New Orleans awaits Gustav on Katrina anniversary
Storm preparations are grim déjà vu on third anniversary of deadly hurricane
By MarketWatch
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...0-40F9-A126-D411258E7F03}&dist=msr_6#comments
SAN FRANCISCIO (MarketWatch) -- New Orleans residents observed the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation on Friday with solemn ceremonies and community events. And then they went to board up their homes and businesses and possibly prepare to evacuate as they await the onslaught of Hurricane Gustav.
Tropical Storm Gustav officially became a hurricane again Friday as it set its sights on the Cayman Islands. Oil traders eyed the storm's projected path toward the Gulf of Mexico. Residents all along the Gulf Coast, from Pensacola, Fla. to Brownsville, Texas, are watching the skies, the surf and the oncoming storm. Hurricane Gustav's current path is aimed almost directly at Louisiana. Forecasters anticipate the storm could make landfall sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.
Read more on Gustav.
As Gustav moved into the Gulf of Mexico Friday, NOLA.com, the Web site of New Orleans' Times-Picayune newspaper, began to fill with local school, business and event closure and cancellation notices, as well as videos of residents preparing for the storm with sandbags and plywood.
On the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, Katrina smashed into the Louisiana coast with a storm surge that reached 20 feet in places, sending water crashing over and through levees, deluging three-fourths of the city and completely submerging structures in areas such as the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish.
Homeowners less covered
If Gustav hits Louisiana, homeowners may discover that they have less insurance coverage than they did during Hurricanes Katrina, and they'll be reaching into their own pockets to cover damage, the Times-Picayune reported on its Web site Friday.
After the insurance industry suffered record catastrophe losses of more than $50 billion from Katrina devastated New Orleans, insurers pulled back from storm-prone areas, catastrophe reinsurance prices surged and more homeowners were forced to buy coverage from state-run programs
In the past three years, hurricane, windstorm or named-storm deductibles have become commonplace in policies. That means that insurance doesn't kick in until homeowners have paid a percentage of the insured value of the home as a deductible when a storm hits -- and that deductible can easily add up to the cost of a new roof, the newspaper said.
Moreover, some 20,000 homeowners and 6,500 businesses have policies that don't cover wind damage at all, forcing them to buy "wind-only" policies from Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-sponsored insurer of last resort, the report said.
"That's a huge difference in coverage this time for the property owner, compared with 2005, but it's the world we live in these days," Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon told the Times-Picayune. "No question about it, that will adversely affect policyholders."
A person with a 5% storm deductible on a $300,000 home would have to pay for the first $15,000 of damage. The average payout on a Katrina claim was $15,399, the report said, citing the insurance department.
Storm preparations are grim déjà vu on third anniversary of deadly hurricane
By MarketWatch
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...0-40F9-A126-D411258E7F03}&dist=msr_6#comments
SAN FRANCISCIO (MarketWatch) -- New Orleans residents observed the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation on Friday with solemn ceremonies and community events. And then they went to board up their homes and businesses and possibly prepare to evacuate as they await the onslaught of Hurricane Gustav.
Tropical Storm Gustav officially became a hurricane again Friday as it set its sights on the Cayman Islands. Oil traders eyed the storm's projected path toward the Gulf of Mexico. Residents all along the Gulf Coast, from Pensacola, Fla. to Brownsville, Texas, are watching the skies, the surf and the oncoming storm. Hurricane Gustav's current path is aimed almost directly at Louisiana. Forecasters anticipate the storm could make landfall sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.
Read more on Gustav.
As Gustav moved into the Gulf of Mexico Friday, NOLA.com, the Web site of New Orleans' Times-Picayune newspaper, began to fill with local school, business and event closure and cancellation notices, as well as videos of residents preparing for the storm with sandbags and plywood.
On the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, Katrina smashed into the Louisiana coast with a storm surge that reached 20 feet in places, sending water crashing over and through levees, deluging three-fourths of the city and completely submerging structures in areas such as the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish.
Homeowners less covered
If Gustav hits Louisiana, homeowners may discover that they have less insurance coverage than they did during Hurricanes Katrina, and they'll be reaching into their own pockets to cover damage, the Times-Picayune reported on its Web site Friday.
After the insurance industry suffered record catastrophe losses of more than $50 billion from Katrina devastated New Orleans, insurers pulled back from storm-prone areas, catastrophe reinsurance prices surged and more homeowners were forced to buy coverage from state-run programs
In the past three years, hurricane, windstorm or named-storm deductibles have become commonplace in policies. That means that insurance doesn't kick in until homeowners have paid a percentage of the insured value of the home as a deductible when a storm hits -- and that deductible can easily add up to the cost of a new roof, the newspaper said.
Moreover, some 20,000 homeowners and 6,500 businesses have policies that don't cover wind damage at all, forcing them to buy "wind-only" policies from Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-sponsored insurer of last resort, the report said.
"That's a huge difference in coverage this time for the property owner, compared with 2005, but it's the world we live in these days," Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon told the Times-Picayune. "No question about it, that will adversely affect policyholders."
A person with a 5% storm deductible on a $300,000 home would have to pay for the first $15,000 of damage. The average payout on a Katrina claim was $15,399, the report said, citing the insurance department.
