If you thought Hurricane Helene was a doozy, that may be nothing compared to what’s bearing down on Florida. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, just two weeks after Hurricane Francine hit southern Louisiana as a Category 2. Will these storms impact the insurance landscape in Louisiana? Sean Richardson has more.
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If you thought Hurricane Helene was bad, that could be nothing compared to what’s approaching the Florida Peninsula. Hurricane Milton is now a Category Five hurricane – the highest level on the hurricane scale – packing maximum sustained winds of 160 miles an hour. LSU Public Health Climatologist Barry Keim says whether it makes landfall as a Category Five storm remains to be seen.
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Keim says even if the storm weakens before it makes landfall later this week, the storm surge will still be very severe.
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This is the second major hurricane to bear down on Florida in just a couple weeks, and Keim says we may not be done with major storms this year.
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All this comes on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which left massive destruction in its wake, from the Big Bend area of Florida to North Carolina.
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Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, just two weeks after Hurricane Francine hit southern Louisiana as a Category 2. This is the fourth hurricane to strike the Gulf Coast this season, and while the full extent of damage is still unknown, Insurance Information Institute spokesperson Mark Friedlander says that these storms rarely impact the insurance landscape alone.
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Insurance companies protect themselves through reinsurance, a practice where they purchase insurance for their policies. The severity of a storm, rather than its frequency, is what drives insurance claims and premium adjustments. According to Friedlander, the storm’s loss activity in specific areas significantly impacts claims and rates.
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One way to mitigate insurance cost is a FORTIFIED roof with some insurance companies offering discounts. Friedlander urges residents to get flood insurance and recommend getting quotes from the nation flood insurance program and from private flood insurers….
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Thanks to a new Louisiana law, 17-year-olds can now be tried as adults, down from 18. Governor Landry said the goal is to deter teens from committing crimes. Has it worked?
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Richard Webster did a study on this for Veritae News, examining the arrests of 17-year-olds in three of the state’s biggest parishes – Orleans, Jefferson and East Baton Rouge. And he found that of the 203 arrested in those parishes since the law went into effect in April, 69-percent were arrested for non-violent crimes.
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Webster says a relatively small percentage of crimes committed by 17-year-olds based on the study were violent in nature.
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Webster notes that with teens being tried in adult court for non-violent crimes, that information is public, and that could prevent them from landing jobs or getting public assistance.
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In honor of National Manufacturing Month, Central Louisiana Technical Community College is holding several events aimed at highlighting manufacturing opportunities throughout the state. Vice Chancellor of Workforce and Grant Development Lindsay Green says one thing they’re doing is reaching out to young people to expose them to the world of manufacturing.
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Green says later this month, the school will be reaching out to the community as a whole to tout the manufacturing industry.
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Green says the manufacturing industry is very lucrative with several high-paying jobs.
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The school is partnering with many local manufacturing companies as part of its outreach in raising awareness and recruiting future manufacturing professionals.