Tropical Storm Ida sloshed ashore with rain and gusty winds Tuesday before weakening to a depression, causing little damage along the Gulf Coast but bringing rain to the already-soaked Southeast. ...more

November 11, 2009

I had a chuckle at the blog quoted in the Sunday article in the Highlands Today. I will tell "Abrand" that he should say "good riddance" to expensive Auto Owners as I did last year. I too had Auto Owners for over 20 years with coverage on my house, boat and two autos. I had a small $400 claim after Charley, and they paid promptly. Last year I received notice that Auto Owners would not renew my homeowner's policy on the anniversary date. After talking with my local agent, I found out that Auto Owners was "reducing their exposure" in their homeowner policies in Florida. I was assured that it was a random selection process, as they just couldn't drop the high risk storm surge policies on the coasts because it would be "discriminatory" and have repercussions. The local agent said that there were many such non-renewals in Highlands County and that they had appealed to no avail! ...more

February 7, 2009

Civic leaders join officials from the Salvador Dali Museum to break ground on a new home for the surrealist painter's works on the waterfront just south of Mahaffey Theatre. ...more

December 12, 2008

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is lulling coastal residents into a fatally false sense of security. That's because the scale's five single-digit categories distort the danger of an approaching tropical weather system. ...more

September 25, 2008

Hundreds of people whose beachfront homes were wrecked by Hurricane Ike may be barred from rebuilding under a little-noticed Texas law. And even those whose houses were spared could end up seeing them condemned by the state. ...more

September 19, 2008

State officials mounted the largest rescue operation in Texas history on Sunday, taking nearly 2,000 people by boat and helicopter out of flood-ravaged towns on the Texas coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. ...more

September 15, 2008

The frail and elderly were put aboard buses Wednesday and authorities warned 1 million others to flee inland as Hurricane Ike steamed toward a swath of the Texas coast that includes the nation's largest concentration of refineries and chemical plants. ...more

September 11, 2008

As Hurricane Ike moved west across Cuba Monday afternoon, Highlands County and south Florida residents could let their guard down for this storm. ...more

September 9, 2008

It could have been the worst storm ever to hit the Tampa region. Hurricane Ike is a Category 3 hurricane that is expected to pick up even more speed as it makes it past Cuba Tuesday and heads west-northwest into the Gulf of Mexico. ...more

September 8, 2008

When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast three years ago, a staggering degree of incompetence emerged at every level of government. From New Orleans city hall to the White House, no one was prepared to deal with the Category 3 storm and its devastating aftermath. ...more

September 3, 2008