 4,600 square foot house for Perry and his wife in an Austin suburb.

Close This Chapter

“FEMA continues to ignore the thousands of unused shelters sitting in fields across the country while taxpayers pick up the tab. … It’s time to close this chapter.”

—Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor comments on a bill he sponsored, which was passed by the U.S. Senate, that forces the Federal Emergency Management Agency to find a way to remove thousands of trailers from the Hope (Arkansas) Municipal Airport. Nearly 20,000 mobile homes and travel trailers are stored at Hope; many have been there since Hurricane Katrina struck three years ago, the Associated Press reported. FEMA has more than 100,000 mobile homes and travel trailers in storage throughout the country, and many of the homes are unusable because of mold and other damage, Pryor said. The three largest storage sites are in Lottie, La.; Hope, Ark.; and Columbus, Miss.