From InsuranceNewsNet.com, One U.S. senator thinks the solution for wind vs. flood disputes over storm damage should be -- in the case of a disagreement between insurers -- to initially split the coverage 50/50.

So, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., introduced a bill in the Senate that would do that, amending the National Flood Insurance Program to ensure that disputes don't leave the insured hanging.

However, as with a number of other bills dealing with bedrock homeowner coverage issues, it's unclear that the Senate will find time to act this year. This has been the final week of the House session before the August recess sends lawmakers back to their districts until mid-September; the Senate will work one more week.

The "Coordination of Wind and Flood Perils Act of 2010" would "remove the burden of determining flood and wind loss allocation for the purpose of insurance claims from the insured and to place such burden on the entities that are responsible for the payment of such claims," according to the bill. In the event of a dispute between the flood insurer and a wind insurer after an incident "arising from the combined perils of flood and wind," each would immediately pay half and move the conflict to a Federal Emergency Management Agency arbitration panel.

This outlook reflects an expected set of conditions that is very conducive to increased Atlantic hurricane activity. This expectation is based on the prediction of three climate factors, all of which are conducive historically to increased tropical cyclone activity. These climate factors are:1) the tropical multi-decadal signal, which has contributed to the high-activity era in the Atlantic basin that began in 1995,2) exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea (called the Main Development Region), and 3) either ENSO-neutral or La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific, with La Niña becoming increasingly likely. In addition, dynamical models forecasts of the number and strength of tropical cyclones also predict a very active season.