It Figures
2%
Texas has used only 2 percent of more than $500 million in federal aid for homeowners and communities hit by Hurricane Rita more than two years ago, a state audit found. State Auditor John Keel found that more than 4,000 families applied for aid after the 2005 storm, but the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs had built only 13 homes and spent $1.1 million as of mid-September. The report released Nov. 1 said the housing agency, working with the three Southeast Texas councils of governments it contracted with, should work faster while protecting against possible waste and fraud.
$34 Million
Six insurance companies, including two newcomers to Louisiana, have applied for $34 million in matching grants from the state, as part of a program aimed at getting more insurers to write policies along the coast. Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said an additional insurer had asked for an extension of the Nov. 1 deadline to apply for the financial incentives. The firms applied for the full range of grants, from the maximum $10 million to the minimum $2 million. The applicants — and the dollar value of their grant requests — are: Occidental Fire & Casualty of North Carolina, Raleigh, $10 million; Southern Fidelity, Tallahassee, Fla., $7 million; ASI Lloyds, St. Petersburg, Fla., $5 million; Imperial Fire & Casualty, Opelousas, La., $5 million; Bankers Insurance Group, St. Petersburg, Fla., $5 million; and Companion Property & Casualty Insurance, Columbia, S.C., $2 million.
$1 Million
A federal judge ordered jailed Alabama outdoorsman Edmond H. “Eddie” Smith IV to pay more than $1 million to an insurance firm that accused him of filing a bogus post-Hurricane Katrina damage claim for a riverfront mansion near Mobile. Lexington Insurance Co. sued Smith in May. U.S. District Judge William Steele granted Lexington’s request for a default judgment for a little over $1 million. Attorneys for Lexington declined to comment. Smith, of Mobile, remains in jail awaiting trial on gun and escape charges. It’s uncertain how much money the insurance company ever will be able to collect.