Disaster (Flood,Coastal,EQ,W-Fire,etc.) News

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Urges Flood, Hurricane Preparedness

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon kicked off his summer storm tour to raise awareness for hurricane and flood preparedness by urging consumers to protect themselves and their property against Louisiana’s most frequent and unpredictable natural disasters. Experts are predicting an …

Tropical Storm Risk Forecasts Active 2010 Hurricane Season

Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) provides “real-time mapping and prediction of tropical cyclone wind fields worldwide.” The firm is co-sponsored by Aon Benfield, with RSA and Crawford & Company. It has just released a “pre-season outlook report to coincide with the …

Hunt for Clues after India Plane Crash Kills 158; 8 Survive

Grieving relatives collected the victims’ remains from a crashed Indian plane and investigators sifted through the rubble Sunday for the cockpit voice and the flight data recorder after India’s worst air disaster in more than a decade killed 158 people. …

Pressure Piles on BP As Gulf Oil Spill Widens

BP sharply reduced its estimate on Monday of how much oil it is siphoning off from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico as Washington kept the pressure on the energy giant over the environmental debacle. British-based BP said …

U.S. Vows to Replace BP on Oil Response If Necessary to Control Spill

The U.S. government will move aside BP from the operation to try to halt the Gulf of Mexico oil spill if it decides the company is not performing as required in its response to the well leak, U.S. Interior Secretary …

Iowa Supreme Court Rules Property Owners Can Sue State Over Floods

Residents and businesses in a northeast Iowa town can sue the state for flood damage caused by a highway project, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled last Friday. The court overturned district court and appeals court decisions dismissing the lawsuit filed …

Flood Insurance Rates Cut for Property Owners Affected By Remapping

Property owners across the country fearing they may be forced to buy expensive flood insurance under a push to draw up new floodplain maps will catch a break by being offered the coverage at sharply lower rates for two years, …

S&P Expects Re/Insurance Losses from Gulf Oil Spill to Be Minimal

Based on what are so far only preliminary estimates, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said it expects insured losses from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico “to be significantly less and be spread among multiple markets and re/insurers.” …

CEO Defends Massey Over West Virginia Mine Safety

The embattled head of Massey Energy Co. went on the defensive Thursday as he faced angry lawmakers who claim the company’s indifference toward safety led to the nation’s worst mining disaster in 40 years. Massey chief executive Don Blankenship told …

New Flood Maps Put More Kansas Residents in Flood Plain

Officials Harvey County, Iowa, say some residents may need to buy flood insurance under new federal maps of the area’s flood plain. Scott Davies, director of the Harvey County Planning and Zoning, says 270 residents of unincorporated areas may be …