Iowa News

Ratings Recap: Hanover, Assurant, Wadena/IMT, Berkshire Hathaway, Finial

A.M. Best Co. and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services have both reacted positively to The Hanover Insurance Group’s (THG) announcement that has reached agreement to sell its remaining run-off life insurance business. Best said it sees no change in any …

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Developing New Floodplain Map

A new floodplain map under development for Cedar Rapids, Iowa, shows a levee on the Cedar River’s west bank was too low to protect large sections of the city from a 100-year flood. That’s despite the fact that the properties …

Midwest Storms Prove Costly to Des Moines-based EMC

Des Moines, Iowa-based EMC Insurance Group reported that losses from Midwest storms cost the company more than $23 million in the second quarter alone. By comparison, storm losses in the second quarter of 2007 totaled nearly $9.8 million. Company officials …

Iowa Gov. Culver: $1.2 Billion in Flood Damages Unmet

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said July 22 that state officials have identified $1.2 billion in flood damage that hasn’t been met by disaster aid, and he’s asking Congress to move quickly to provide more assistance. Culver pointed to the federal …

Iowa Lawmaker Proposes Tax Breaks for Flood Victims

A Democratic state senator from Iowa who represents an area hit hard by record flooding is suggesting the state grant a one-year hiatus in property tax collections to regions most affected by the disaster. “Some of the places that were …

Mold Found in FEMA Mobile Homes in Indiana, Iowa

The discovery of mold in federally provided mobile homes sheltering Indiana and Iowa flood victims has prompted new anger and frustrations for those who have lost their houses. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has notified those residing in FEMA-provided …

Iowa Flood Victims Given Additional Tax Deadline Extension

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has granted flood victims an additional deadline extension for tax returns and for paying state taxes. The deadline is now Aug. 29, a month later than the original date. That’s for returns and payments due after …

Midwest States High on List for Numbers of Tornadoes

While a rural area to the northeast of Denver, Colo., tops the nation when it comes to metropolitan areas most prone to tornadoes, Texas leads the states in the average total number of tornadoes per year in the continental United …

America’s Safest Drivers Travel the Roads in America’s Heartland

Residents in Sioux Falls, S.D., continued to top the chart as the safest drivers in the U.S., according to the fourth annual Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report. The average driver in Sioux Falls experiences an auto collision every 14.6 years. …

Tornado Threats Loom Large as Flood Waters Recede

Much has been written in the last six weeks about the 2008 Midwest Flood. Many are saying the devastation will rival the Great Flood of 1993, and that the crop damage will affect the food supply of this country. While …