Latest news with #Braud
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana homeowners might get option to insure their properties for ‘stated value'
Studies show that AI systems used to make important decisions such as approval of loan and mortgage applications can perpetuate historical bias and discrimination if not carefully constructed and monitored. () The Louisiana House of Representatives approved a bill Tuesday that would require insurance companies to let homeowners purchase 'stated value' policies, which cover the home for an amount they declare rather than for its full market value. House Bill 356, sponsored by Rep. Jacob Braud, R-Belle Chasse, cleared the chamber in a 79-20 vote and will head to the Senate for consideration. Braud said his proposal would allow people who do not have a mortgage to purchase a more affordable homeowner's policy. Some homeowners prefer to take on the added risk of having to come out of pocket for damages if it allows them to pay less in homeowner insurance premiums now, he added. 'The premium costs have just been through the roof,' Braud said, citing what many of his constituents have said about their policies. He and several of his colleagues championed the bill as a pro-consumer measure. Rep. Tim Kerner, R-Lafitte, said Braud's legislation might be the only one this year that actually helps homeowners with affordability. 'The downside is that if something happens to their home during a hurricane, they're not gonna be able to replace it if it goes down,' Kerner told Braud on the House floor. 'Well, let me tell you something, I know people losing their houses now.' Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock, opposed the bill's mandate that all residential property insurers in the state create such policies upon request. Firment, who chairs the House Committee on Insurance, has spearheaded many of the tort reform bills this session in an effort to reduce premiums. 'If we mandate every insurance company in the state to provide this product, I think people in South Louisiana will use it,' Firment said. 'They'll be sold a bill of goods without understanding because they're desperate.' Firment said he believes the proposal would shift insurance costs to other parts of the state and lead to an increase in blighted property from people abandoning their damaged homes after storms. This legislative session, lawmakers have largely addressed Louisiana's insurance crisis on the auto coverage front, passing a package of so-called 'tort reform' bills that give insurance companies certain protections or advantages in litigation, making it harder for accident victims to file successful lawsuits. Braud's bill is one of the few proposals that addresses the other component of the crisis: the skyrocketing cost of homeowner insurance that has mostly affected South Louisiana. The only way to truly address the crisis was to make the provisions of his bill mandatory, he said. 'It was clear to me that the insurers did not care to make this product,' Braud said, adding that he believes it would mostly be purchased in extreme cases. Insurers would only have to offer a stated value policy at a homeowner's request, rather than make it a default level of coverage. The proposal moves next to the Senate for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
New York to be pummeled by ‘snowiest' storm of the season as polar vortex threatens -50 degree winds
New York could see the 'snowiest' storm of the season this week as biting-cold temperatures sweep across the nation, ushering in a frigid polar vortex that will leave parts of the US suffering through wind chills as cold as -50 degrees. A powerful winter storm is set to plow through the southeast and Central Plains on Wednesday before traveling up the northeast, hitting the tri-state area with snow Thursday morning. 'It has the potential to be our snowiest storm of the season,' Fox Forecast Center Meteorologist Cody Braud told The Post on Sunday. While it's too soon to tell exactly how many inches of powder will dust the Big Apple and surrounding suburbs, Braud said there is a chance this storm will top this season's current highest snowfall of about three inches. 'If the storm is able to hug the coast, stay close enough, we could get a decent duration of snow,' Braud added. Even though 'the threat of a major snowstorm exists,' according to Braud, it's still too early how much snowfall New Yorkers may see come Thursday. In the days leading up to the storm, however, temperatures in New York City will remain low in the mid-20s before warming up to the mid-30s by the afternoon. Other parts of the country, specifically the northern Rockies and Northern Plains will experience its 10th and coldest polar vortex event this season, as chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole gets pushed into the US and Europe. People in those regions can expect to wake up each morning this week to temperatures well below zero — potentially nearing as low as -40 degrees, Braud said. While New York and the tri-state area were battered by strong winds and heavy rain on Sunday, torrential rains in Louisville, Kentucky, prompted intense flooding resulting in at least two deaths. Meanwhile, the Northern Plains region faces life-threatening cold, as tornado watches were issued for parts of Georgia and Florida. With Post wires.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Forecast snowfall totals lighten as a powerful winter storm whips through the New York City area
May just dodge a blow from mother nature. A powerful winter storm that was expected to dump almost half a foot of snow across the Big Apple Saturday is now forecasted to bring just 2 to 4 inches of flurries before switching to rain by midnight. The five boroughs could see less snow accumulation if the winter storm blowing in from the Midwest transitions to a wintry mix of sleet and rain as midnight approaches, according to FOX Weather Meteorologist Cody Braud. 'NYC will be right on the dividing line between all snow, a wintry mix and all rain,' Braud told The Post. 'At some point tonight this line will move north of the city ending the snow.' The snow, which began late Saturday evening in Manhattan, coated Times Square in a winter wonderland that attracted the likes of children and adults who were building snowmen, tossing snow balls, taking pictures and embracing the chilly weather. Beyond the city, a Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 11 a.m. Sunday further north, in White Plains and the Hudson Valley, where the area will be slammed with 5 to 8 inches of powder and less than one-tenth of an inch of ice. 'Further north in Westchester County, they will have a longer duration of snow,' Braud said. Southern Connecticut and parts of New Jersey could also see 5 to 7 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Up to five inches of snow are forecasted in Long Island and Northeastern New Jersey. Sunny skies with highs in around 40 degrees are expected Sunday by midday in the city, but forecasters warn the roads and sidewalks could refreeze later in the evening as people head out to bars and parties to watch the Super Bowl. Possible icy conditions will accompany freezing highs and lows bottoming out at 25 degrees on Monday, with increasing clouds. By Tuesday, more winter snow storms could return throughout the Northeast and continue through Thursday.
