Odd Turnabout!

Coming to Florida to Escape a Hurricane.  Who would have thought?

Only three hurricanes have struck Florida in July since 1900, but.....

The three incidents include Dennis, a Category 3 when it struck near Pensacola in 2005, a Category 2 system that hit near Cocoa Beach in 1926 and a Category 1 storm that struck Central Florida in 1933.

Read the entire SunSentinel story here. 

No Hurricanes in 5 Years -- but Insurance Rates Rise

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty says rates continue to climb because the state is still hurricane prone and non-hurricane losses have gone up 65 percent for insurance companies. McCarty says many of those losses come from sinkholes  Read the whole story here.

12/27/10 Update:  The increases have been announced.

Stuck in the middle!

Tampa Bay sits in spaghetti model field as of July 21st...time to start paying attention....

The National Hurricane Center projects that "Invest 97L" has a 60-percent chance of developing into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours.  Tampa Bay weather forecasters are saying this is probably mostly a rainmaker on Friday for us. 

Florida Cabinet Delays Hurricane Fund Assessments

The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund needs $710 million to continue to pay claims still coming in from 2005's Hurricane Wilma but it is going to have to wait to assess policyholders to get those funds.

The Florida Cabinet yesterday indicated it wants more of those claims investigated to make sure they are legitimate claims before authorizing the bond and raising assessments on all policyholders to pay for them.

Read more

Hurricane Season Ends Today. Thanks El Niño!

9 Named Storms, 3 Hurricanes, No Florida Landfall.

Quietest season since 1997 and now 4 years from the last named storm hit Florida (Wilma). As a matter of fact, the latest Hurricane ever to strike the United States was on this day in 1925 right near here, just south of Tampa Bay.

Here's the Tampa Tribune's recap of the 2009 Hurricane season.

Tropical Storm Erika Forms Florida & Carolinas -- Heads Up!

Here's the official storm track

Update: Erika fades due to shear.

New tropical depression expected to form this week, move toward Florida

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring a broad area of low pressure far out in the Atlantic Ocean it gives a "greater than 50 percent" chance of becoming a tropical depression by Tuesday. It would be named Erika if it became a tropical storm or hurricane.

The system is located about 700 miles east of the Windward Islands, according to a 2 a.m. bulletin, and is moving northwest at about 15 mph.

Computer models run on Sunday night predict the storm continuing toward Florida and passing near Puerto Rico by this weekend, but vary widely thereafter.

From Tampabay.com

Is God protecting Florida from Hurricanes at Governor Crist's request?

August 22, 2009

Florida Governor Charlie Crist thanks God that hurricanes have stayed away from Florida

Could it be divine intervention that's kept Florida safe from hurricanes since Gov. Charlie Crist took office?

Crist told a group of real estate agents Friday that he's had prayer notes placed in the Western Wall in Jerusalem each year and no major storms have hit Florida. Crist said he's not taking credit for the lack of storms in this hurricane-prone state.

Read more

Time Magazine 8/2/09 - Florida Looks at New Ideas for Battling Hurricanes

Highlights:

• Bill Gates' novel "ocean going tub" concept (to be funded by coastal residents according to the patent filing July 9th)
• Use of 250,000 foreclosed homes as temporary shelters
• One way evacuation plan

Nothing really new. Read it here

Why We Need Hurricanes!!!

Interesting Perspective! From the MyFoxHurricane.com Blog

Surf's up. Ana is that you?

As in the past 2 years, there's activity occurring before the official start of Hurricane Season on Monday. The low off the Carolina coast that was suspect this week has become Tropical Depression #1. Moving up the eastern seaboard, but well off shore, it's a race between intensifying into a named storm ("Ana") or fizzling out in the colder waters of the Atlantic.

Otherwise, looks like good surfin' conditions along the Atlantic Seaboard

And here in Florida, Hurricane Preparedness Week continues.

Countdown to the Season

Memorial Day Weekend in Florida is typically when the news media intensifies its coverage of the upcoming Hurricane Season. With 10 days to go the TV specials, special newspaper sections and "hurricane survival" preparation chatter reaches its pre-season pinnacle. For good reason.



This year's state-wide theme is: "Get a Plan"



In past years, this coming week (or the first week of June) would also be the time when the "tax holiday" would begin offering Floridians the opportunity to buy specific storm related items without paying sales tax. This would be a noticeable savings on large items such as generators or if you stocked up on large quantities of batteries, flashlights, tarps, coolers, plywood & the like. Not this year -- due to the state's recession-impacted operating budget. I know in my case that I am pretty well stocked from previous years so the tax savings wouldn't have been material for me. Here's the official list of items suggested to have on hand.



In some past years - and this year - we've had pre-season rainstorms that have provided us with much needed rainfall and put enough moisture on the ground to start the "rainy season" that typically runs parallel to Hurricane Season. Rainy season is what Florida is stereotypically known for - usually brief but intense afternoon thundershowers brought on by the day's heating and the clashing of sea breezes across the peninsula.


We've had a near record-setting 11 straight days of rain in the Tampa Bay area which has been sorely needed to refill our resevoirs & aquifer as well as get our brown grass to start growing again. Rain has been heavy enough in some counties that the Governor has declared a state of emergency in 11 Florida counties mostly in the Orlando area. It's expected to rain throughout the Memorial Day weekend and gradually begin to dry up a bit next week leading up to the June 1st kickoff.



This year's pre-season event even got to the point where weather forecasters thought it COULD turn into a named (Ana) "subtropical" storm as the weather system moved northwest across the state. This morning they are still keeping an eye on the system as it heads into the gulf and towards the Florida panhandle, but the odds are low that it will more than a soaking rain event. The past 2 years have brought about "named" storms prior to the June 1st:

2007: Andrea - Subtropical storm May 6-14 with wind up to 65 MPH
2008: Arthur - Tropical storm May 31-June 2 with wind up to 40 MPH


Memorial Day and pre-(Hurricane) season rain - it's a new Florida tradition!

More details on Florida's Insurance Rates going up

While Governor Crist hasn't YET signed it, details of the insurance regulation bill are available. Here are the highlights:

• Citizens Property Insurance can aise rates a maximum of 10 percent annually until its rates are actuarially sound.
• Increases rates 1 percent each year to recover the cost of extra payments to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, required for rapid reserve build-up.
• Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund
• Reduces coverage sold by $2 billion over the next six years.
• Implements a rapid reserve build-up program over the next five years. Insurers will pay additional premiums each year.
• Allows small insurers to purchase additional coverage from the CAT Fund.
• Allows private insurers to pass on up to 10 percent of their reinsurance costs to policyholders through expedited rate filings.
• Prohibits insurers from raising rates and then filing the required paperwork with state regulators until Dec. 31, 2010.

Here's the full story from the Miami Herald.

I don't believe this news has fully reached the over 1 million Citizen's Insurance customers in the state as well as everyone else here that will face higher rates partly due to the hurricane activity in 2004-5 and to protect the state's emergency Hurricane Catastrophe Fund in the future.

Wait till Charlie signs the legislation and watch for the fireworks! This won't be good.

Higher Property Insurance Rates for Florida coming just in time for Hurricane Season

In an effort to shore up the state's Hurricane disaster fund, homeowners throughout the state may be facing higher property-insurance bills. The measure, which easily passed both State chambers, would increase rates for customers of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. by 10 percent a year. Also, customers of private insurance companies likely will see rate hikes, though the amounts could vary.

The bill is sitting on Governor Charlie Crist's desk as the week begins.

Hurricane Season starts in less than 30 days.

Good News?

Headlines this week in Florida were that due to the loosening of the credit markets, the State would have the ability to bond an additional $5 billion, if needed, giving us $8 billion for the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

The fund was established after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, to back up insurers in the event of a particularly devastating hurricane, or a quick succession of smaller ones. It now has an exposure of more than $28 billion with less than $8 billion on hand to pay claims.

Here's the round up of news coverage (although most of it says the same thing)

Ironically, Governor Charlie Crist found out about this via telephone as his trip to the state capital in Tallahassee was delayed due to Tornado warnings near his home in St. Petersburg, FL.

A Second Disaster hits Homestead

17 years after Hurricane Andrew, another disaster has hit Homestead, Florida. Over 2200 homes in foreclosure since October due to overbuilding & speculators - Story

Florida Avoids Hurricanes AGAIN!!

Here's a recap of the 2008 season, by the numbers:

16 – Named storms

8 – Hurricanes

7 – Tropical storms

1 – Sub-tropical storm

5 – Category 3 or stronger hurricanes

$27.8 million – Federal Emergency Management aid in Florida for damage from Tropical Storm Fay

27.65 inches – Most rain recorded from Tropical Storm Fay, 8 miles northwest of Melbourne

0.72 inches – Rain recorded at Tampa International Airport from Tropical Storm Fay

4 – Number of times Tropical Storm Fay made landfall in Florida

18 – Days Hurricane Bertha lasted, the longest-lived July hurricane on record

3 – Consecutive seasons since Florida has been hit by a hurricane

Storms strengthening south and east of Florida

Storms off Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic are expected to strengthen in the next 48 hours, with at least one projected to become a hurricane, but neither is pointed toward Florida at the moment.

Category 3 with 120+ mph winds?

Hurricane Gustav - This could shape up as a bad one!

Oil prices sure to spike. Residents of Fay-soaked Gulf Coast have to be very anxious and just the thought of landfall near New Orleans is frightful. National media will really jump all over this post DNC in Denver.

The older I get the more I hate reading: "There is a possibility that Gustav could become a dangerous Category 3 hurricane sometime Friday or Saturday and be a Category 3 hurricane when it enters the southern Gulf of Mexico. All interests along the U.S. Gulf Coast need to watch the progress of this storm for early next week, especially the central and western Gulf Coast areas."




Links that got my attention:
Washington Post - Gustav could become a giant