As coastal residents nervously await the start of a new hurricane season in June, they’re confronting another fright: the exorbitant price and short supply of insurance for wind damage.
Huge losses from Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 have sent the homeowners insurance industry into a panicked retreat from the USA’s coastline. In Florida, which was hit by eight major hurricanes in two years, insurers are refusing to renew hundreds of thousands of homeowners policies to reduce exposure to claims.