Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
South Indiana City Awaits FEMA Ruling on Floodplain Maps
Jul 9 2013 // A southern Indiana city is awaiting a federal agency’s decision on revised floodplain maps that could save more than 400 homeowners thousands of dollars each year in insurance costs. The Federal Emergency Management...
Flood Losses Dominate Disaster Count in 1st Half of 2013: Munich Re
Jul 9 2013 // Floods caused billions of dollars in losses and dominated the natural catastrophe statistics for the first half of 2013, according to a study released by Munich Re. “Around 47 percent of the overall losses and 45...
Coastal Lawmakers Seek Delays in Flood Insurance Changes, Rate Hikes
Jul 8 2013 // Just a year after Congress imposed significant changes in the government’s oft-criticized flood insurance program, howls of protest from homeowners facing higher premiums have coastal lawmakers pressing for delays...
More Rain Floods Vermont, 2 Drownings Prompt Warnings
Jul 8 2013 // With multiple drownings in fast-moving rivers in recent days, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin on July 5 warned residents to be extremely cautious about trying to beat the heat at their favorite swimming hole. “That river...
New Jersey Utility Sues 11 Insurers Over Sandy Storm Coverage
Jul 8 2013 // Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., the largest provider of gas and electric service in New Jersey, sued 11 insurers, including American International Group Inc., over losses from Hurricane Sandy. PSE&G, which...
Swiss Re Estimates Europe Flood Claims at $300 Mn; Overall Losses $3.5-$4.5 Bn
Jul 8 2013 // Swiss Re has estimated that its claims burden from recent flooding in central and Eastern Europe is approximately $300 million, net of retrocession and before tax. Industry-wide insured losses are estimated to be between...
Aon Benfield Impact Forecasting Launches Alberta Flood Model ‘Footprint’
Jul 8 2013 // Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has launched a scenario model following the recent floods in the Canadian province of Alberta. The bulletin said the model uses...
Delaware Towns Worry About Hike in Flood Insurance Cost
Jul 7 2013 // Kent County residents and leaders in Delaware are getting their first look at new flood maps and worrying about the impact on flood insurance rates. The News Journal reports that federal officials unveiled new flood maps...
Gov. Cuomo Requests Disaster Declaration for NYS After Mohawk River Flooding
Jul 2 2013 // New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday formally requested that President Obama issue a major disaster declaration for the State of New York as a result of severe storms and major flooding that occurred on June 27 and...
New El Nino Warnings Could Help Farmers Withstand Drought, Floods
Jul 2 2013 // Scientists have found a way to forecast El Nino weather events in the Pacific a year in advance, long enough to let farmers plant crops less vulnerable to global shifts in rainfall, a study showed on Monday. While far from...
N.Y. Senator Gillibrand to FEMA: Review Flood Insurance Rules
Jul 1 2013 // U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to review rules that resulted in insurance coverage denials for some Superstorm Sandy victims. Gillibrand’s letter last week...
How Catastrophe Experts Model Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge
Jul 1 2013 // The 2004 and 2005 North Atlantic hurricane seasons were a turning point in the way the property/casualty insurance industry viewed hurricane risk. The needs of the insurance industry required catastrophe models to...
The Disaster Issue – Where Insurers Fear to Tread
Jul 1 2013 // One storm is all it takes these days. Anyone who’s been paying attention needn’t be reminded that even a post-tropical cyclone can cause major damage. That’s what Sandy was when she came on shore in New...
Flooding Damages Homes in Southwestern Wisconsin
Jun 28 2013 // Several days of heavy rains caused flooding that damaged hundreds of homes in southwestern Wisconsin, and officials in some communities were preparing for more flooding as rivers rose. Storms pounded the southern part of...
Alberta Farms Avoid Widespread Damage from Worst Flood on Record
Jun 28 2013 // Damage to farmland in southern Alberta is not “widespread” after the region’s worst floods on record, according to Katrina Bluetchen, a spokeswoman for the provincial agriculture ministry. Reports...
President Declares Disaster For Spring Flooding in Alaska
Jun 27 2013 // President Barack Obama has declared a federal disaster for spring flooding in parts of Alaska. Gov. Sean Parnell earlier this month requested the federal designation for the Alaska Gateway, Yukon Flats, Yukon Koyukuk,...
Experts Say Iowa Should Act to Stymie Flooding
Jun 25 2013 // Iowa could do more to avoid flooding by limiting how much rainfall runs off into the state’s rivers and streams, including addressing climate change and expanding grasslands and wetlands to absorb rain where it...
Alberta Promises US$956 Million in Flood Funding; Won’t Balance Budget
Jun 25 2013 // Alberta Premier Alison Redford on Monday promised C$1 billion (US$956 million) in initial funding to help pay for damage caused by major flooding this past weekend, and said the oil-rich province would no longer be able to...
Calgary Flood Caused Power Outages May Last Months; Insurance Coverage Minimal
Jun 24 2013 // Power outages in the Canadian oil capital of Calgary could last for weeks or even months, city authorities said on Sunday, as record breaking flood waters moved downstream to threaten smaller communities in southeastern...
India Searches for Flood Survivors as Death Toll May Rise
Jun 21 2013 // Flash floods triggered by torrential rain in northern India may have killed hundreds of people, a government official said, as the armed forces stepped up searches for those stranded in mountainous areas. Narrow valleys in...
