Hurricane season not over, be prepared

This year’s hurricane season, which began June 1, has been a slow one with three named storms but coastal residents still need to be prepared as the height of the season approaches.

“We are concerned about the safety of every Texan during hurricane season,” Mark Hanna, spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, said. “Even if a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico is only a ‘Category 2’ coastal residents should still make sure they’re prepared to protect their property and evacuate if needed. Texas homeowners and businesses who have been through a hurricane can tell you how devastating the storms can be.”

The last storm to strike Texas was Hurricane Ike in 2008 — a Category 2 hurricane with winds ranging from 96 to 110 mph. Ike claimed more than 100 lives and completely wiped 3,000 homes and businesses off the Bolivar Peninsula. Extensive damage was also experienced in Bridge City in Orange County where almost every home received damage.

Roger Erickson, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service-Lake Charles, said El Nino put a damper on this year’s hurricane season.

The problem, he added, is the possibility of a quick strike hurricane. For example, Hurricane Humberto which struck High Island on Sept. 13, 2007, was a minimal storm with winds of 85 mph. The storm formed and intensified faster than any other hurricane on record before making landfall.

“It was a quick strike on the back of a cold front,” Erickson said.

The minimal Hurricane Humberto caused for $$30 million in losses.

Currently there is an area of low pressure located several hundred miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands that shows signs of organization. While the area is still too far out to accurately predict formation and path, Erickson said the area is not a threat anytime soon if at all.

El Nino will have an effect on the winter though.

“With El Nino we typically colder, wetter winters,” he said. “The typical El Nino pattern is for stormy weather and cooler temps with a higher risk of ice storms. From our perspective, there is more to talk about later for the long range.”

Manuel Villarreal, Texas Windstorm Insurance Association ombudsman, works on education and outreach to policyholders in 14 counties. Performance-wise, things have gotten better when filing claims, he said. For example, a hailstorm that struck Beaumont on April 27 resulted in 2,294 new claims; many of those claims were finalized within 12.3 days.

“The fact that a majority of those claims were closed shows a lot about TWIA management.”

In related news, changes are coming for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.

Senate Bill 900, also known as the Windstorm Reform Bill, affects the way TWIA is funded, composition of the boards and programs to reduce the total amount of policies TWIA has.

Mark Hanna, with the Insurance Council of Texas, explained that by Oct. 1, a new TWIA board will be appointed consisting of three insurer representatives, three coastal representatives and three non-costal representatives.

SB 900 also changed TWIA’s funding structure requiring TWIA to fund, at minimum, a 100-year-storm season which has been accomplished, according to information from TWIA.

The bill requires TWIA to sustain this level of funding in future years, using the following sources: TWIA premiums and the Catastrophe Reserve Trust Fund (CRTF), a combination of $1 billion in company assessments and $1 billion in bonds repaid first by TWIA policyholders and if necessary, by all coastal policyholders and sufficient reinsurance or other risk financing to achieve the 100-year storm season, according to their website.

SportsPlus

Local

Bob Hope School fundraiser “Boots and BBQ” invites NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith

Local

Election Filing Ends, Campaigns Kick Off

Local

Port Arthur Public Library to host acclaimed opera singer Richard Perkins’s “Here I Stand” program

Local

Women dies after being ejected in rollover on Highway 69

Local

Museum of the Gulf Coast unveils 10th annual art and photo contest winners

Local

Nederland Police – Calls and arrests from Feb. 3 to Feb. 9

Groves

Groves Police – Calls and arrests from Feb. 5 to Feb. 11

Local

Port Arthur OK’s water rate increase to cover budget with an eye toward the future

Local

Tugboat Island Rebuild 2025 nears

Local

DPS investigates multi-vehicle crash on Twin City Highway

Local

Port Arthur declares Lionhearted Boxing Academy Day to honor community impact

News

Mayor’s bid for EDC ballot change fails

Groves

Port Arthur woman honored ‘Woman of the Year’ discusses not being talked out of loving others

Local

Don Rollins, songwriter and country music star dies at 63

Beaumont

Homestead Exemption Rate Bill passes Senate, vote set for the House

Local

Family mourns as police search for killer

Local

A Night to Shine

Local

Nederland High School students get paws-on experience in new grooming class

Beaumont

Man sentenced for Groves Burglary accused of jamming Police radios

Local

2 corrections officers arrested in separate incidents

Local

SETX Craft BBQ Fest returns to Port Neches this weekend

Local

PAISD’s 2014 Bond Delivered Significant Achievements

Local

Port Arthur suspect allegedly tied to Houston capital murder

Beaumont

Michael Sheffield, longtime photographer, videographer and Santa dies