Tuesday, October 19th, 2004 — Tom Gallagher, chief financial officer of the Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS), announced on Monday that insurers are expected to drain $3 billion from the states Hurricane Catastrophic Fund.
With a present cash balance of $5.6 billion in the fund that is expected to reach $6 billion by the end of the year, the borrowed money will be utilized to help pay an estimated $21.9 billion in damage from four hurricanes that struck Florida earlier this year. Hurricane Frances doesnt qualify because its damage totals were less than $4.5 billion.