Hurricane Delta struck Louisiana on the evening of Oct. 9, some six weeks after Hurricane Laura made landfall in a similar location. While the Category 4 Laura was one of the strongest storms ever to hit the state, Category 2 Delta still caused significant damage, resulting in a plethora of hurricane insurance claims. 

Hundreds of thousands of residents have reported power outages across the state. Louisianans faced dangers not just from the hurricane’s initial winds, but storm surges and flash floods, resulting in both mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders. Laura caused more than $14 billion in damages, and the death count to date is 26 people. So far, Delta is blamed for four confirmed deaths. Two of the deceased perished in fires —an 86-year-old man died after a fire started while he was fueling a generator in a shed, and a 70-year-old woman was killed in a fire likely started by a natural gas leak caused by the storm. The two drowned – a 19-year-old in rough waters from a riptide and a 49-year-old in a rip current.

The total damage has yet to be determined and homeowners’ insurance claims continue to come in.

“The storm may not have brought the damage that Hurricane Laura did in August, but it did bring winds of around 100 mph,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Mike Doll told USA Today. “There we saw some areas in southwest Louisiana that had anywhere from 12 to 17 inches of rain.”

Though Hurricane Delta was much tamer than Hurricane Laura, it has drastically compounded the flooding problems many Louisianans were already facing from the previous storms this year.

To further complicate the situation, Louisiana is dealing with extreme heat and humidity following the storm.

Nic Hunter, mayor of Lake Charles, La., pleaded for the “proper federal response” to the most recent storm.

“These residents are not sitting on their hands,” Hunter wrote in a Facebook post. “They are doing their part, but they will need help. Many are elderly and disabled.”

Reported Losses in the Billions of Dollars

Insured losses from Hurricane Delta have been projected to run to about $2 billion, according to Steve Bennett, chief product officer for technology company Demex Group. Over the last several decades, insured losses from natural catastrophes have been steadily rising, attributable to both population growth and climate change, Bennett noted.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon issued a notice reminding policyholders affected by Hurricane Delta about a statute in Louisiana’s hurricane insurance law: Homeowners are prohibited from paying more than one named-storm/hurricane deductible in the same hurricane season.

Basic policy deductibles typically range between $500 and $2,000, but many coastal states have policies that separate named-storm, hurricane, and wind and hail deductibles, and generally fall between 2% and 5%  of the insured value.

Paying two or more deductibles in the same season would be financially crippling for most people, especially while also dealing with the financial impact of the storms themselves.

If a homeowner is affected by more than one such storm in the same season and has already met their deductible, it will cover the deductible for the rest of the season. Commissioner Donelon wants to make sure that policyholders are aware of this so they don’t end up getting taken advantage of by insurance companies and paying more than they should.

“After Hurricane Gustav struck Louisiana in 2008, and Hurricane Ike threatened the same area, I worked to protect consumers from the burden of having to pay two named-storm/hurricane deductibles in one season,” Commissioner Donelon said in a media release. “We partnered with the Legislature in 2009 to enact the single-season named-storm/hurricane deductible law to limit policyholder exposure to active hurricane seasons like the one we are seeing now.”

If you were affected by Hurricane Delta or another recent hurricane, you deserve to be fully compensated for your losses. Even when a person has already received compensation from the insurance company, they still may not have been paid in full and therefore may be eligible for additional funds.

Dealing with insurance companies can be a daunting prospect, and pursuing litigation even more so, so Top Class Actions has laid the groundwork by connecting you with an experienced attorney. Consulting an attorney can help you make sure that you receive the full compensation that you are due, and can help you through the litigation process if that becomes necessary.