BestWeek: Mississippi's Devastated Coast is Now a Wind Vs. Flood Battlefield.OLDWICK, N.J. -- Early December in Biloxi, MS, finds John Lennon's bittersweet bittersweet, name for two unrelated plants, belonging to different families, both fall-fruiting woody vines sometimes cultivated for their decorative scarlet berries. "Happy Christmas" playing on the car radio amid a devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. landscape left by Hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. just months
earlier. A State Farm public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. specialist, touring the area with a
BestWeek reporter, points out the tarp-shrouded shell of Beauvoir, the
retirement home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Like so much
else along Mississippi's coast, Beauvoir--once a stately mansion
within sight of the Gulf--is in ruins.
Many didn't have flood coverage because it wasn't required by their mortgage company; because they weren't in a federally designated flood zone; or because their property withstood 1969's Hurricane Camille Hurricane Camille was the third tropical cyclone and second hurricane of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. Camille was the second of three Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century, which it did near the mouth of the Mississippi River on , according to the Jan. 2, 2006 BestWeek story. "The mentality of southern Mississippi before Katrina was this: I don't need flood insurance because, one, the mortgage company doesn't require it, and Camille. Well, Camille doesn't mean anything anymore," said State Farm agent Vernon McHan Sr., who's based in Biloxi. A more extensive version of this exclusive report from the Gulf Coast can be found in the February Best's Review. Also in the Jan. 2 BestWeek: --How Puerto Rico is setting itself up to be an international and offshore domicile center; and --How reinsurers increasingly are integrating their risks with investor interests. Also featured is Best's Insurance Composite Index Composite Index A grouping of equities, indexes or other factors combined in a standardized way, providing a useful statistical measure of overall market or sector performance over time. Also known simply as a "composite". , which finished the week of Dec. 29, 2005, at 1,164.75, up 16.26% compared with a year ago. The composite index reflects the performance of 138 insurance stocks. The week's top performers were SeaBright Insurance Holdings Inc.; Hanover Insurance Group Inc.; Tower Group Inc.; FBL FBL Full Bell Lines (coin grading) FBL Fly by Light FBL FIATA Bill of Lading FBL Functional Baseline FBL Foundation for a Better Life FBL Federal Barge Lines, Inc. Financial Group Inc.; and Horace Mann Educators Corp. BestWeek is published by A.M. Best Co. for insurance professionals, including home office executives, agents and brokers. To subscribe to BestWeek, please call A.M. Best's customer service department at (908) 439-2200, ext. 5742, or e-mail your request to customer_service@ambest.com. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com. |
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