Photo courtesy of NOAA
Hurricane Barry made landfall on Saturday morning about 160 miles west of New Orleans near Marsh Island, sparing New Orleans and its levees. While Barry wasn’t a Category 1 hurricane for long, it did make history as the fourth hurricane to ever make landfall on the Louisiana coast in the month of July.
Following back-to-back years of tragic wildfires, some California residents and business owners may face another crisis—getting adequate and affordable wildfire coverage. Surplus line carriers and the FAIR Plan, for homeowners who can’t get mainstream insurance, are seeing notable spikes in policies. According to the Surplus Line Association of California, in the first three months of this year 19,389 policies with $52.6 million in premiums were sold—up 93 percent and 143 percent respectively over the same period last year. In counties at "very high risk" of wildfires, the FAIR Plan is running 300 percent ahead of last year according to Tammy Schwartz, its vice president for underwriting and operations.
