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State Farm® Urges Readiness For 2008 Hurricane Season

Bloomington, Illinois, May 30, 2008 – Some have suggested the 2006 and 2007 hurricane seasons represented the “quiet before the storm,” making the declaration that the 2008 season has officially begun sound a bit ominous.  While everyone is hoping for another quiet year, State Farm, the nation’s leading insurer of homes for the last 44 years, knows that hoping for the best is not the same as preparing for the worst. 

To get ready for the possibility of hurricanes and other disasters, State Farm recommends the following:

• Prepare an evacuation plan and then practice it so that you have confidence your plan is safe and efficient.  In an emergency, you may have only a few minutes to gather items such as medicines, a change of clothing, water, flashlight, radio, batteries, your computer hard drive or laptop, photographs, insurance policies and other important documents.  Also plan ahead for keeping your pets safe.  Few evacuation centers allow pets. 
  
  
• Consider protecting windows with storm shutters.  In addition you might want to make sure exterior doors have at least three hinges and a dead bolt lock that is at least an inch long and that sliding glass doors are made of tempered glass and covered with shutters.   
  
  
• Purchase enough insurance coverage to rebuild your home, replace your personal belongings and pay for the additional costs of living away from home while your house is being repaired or rebuilt. 
  
  
• Ask your State Farm agent about flood insurance.  Flood damage is not covered under standard homeowners policies but is available from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through your agent. 

While hurricane season officially begins Sunday, (June 1) and officially ends November 30, the middle portion of that six month interval is when hurricanes are most likely.  That means there is still ample time to prepare for the possibility that the “quiet” of 2006 and 2007 was just a prelude to a noisy 2008. 

For questions or more information, contact Jeff McCollum, Public Affairs, at (309) 766-0307.

About State Farm

State Farm® insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 67,000 employees serve over 77 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.9 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 32 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca®.