Home-construction measures proven to protect lives and property - and save millions for government, residents and insurance companies - can be instituted in Mississippi only if the state Legislature agrees to invest $100,000, Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said Tuesday. State Rep. ... [full story]

Pensacola is in the Florida Panhandle, making it much closer to Mobile, Ala., than it is to Miami. Off the beaten track, Pensacola is less crowded, and homes are much less pricy than those along the Atlantic Coast. And its housing ... [full story]

INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 18, 2008) – The exponential growth of North Carolina’s state-created insurance pool for coastal coverage could wipe out many smaller private insurers in the state, according to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). NAMIC is urging ... [full story]

When the Santa Ana winds howl in Southern California, they often have disaster written on them. Their near-hurricane force combined with single-digit relative humidity and heat wave temperatures are the worst-case scenario in what has become virtually a year-round fire ... [full story]

At 10 a.m. today, an estimated 5.2 million people around Southern California will drop to the ground, roll under the nearest table and spend the next two minutes clutching a table leg. The drill is the centerpiece of the ... [full story]

HOUSTON (AP) — Hurricane Ike left thousands homeless, millions without power and destroyed houses and businesses along the Texas Gulf Coast. But it also gave state and local governments a chance to learn from their mistakes during a natural disaster. A ... [full story]

HARVEY E. JOHNSON JR., deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, flew down to East Texas recently and got an earful from local officials. Not for FEMA's response in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ike. That went relatively well. ... [full story]

MIAMI (AP) — Forecasters say Tropical Storm Paloma is strengthening and turning to the north as it approaches the Cayman Islands and Cuba. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Thursday the storm could make landfall over Cuba as a hurricane ... [full story]

Risk Management Solutions, a catastrophe risk expert, has announced the results of a study analyzing the impact of a major earthquake on the Hayward Fault. The study marks the anniversary of the 1868 Hayward Earthquake – which ruptured the southern ... [full story]

Condominium and homeowners associations that have added storm shutters, reinforced doors or roofs and put in impact-resistant glass to make their buildings more storm-resistant can get a bigger break on their windstorm insurance. Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer, began ... [full story]