hurricane damage News

Entergy Louisiana Customers to Cover $1.5B for Ida Repairs

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — About a million customers of an electric utility in Louisiana will cover more than $1.4 billion in repair costs related to Hurricane Ida. Entergy Louisiana said residential customers will see about $5.50 added to their monthly …

Hurricane Ian’s Lucrative Cleanup Deals Generate New Storm

It has been a month since Hurricane Ian wiped out parts of southwest Florida. Now multimillion-dollar cleanup contracts are generating new tempests in the Category 4 storm’s wake. Contractors who remove debris and perform post-storm repairs are fighting over local …

Stranded Hurricane Fiona Victims in Puerto Rico Await Aid

Hurricane Fiona left hundreds of people stranded across Puerto Rico after smashing roads and bridges, with authorities still struggling to reach people four days after the storm smacked the U.S. territory, causing historic flooding. For now, government officials are working …

‘Captain America’ Actor Puts Down Shield to Repair Roofs in New Orleans

Actor Anthony Mackie was not carrying his Captain America shield when he returned to his hometown of New Orleans, La., to help repair hurricane-damaged roofs but for people in his old neighborhood knowing their tarp-covered roofs were getting repaired was …

1,100 Homes Evacuated as Firefighters Battle Florida Fires

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Huge wildfires in the Florida Panhandle forced veterans in a nursing home to evacuate Sunday alongside residents of more than 1,000 homes in an area still recovering from a Category 5 hurricane three years ago. …

Florida Consumers ‘Flabbergasted’ as Property Insurers Push for Double-Digit Rate Hikes

Florida property insurers are jacking up rates by double-digit percentages, blaming the hikes on lingering damage from past hurricanes, a wave of litigation, and a law that encourages lawyers to sue by allowing courts to award them big fees. The …

Lawmakers: Insurance Disputes Slow Louisiana Storm Recovery

BATON ROUGE, La. — Southwest Louisiana lawmakers Wednesday criticized the insurance industry’s handling of claims from Hurricanes Laura and Delta, describing slow responses, low-balled damage estimates and drones used to assess destruction instead of people. “We’re almost four months ago …

Beach Hotels and Their Investors Welcome Insurance After the Storms

Frenchman’s Reef, the largest resort on St. Thomas, was smashed by Hurricane Irma, which breached roofs, caved in walls and felled trees across the oceanfront property. Two years later, the hotel remains closed as its owner quarrels with insurers over …

Researchers Say Climate Change to Blame for Hurricane Maria’s Extreme Rainfall

WASHINGTON — Hurricane Maria dropped more rain on Puerto Rico than any storm to hit the island since 1956, a feat due mostly to the effects of human-caused climate warming, new research finds. A new study analyzing Puerto Rico’s hurricane …

Study Finds Owners of Unprotected Coastal Homes Don’t Intend to Retrofit

New research from the University of Notre Dame shows that many coastal homes have significant structural vulnerabilities that leave homeowners and their homes largely unprotected from storms. Additionally, the majority of coastal homeowners have little to no intention of reducing …