Severe thunderstorms packing large hail and possible damaging wind gusts are taking aim on parts of the South for St. Patrick’s Day, from Texas to the Gulf Coast. Many in the Fort Worth, Texas, area were awakened by severe thunderstorms packing large hail as they moved through early Thursday morning. Just after 4 a.m. CDT… Read more »

The Sabine River has risen to more than 32 feet at Deweyville, Texas, breaking the unofficial highest gage set over 130 years ago and completely isolating the small Newton County town of about 1,200. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in Deweyville after a week of storms have pushed the nearby Sabine River over historic flood levels as of… Read more »

This five-plus-day heavy rain event, which featured up to two feet of record March rain in the South, is almost finally over. However, major river flooding will continue for the next several days, rising to historic levels in some areas. Record flooding is already occurring along a stretch of the Sabine River, and will move… Read more »

Torrential rainfall continues to swamp parts of the South, smashing March records, and triggering major flash flooding and worsening river flooding in parts of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi. Heavy rain has also spread into parts of western Tennessee, western Kentucky, and western Mississippi. More than 20 inches of rain had fallen near Monroe, Louisiana,… Read more »

Texas recorded 244 tornadoes last year making it the highest number of twisters to ever touch down in the lone star state since the record keeping began in 1950, according to the Insurance Council of Texas. The tornadoes claimed 17 lives and were responsible for 16 weather catastrophes last year, which produced three times as… Read more »

Catastrophic weather events caused more than $3 billion in insured losses in Texas in 2015, according to the Austin-based Insurance Council of Texas. Referring to data prepared by Verisk Analytics Inc.’s Insurance Services Office’s Property Claim Services unit, Texas suffered 16 catastrophic weather events — which PCS defines as a storm that causes more than… Read more »

COLEYVILLE, TX Two families displaced by the deadly tornadoes that broke out in north Texas last month now have a safe place to stay thanks to the generosity of a Texas real estate investor. Their temporary homes, however, aren’t what you would expect. Catherine Jenkins and her daughter Amber are just one of the families… Read more »

Residents of northeastern Texas are picking up the pieces after a weekend filled with severe weather, flooding rain and multiple tornadoes. Saturday night brought the worst of the severe weather when multiple tornadoes touched down around Dallas, leading to at least 11 fatalities, dozens of injuries and extensive travel delays, according to the Associated Press…. Read more »

On a recent Texas public adjuster listserv which is monitored by Steve Hadhazi, Steve asked whether a public adjuster must be “impartial” if the appraisal clause has this language: If we and you do not agree on the amount of loss, either may demand an appraisal of the loss. In this event, each party will… Read more »

After Hurricane Ike some Texas courts decided that if a claim went to appraisal and the carrier paid the award, then no matter how nasty the carrier had been in handling the claim up to the time of appraisal, the policyholder lost the right to pursue a cause of action for breach of contract (and… Read more »