Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
2 Years After Sandy: Sea Bright, N.J., Prepares for Next Big Storm
Oct 30 2014 // Sea Bright, New Jersey, is a great example of how difficult it is to truly prepare a Jersey shore community for the next big storm. The low-lying community on a narrow strip of sand between the ocean and the Shrewsbury...
California Drought Bad Tidings for Rice Harvest
Oct 30 2014 // California’s deepening drought is shrinking its rice harvest, and that’s bad news for farmers, migratory birds and sushi lovers. The $5 billion industry exports rice to more than 100 countries and specializes...
NYC Flood Zone Properties’ Value Rose to $129B Under New FEMA Maps
Oct 29 2014 // The assessed value of properties in New York City that lie within Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) newly proposed 100-year floodplain maps is $129 billion, more than double the value under previous...
Human Factor, Culture Often Overlooked in Climate Debate, Expert Says
Oct 29 2014 // When Hurricane Sandy came, Deborah Star Reed stayed home. Irene, the year before, had been over- hyped. Her 1919 concrete house in New York was left unscathed by Donna in 1960 and the “Big One” of 1938. So, on...
2 Years After Superstorm Sandy: Are We Ready for Next Big Storm?
Oct 27 2014 // After Superstorm Sandy, officials in New York and New Jersey vowed to make sure the unprecedented destruction wouldn’t happen again. Two years later, would it? There are some concrete signs of tougher protections,...
Report on Infrastructure Upgrades Since Superstorm Sandy
Oct 27 2014 // Two years after Superstorm Sandy, would New York and New Jersey be better protected and prepared if such a storm struck again? A sampling of work on some key issues: • Flood Protection New York City: Many projects on the...
Carpenter Report Details Impact of 2004 & 2005 Hurricane Seasons
Oct 27 2014 // Guy Carpenter & Company released Part II of the two-part Ten-Year Retrospective of the 2004 and 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Seasons. Part II focuses on the 2005 hurricane season and the cumulative effects of both the 2004...
Rule Addresses Lenders’ Flood Insurance Escrowing, Mandate Exemptions
Oct 27 2014 // Five federal regulatory agencies are seeking comment on a proposed rule pertaining to loans secured by property located in special flood hazard areas. The rule, part of a broader proposal first offeerd last October, would...
Marsh to Acquire Flood Insurance Technology Firm Torrent
Oct 20 2014 // Insurance broker Marsh has agreed to acquire Torrent Technologies Inc., which serves Write Your Own (WYO) insurers participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Torrent’s approximately 100 employees...
High-Tide Floods to Triple for Some East Coast Cities: UCS
Oct 20 2014 // Flooding during high tides, which used to be rare, is now common in some places and could worsen to the point that sections of coastal cities may flood so often they would become unusable in the near future, according to a...
NJ Transit Sues Insurers Over Sandy Losses, Seeks $300M
Oct 20 2014 // New Jersey Transit, the nation’s third-largest bus, rail and light rail transportation provider, is suing several excess insurers to recoup additional $300 million for Superstorm Sandy losses. NJ Transit says its...
N.J. Regulator: 99.4% of Non-Flood Sandy Claims Settled
Oct 20 2014 // Ken KobylowskiNew Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Ken Kobylowski said that among the 470,281 non-flood, Superstorm Sandy-related homeowners, automobile and commercial claims that were filed in New...
High-Tide Floods to Triple for Some Coastal Cities
Oct 20 2014 // Flooding during high tides, which used to be rare, is now common in some places and could worsen to the point that sections of coastal cities may flood so often they would become unusable in the near future, according to a...
Encroaching Tides: How Sea Level Rise and Tidal Flooding Threaten U.S. East and Gulf Coast Communities over the Next 30 Years
Oct 20 2014 // The “Encroaching Tides: How Sea Level Rise and Tidal Flooding Threaten U.S. East and Gulf Coast Communities over the Next 30 Years,” can be found at www.ucsusa.org. The study contains profiles on how tidal...
10 Things to Know About Commercial Property
Oct 20 2014 // Prices for commercial property insurance fell during the second quarter of 2014, marking the first time in three years that property prices fell, according to a recent Towers Watson survey. The survey showed that over half...
Hurricane Gonzalo Threatens Bermuda With Flooding, Storm Surge
Oct 17 2014 // Gonzalo, classified as a major hurricane and bearing down on Bermuda with tree-snapping winds, is forecast to bring flooding and a life-threatening storm surge as it’s projected to be the worst storm to hit the...
Flash Flood Risk Score: An Innovative Approach to Evaluate Flooding
Oct 16 2014 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Flooding by the Numbers A review of the annual damage resulting from floods indicates that coastal flooding, riverine flooding and also flash flood events combine to...
Scientists in New Mexico Predict Post-Wildfire Erosion Risks
Oct 13 2014 // It’s nearly impossible to predict when and where the next major wildfire will be and whether an ill-timed thunderstorm could result in tons of ash and charred debris being washed down the bare mountainsides once the...
Flood Relief Loan Center Opens in Memphis, Tennessee
Oct 10 2014 // The U.S. Small Business Administration is opening an office in Memphis, Tennessee, to make it easier for residents affected by last month’s flooding to apply for disaster loans. The agency says it is opening a...
New Jersey Transit Sues Insurers Over Sandy Losses, Seeks $300M
Oct 8 2014 // New Jersey Transit, the nation’s third-largest bus, rail and light rail transportation provider, is suing several excess insurers to recoup additional $300 million for Superstorm Sandy losses. NJ Transit says its...
