With the 2006 hurricane season starting in just five weeks, many home insurers from Texas to Florida to New York are canceling policies along the coast or refusing to sell new ones out of fear of another catastrophic storm.

In the widest insurance retreat from coastal property since Hurricane Andrew slammed Florida in 1992, insurers as far north as Long Island, N.Y., and Cape Cod, Mass., are shedding coastal homeowners policies to reduce their exposure.

In Florida alone, insurers that are undercapitalized or fearful of losses have notified the state of plans to cancel more than 500,000 homeowners policies.

Companies including Allstate, the nation's second-biggest property insurer, say forecasts of more major hurricanes combined with soaring coastal real estate development have created unacceptable risk in some areas.

"We're examining our risk up and down the East Coast and Gulf Coast, given the changes that have occurred," says Allstate spokesman Mike Trevino.

Allstate's not alone. Insurers "are paring back their coastal exposure everywhere," says Robert Hartwig of the Insurance Information Institute.

Their caution is hitting home in: