Louisiana Bill Proposes Insurers Cover Non-Mandatory Evacuation Expenses

As Hurricane Ida hurtled toward south Louisiana, Paulette Tybussek, a resident of Jefferson Parish, weighed her options: ‘Do you put your life at risk and stay? Or do you evacuate?’

By then, the Saturday before Sunday’s landfall, forecasters were warning that Ida would develop into an ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 4 storm. Parish leaders were urging residents to leave, if at all possible.

So, alongside her elderly parents, Tybussek fled for safety, spending thousands of dollars on gas, food and hotels during her two-week stay out of harm’s way.

But, as she later learned, her insurer, State Farm, wouldn’t cover those evacuation expenses, only because officials called for a voluntary evacuation -- not mandatory.

‘Why should we have to suffer for something the officials didn’t do?’ Tybussek said. ‘It’s not our fault it wasn’t mandatory.’