Catastrophe & Restoration

During his presidency, Bill Clinton once said, "The White House: I don't know whether it's the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the prison system."

For the past 25 years, a program has been underway that provides advanced training for damage repair contractors and restorers.

The NOAA recently completed a study that said a warming global ocean could positively influence the winds that shear off the tops of developing hurricanes.

U.S.P&C insurers received another reprieve from Mother Nature in 2007.

For years, when a homeowner suffered a property loss that included damaged clothing and other textiles, the items either were written off as a total loss or dropped off at a nearby retail dry cleaner.

It has been more than two years since Hurricane Katrina's violent winds and water left in its wake the damaged and destroyed homes of tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents.

The increased prevalence of smaller natural disasters throughout the year resulted in a 50 percent increase over 2006's worldwide insured losses.

Insurer and consumer had a war of words on Nov. 15, 2007, at the National Underwriter Company's first two-day virtual conference and expo.