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JEFF HARRINGTON and KRIS HUNDLEYDisaster planners say the fact that two storms are headed toward Florida has helped keep their teams focused.
Two months ago, insurance regulators in Florida's Department of Financial Services held an internal drill for a fake hurricane.
How would they mobilize, staffers were asked, if a major hurricane hit Florida's east coast, crossed the state, re-intensified in the Gulf of Mexico and struck Florida's coastline a second time in the Panhandle?
Turns out a variation of that extraordinary scenario is threatening now.
For the first time disaster planners can remember, a tropical storm and a hurricane are expected to make landfall in different parts of Florida within a day of each other.
The situation presents a logistical challenge not just to emergency response teams but also insurance adjusters, utility linemen and other professionals who must mobilize immediately after disaster strikes.
By mid day Wednesday, Allstate Insurance had five RVs tricked out as mobile claims offices on the road from Baton Rouge to Orlando, where they'll wait to be dispatched once the storms pass.
Nationwide Insurance's national catastrophe team had tentatively decided to send adjusters to Gainesville, where they will be out of danger but close enough to respond after the storms hit.
Two claims adjusters in USAA's Tampa office were sent home at noon Wednesday to pack for a trip to the Panhandle. Other staffers were headed toward Fort Myers, the Orlando/Daytona area and Charleston, S.C.
And State Farm, which insures about one in four homes in Florida, was poised to activate local and national claims adjusters based on the severity of the storms.
"You don't want to move in too soon and put people in harm's way," said Tom Hagerty, spokesman for State Farm in Winter Haven. "We'll get however many people we need and they'll be there as long as it takes."
The upside of two storms swirling off Florida's coast is "you're definitely prepared," says Carol Lehtola, an associate professor at the University of Florida and expert in disaster preparedness. "When (storms) are several months apart, we tend to get lax and lazy. If nothing else, this gets your attention."
Insurance executives say their slow response to customer needs after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 taught them the importance of monitoring a storm's progress and having a team of trained staffers ready to go. "In this day and age, the need for speed is even more important," said Lynn McChristian, spokeswoman for USAA in Tampa. "People want their insurance companies to physically be there for them."
In recent years, insurance companies have significantly changed the way they handle claims. Most no longer rely solely on in-house adjusters; rather, they contract with independent adjuster companies to supplement their staff in emergencies.
Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer for homeowners who cannot find coverage in the open market, expects to be among the busiest agencies. In the past two years, Citizens has expanded to become the largest insurer in the state with 815,000 policies, including many in the Tampa Bay area.
With 1,886 contract adjusters on call statewide, Citizens should have sufficient personnel to respond to emergencies in two parts of the state at once, spokeswoman Susanne Murphy said.
Once the storms have passed, insurance adjusters will head to the most devastated areas first, working out of temporary office space, mobile offices in high-visibility locations and their cars. Kevin Craiglow, a spokesman for Nationwide, rode with an adjuster after Hurricane Isabel tore through Virginia in September.
"They're out there pretty much seven days a week, 12 hours a day," he said. "They can use their wireless tablet PC to map out where the customers are, as well as process claims. Many of them have a built-in printer, so they produce checks on the spot."
Other tools of the claims adjuster's trade after a catastrophe: digital camera, cell phone, collapsible ladder, tape measure and bottled water.
Local electric utilities are bracing themselves for a rash of fallen trees and downed power lines.
Both Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg and Tampa Electric Co. have requested assistance from fellow members of the Southeastern Electric Exchange, a group of more than a dozen Southern utilities that come to each other's aid in weather emergencies.
Tampa Electric, which serves customers in Hillsborough and parts of Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties, has requested about 600 out-of-state linemen and 300 tree trimmers, according to spokesman Ross Bannister.
The challenge of dual storms poses a bigger headache for Progress, which serves all or parts of 35 Florida counties, including Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties.
While the Tampa Bay area could be hit by Hurricane Charley, Panhandle counties that Progress also serves lie in the path of tropical storm Bonnie.
"It's a very challenging situation in that we've got two storms that are expected to impact customers throughout our service territory," said Progress spokesman Aaron Perlut. "We need to ensure that we have the resources to tackle any damages that come as a result of the storms."
To that end, Progress has asked the electric exchange for 1,200 backup linemen and 400 tree trimmers. But the utility isn't seeking the assistance of its sibling Progress Energy Carolinas in Raleigh, N.C. That's because the two storms could head toward the Carolinas after hitting Florida, Perlut said.
The Sunshine State has not faced this double-storm situation before. The nearest comparable case may have been 1995, when Hurricane Erin and Tropical Storm Jerry both struck in August, 21/2 weeks apart.
Sam Miller, vice president of the Florida Insurance Council, said the last time Florida had "back-to-back hurricanes" was also 1995, with hurricanes Erin and Opal. But disaster teams had a break between them; Opal struck Florida's coastline two months after Erin.
In 2001, tropical storm Allison and tropical storm Barry both hit west Florida two months apart. Neither caused heavy damage.
Miller thinks insurers are prepared to handle the latest "double-barrelled attack."
"Knock on wood, Bonnie is going to do very little wind damage and very little damage, hopefully, at all," he said. "Normally when we have a tropical storm, we do not have a huge amount of claims and huge, significant losses."
In fact, if Bonnie does not cause significant damage, many insurance companies might not even activate an emergency 800 number beyond their regular toll-free lines.
Charley is more dangerous, but Miller said he would worry about being overwhelmed with millions of dollars in damage only if the storm had a Category 3 intensity or higher. As of Wednesday, Charley was expected to be a Category 1 or possibly a weak Category 2 storm when it makes landfall in Florida.
Carol Lehtola, an associate professor at the University of Florida and expert in disaster preparedness, said she's been concerned that some Floridians may be reluctant to make preparations after so many evacuated their homes in 1999 for a threat from Hurricane Floyd that never materialized.
The upside of two storms swirling off Florida's coast is "you're definitely prepared," Lehtola said. "When (storms) are several months apart, we tend to get lax and lazy. If nothing else, this gets your attention."
Times staff writer Louis Hau contributed to this report. Jeff Harrington can be reached at harrington@sptimes.com or 813 226-3407. Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2996.