North Carolina

The recovery of local governments and utilities from hurricanes Helene and Milton continues but the outlook for next season and beyond is troubling.

The North Carolina Rate Bureau, representing home insurers, settled for two 7.5% increases this year and next, after originally seeking a 42% rate increase. NCRB says the settlement just postpones the need for higher rates to accurately cover risks, while the insurance commissioner calls it "a big win" for homeowners.

Republicans win insurance commissioner races in North Carolina and Montana, Democrats win in Washington state and Delaware, according to Ballotpedia results.

Moody's believes Florida will sell bonds to help replenish the CAT fund this spring.

MMA says some risky-sector issuers in the area hit hard by the hurricane may be pushed into technical or payment defaults.

As historic floodwaters unleashed by Hurricane Helene recede across the U.S. Southeast, the region faces a humanitarian, economic and ecological crisis of staggering scope, with effects likely to last years.

The horror Helene left in its wake has shocked the city of 94,000, and the inland devastation illustrates a broader danger about hurricanes.

State and federal relief efforts are stepping in to help areas hit by Helene that are not covered by flood insurance.

From Indiana to Florida, more than 3.2 million customers are without power with South Carolina accounting for about 31%, according to PowerOutage.us.

The new NC Tech / MetLife Center for Technology Workforce Innovation will leverage the insurer's pre-existing tech hub in the state to support the technology industry group.