Here we go again – we’re keeping an eye on the tropics for another potential storm. Jeff Palermo has the story…
Cut 1 (29) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”
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Nearly every Louisianian is waiting with baited breath on potential word of a special session on insurance reform. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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The Louisiana Fire Service has been mobilized to support rescue and recovery operations in South Carolina following Hurricane Helene. An Incident Support Team (IST) and Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from Louisiana arrived last week. Baton Rouge Fire Chief Mike Kimble says some team members will work in the state’s Emergency Operations Center, and others will directly engage in rescue operations.
Kimble says their readiness and commitment to assist in these critical situations, emphasizing the strength of the partnership between the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) and other agencies.
Cut 4 (08) “…very good spirits.”
Kimble noted that the OSFM teams have thoroughly built a robust unit capable of urban rescue and swift water rescue to support emergency responses nationwide.
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There’s the possibility of another named storm in the Gulf of Mexico this week. LSU Public Health Climatologist Barry Keim says the National Hurricane Center is watching a disorganized area of low pressure in the western Caribbean Sea that has a medium chance of developing into at least a tropical depression. LSU Public Health Climatologist Barry Keim…
Cut 6 (09) “…anybody’s guess.”
There’s the possibility this potential storm following a similar path as Hurricane Helene, but Keim says it’s way too early to tell.
Cut 7 (12) “…all over the place.”
Keim says this will be a slow developing system…
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Will there be a special session on insurance reform? That’s what nearly every Louisianian saddled with sky-high auto and property insurance rates wants to know. Pollack Representative Gabe Firment, the chairman of the House Insurance Committee, says reforming property insurance should be the easy part. Auto insurance – not so much.
Cut 9 (11) “…can accomplish successfully.”
Firment cautions, however, that there’s almost nothing that the legislature can do to lower your insurance rates.
Cut 10 (11) “…a competitive quote.”
Firment says the only way to do that is to make Louisiana a more attractive state to do business. He says in any discussion on insurance reform, the focus has to be on the families and small business owners who have to make tough choices just to afford their insurance premiums.
Cut 11 (12) “…can be successful.”
Louisiana has some of the highest, if not the highest, property and auto insurance rates in the country.
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A 5-year-old was killed and a ten-year-old injured over the weekend in a two-vehicle crash in Claiborne Parish and investigators say impairment is a factor in the wreck. State Trooper Eddie Thomas says 31-year-old Jordan Burton of Homer crossed the centerline on Louisiana Highway 146 hitting another car. Thomas says the five-year-old was not properly restrained and died at a local hospital…
A 10-year-old child, improperly restrained in the front passenger seat of Burton’s SUV also suffered severe injuries and was hospitalized. Thomas says the 5-year-old child was also improperly restrained…
Thomas says proper restraints and safe driving behaviors can often be the difference between life and death in serious crashes.