Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
South Carolina Lawmakers Seek $500M to Repair Flood-Damaged Roads
Nov 11 2015 // Democratic leaders in the South Carolina Senate say they will introduce a bill to borrow $500 million to repair or replace roads and bridges damaged by last month’s catastrophic flooding. Senate Minority Leader Nikki...
Franklin, Indiana, Faces Big Change in Flood Plain Maps
Nov 10 2015 // Hundreds of homes and businesses in a central Indiana city hit hard by flash flooding seven years ago could face hefty jumps in their insurance costs if updated federal flood plain maps are approved. About 70 percent of...
FEMA’s Sandy Flood Insurance Review Taking Longer Than Expected
Nov 9 2015 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s review of Superstorm Sandy flood insurance claims is taking longer than expected, with fewer than 200 checks issued. FEMA announced in March the review for as many as 142,000...
Global Cat Losses in October Likely to Top $10 Billion: Impact Forecasting Report
Nov 6 2015 // Global catastrophe losses in October are expected to top $10 billion, according to a report from Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development unit. A record 22 global tropical cyclones have now...
Wildfires, and Now El Niño May Boost Californian’s Appetites for Surplus Lines
Nov 3 2015 // There’s little question that the drought and the recent wildfire season that it unleashed pushed more California homeowners into the surplus lines market. Now with the onset of what appears to be a strong El Niño...
UPDATE: Chapala Threatens Yemen with Flooding, High Winds: AccuWeather
Nov 3 2015 // The AccuWeather Global Weather Center has reported that “Yemen is bracing for impacts from a small, but currently powerful Tropical Cyclone Chapala in the Arabian Sea.” The storm, whose intensity was at one...
Death Toll in Storm-Lashed Texas Rises to 6
Nov 2 2015 // The death toll rose to six in Texas as more bodies were recovered on Oct. 31 after another band of strong storms and heavy rain spawned three tornadoes and dangerous flooding in the waterlogged state. It was the second day...
N.J. Gov. Christie Defends His Administration’s Sandy Response
Nov 2 2015 // New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie again defended his administration’s handling of the recovery from Superstorm Sandy on Oct. 29, the third anniversary of the storm, acknowledging mistakes were made but emphasizing they...
Aon Benfield to Launch New Malaysia Cat, Jakarta Flood Models
Nov 2 2015 // Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team, is launching new models for Malaysia and Jakarta flood to help insurers and reinsurers better underwrite and manage their exposures in Asia. The...
North Carolina Requests Disaster Declaration for Flood Damage
Nov 2 2015 // North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory says flooding caused at least $31 million in damage in eight North Carolina counties where he’s now seeking a federal disaster declaration in hopes of getting help paying that...
Damage Estimates Rising From South Carolina’s ‘Record-Breaking’ Storm
Nov 2 2015 // The potential exposure home insurers in South Carolina face from the early October storm that flooded the state is estimated to be over $18 billion, according to catastrophe modeling firm CoreLogic. Richland County had the...
South Carolina Homeowners Face Expensive Repairs to Unsafe Dams
Oct 30 2015 // People who live around dozens of lakes in South Carolina are under emergency orders to repair or replace dams that ruptured or were deemed unsafe by inspectors after the historic rains this month, and they face staggering...
Shortchanged Sandy Victims Get More Flood Insurance Cash After Claims Review
Oct 29 2015 // Many people who complained a federal insurance program shortchanged them after Superstorm Sandy swamped their homes are getting some validation three years later in the form of cash. A Federal Emergency Management Agency...
Commercial Insurance Rates, Except Auto and Flood, Still Falling: CIAB
Oct 29 2015 // Commercial property/casualty insurance prices continued to decline moderately — an average of 3.1 percent— during the third quarter, according to a survey by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers. The CIAB...
Hurricane Patricia Takes It Relatively Easy on Texas
Oct 26 2015 // Drenching storms that the remnants of Hurricane Patricia dragged into Texas finally cleared on Oct. 25 without leaving behind the death or devastation of torrential rain and floods that hit the state earlier in the...
N.J. Lawmakers: FEMA Maps May Have Exaggerated Flood Risk Across State
Oct 26 2015 // New Jersey’s Congressional delegation members sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Oct. 23, expressing “significant concerns with the methodology” of the Flood Insurance Rate...
New Hampshire’s Bipartisan Summit Examines Coastal Flooding
Oct 26 2015 // Elected officials from 18 states — representing some 95,000 miles of coastline — gathered in New Hampshire on Saturday, Oct. 24, for a bipartisan summit on coastal flooding. Some of those who attended the...
FEMA Urges Californians to Buy Flood Insurance Ahead of El Nin᷈o
Oct 26 2015 // Federal emergency officials are urging Californians to buy flood insurance – even those who don’t live near creeks or rivers – as El Nin᷈o conditions get underway in the Pacific Ocean, increasing chances for...
El Paso Blanketed with Hail, Heavy Rain Expected as Storm Moves East
Oct 23 2015 // A storm system that blanketed one West Texas city with hail is moving east, leaving other parts of the state awash under fast-moving floods. Odessa Emergency Management says crews conducted about 30 swift-water rescues...
ICT: Less than 25% of Texas Homeowners Carry Flood Insurance
Oct 22 2015 // Most Texas homeowners are unprotected when it comes to flood damage, a state insurance trade group says. Less than 25 percent of Texas homeowners carry flood insurance despite the risks of massive downpours that could...
