Category Archives: Hurricane Damage
‘We’re not going back to normal.’ They rode out Hurricane Michael, but were left without homes.
When Hurricane Michael tore through Panama City in October, it drove out the residents of Massalina Memorial Homes, a public housing complex on the city’s hard-hit east side. Since then, basic necessities like power have been restored, grocery stores and restaurants have been reopened since the storm and the supply of water seems infinite…. Read More »
Mayor: Mexico Beach’s character ‘not for sale’ after Hurricane Michael
When the first rays of sunlight broke over the wreckage of the Mexico Beach on Oct. 11, its 71 year-old mayor, Al Cathey, started to walk into the town to check on the people he had been elected by. “You know, it was, I just knew from what I saw around my house, it… Read More »
FEMA trailer program ending in the Keys March 10
According to the Miami Herald, travel trailers distributed by the federal government for those left without homes after Hurricane Irma across the Florida Keys, will disappear from the island chain on March 10th after the program ran for a year and a half. The Federal Emergency Management Administration already began delivering “end of program”… Read More »
Majority of Hurricane Michael claims coming from Bay County
60 percent of the insurance claims filed weeks after Hurricane Michael were from Bay County, the most destructed county from the category 4 storm. As of Wednesday, 101,145 claims were filed and 61,054 belonged to Bay County. The next high number of claims was from Jackson County, which had a total of 10,569 claims…. Read More »
Hurricane Michael exposes building-code weakness in Florida’s Panhandle
Florida’s statewide building code is one of the strongest anywhere, but Hurricane Michael exposed its weakness in the state’s Panhandle region, reports The Real Deal South Florida. Varying by location in the state, building code requirements for wind-resistant construction are stricter in South Florida than in the Panhandle. “For example, the code requires that… Read More »
Is Katrina still the costliest hurricane of all time? It’s complicated.
Despite the monster storms this hurricane season and in 2017, Miami Herald reports that Katrina remains No. 1 on the list of costliest hurricanes. Costliest hurricanes 1. Hurricane Katrina Cat 3, 2005 $160B 2. Hurricane Harvey Cat 4, 2017 $125B 3. Hurricane Maria Cat 4, 2017 $90B 4. Hurricane Sandy Cat. 1, 2012 $70,2B… Read More »
What Insurance Agents Wish You Knew About Keeping Your Home Safe
It’s common for homeowners to be concerned about the risk of natural disasters from hurricanes to flooding to fires. If you’re looking to keep your home safe, U.S. News & World Report put together a list of expert-backed tips to keep your home safe and secure, which we summarized for you below. For the… Read More »
Some Panhandle businesses may never recover following Hurricane Michael
According to Florida Today, all around most of Bay County, specifically the Panama City area, most businesses seem to be a “tangled mess of broken glass, twisted aluminum and stark warnings against those thinking to take advantage if the situation.” Recovery efforts are still underway; however, as many traffic lights aren’t working, and electricity… Read More »
Hurricane Michael is a new test of Florida’s odd property insurance market
The Real Deal South Florida reports how Hurricane Michael’s damage to property in the Florida’s Panhandle region will “provide a fresh test of the state’s unusual property insurance market.” Compared to other states, Florida’s industry leaders such as Allstate and State Farm play a much smaller role in protecting home owners. Actually, small Florida… Read More »
Hurricane aftermath: ‘Catastrophic’ damage; economic losses
The Florida Trend reports that “the scope of the devastation brought by Hurricane Michael came into sobering focus on Thursday as rescue workers searched a ruined landscape of splintered homes, toppled trees and upended vehicles that stretched across much of the Florida Panhandle.” Here’s Hurricane Michael, by-the-numbers: • 6 confirmed dead (ABC News reports 8 dead)… Read More »