HOUSTON -- Hurricane Bertha's strength this early in the season may be a sign of a strong season to come. Experts said it should serve as a reminder to make sure families are protected with flood insurance.

WASHINGTON — If the problem threatening to take down the economy is bad mortgages, then why isn’t mortgage insurance taking care of it? In the 1980s and 1990s, most home buyers could not get a mortgage with a down payment less than 20 percent unless

Banking regulators are working closely with the Bush administration to create a loan guarantee program that would serve as an incentive for mortgage servicers to modify home loans, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Thursday.

Many businesses will be able to pay the cost of cleanup and rebuilding through insurance. But, not everyone affected by the storm is covered. Some people could find the money to fix their home or car, will have to come out of their own pocket.

THE CASE: Three children - ages 3, 5 and 11 - died as a result of a March 7, 2003, fire in their Village Seven home, and investigators in Colorado Springs say their parents plotted the blaze to collect insurance money.