Floods News

Northern Europe Counts Costs of Early Winter Weather

Heavy snow caused travel chaos across much of northern Europe on Thursday, keeping London’s Gatwick airport closed for a second day and disrupting road and rail travel in France, Germany and Switzerland. Days of sub-zero temperatures and snow in Britain, …

New Mexico Town Could Be Liable for Residents’ Flood Damage

More than a dozen Farmington, N.M., residents and businesses have put the city on notice that they want reimbursement for damages caused by flooding in August. Some 14 claims have been filed, meeting a 90-day deadline to file tort claim …

Catastrophes Cost World $222 Billion in 2010: Swiss Re

According to initial estimates from Swiss Re’s sigma research team, worldwide economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters totaled $222 billion in 2010; more than triple the 2009 figure of $63 billion. The cost to the global insurance industry …

Alabama Gets Its Own Insurance Information Service

Many of Alabama’s personal and commercial lines insurers have established the Alabama Insurance Information Service (AIIS), a not-for-profit, non-lobbying trade association to provide news and information to the public. AIIS is based in Montgomery and plans to work primarily through …

Arizona County and FEMA Try to Fix Flood Map Errors

Arizona’s Mohave County Flood Control District is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fix errors the county found in flood insurance maps. The district has been working with FEMA since 2004 to update previous maps completed in 1982. …

US Sees Progress in Easing Climate Change Row with China

Washington claimed progress Monday in easing rifts with Beijing on ways to fight global warming as U.N. climate talks got under way in Mexico with warnings about the rising costs of inaction. The United States and China, the world’s largest …

Breckenridge Buys St. Louis Wholesale Broker IPSICO

Ohio-based wholesale insurance broker and program administrator Breckenridge Insurance Services has acquired the assets of International Placement Services, LC (IPSICO), a wholesale insurance brokerage firm in St. Louis. Terms were not disclosed. The deal is the fourth for Breckenridge, which …

ABI Highlights Insurers’ Role in Helping Cumbria Flood Victims

One year ago a series of devastating floods hit Cumbria, the county on the west coast of England just below the Scottish border. Heavy rain caused extensive flooding in a number of towns A year later the area is beginning …

Allianz Warns Climate Change Could Hit Harder than Financial Crisis

As the UN climate summit in Cancun approaches, the insurance industry is preparing to present its case to the poiticians, business leaders and scientists, who will be attending. “As an insurer, we are the frontline industry to feel the heat …

Mississippi Court Rejects Bad Faith Part of Katrina Damages Award

The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld a breach-of-contract verdict in a dispute between an insurance company and a retired Navy admiral over coverage of damages from Hurricane Katrina. However, the high court said Admiral James W. Lisanby and his wife, …