Rita beating put insurers into retreat
Angel Murphy and her husband packed up their kids and important belongings, locked their door and departed three days before Hurricane Rita made landfall just southeast of Port Arthur in September 2005. It would be more than six months before they lived in the home again.
The Murphys returned to West 18th Street in Port Arthur to find their home was "devastated," after it took on water and wind damage and was knocked off its foundation.
"In order to move forward, you have to accept it," Murphy would say 10 years later.
The family - 27-year-old Murphy, her husband and two young children - sat idle for more than half a year, living in a hotel and then moving in with Murphy's parents while they waited for insurance money to pay for a rebuild. Their frustration was shared by many, with some reportedly going six or seven months before adjusters even inspected their properties.
Insurers, who saw Southeast Texas claims exceed $2.2 billion dollars in damage, moved quickly in some cases, but many homeowners were left with frustrating waits, prompting formal complaints and lawsuits. The ordeal gave them pause when they chose future insurers and policies. And while Rita didn't spur insurance reform in the same way that Ike did three years later, it did start major insurers on their path to leaving coastal Texas, a trade association spokesman said.
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