Natural disasters

Among the special session charges: "Improve the financial stability of the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation," Florida's bond-funded insurer of last resort.

The White House has asked for an additional $37.3 billion to send to states and communities that faced natural disasters last year, including $600 million to Jackson, Mississippi, for its water crisis.

The spiderweb of funding sources for natural disaster recovery makes it hard to track the actual costs to state and local government of fighting wildfires.

After four hurricanes and 11 insurer insolvencies, a $458 million deal for the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association supplies capital to pay claims.

"No bonding will be needed to pay for Ian-insured losses," says Ben Watkins, director of Florida's Division of Bond Finance.

The credit outlook on individual credits in Florida is mixed as the first reports of damage from the hurricane start filtering in.

"We are extraordinarily well positioned to deal with this storm from a financial standpoint," said Ben Watkins, director of Florida's Bond Division.

AccuWeather says Hurricane Ian may turn out to be one of the costliest storms in the county's history due to its violent storm surge, damaging winds and overpowering flooding rains.

NOAA predicts six to 10 hurricanes and expects that between three and six of those will be classified as major storms in categories three to five.

Coordinated national efforts to share firefighters and other resources could be stretched thin this year as drought hammers the West.