Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
El Nin᷈o Talk Growing Louder Amid Southern California Storms
Nov 16 2015 // A whopper of a winter appears to be brewing for the Western U.S. and more conversations are turning to preparations for what could be one of the strongest El Nin᷈os on record. Strong rains throughout much of California...
N.J. Lawmakers: FEMA Maps May Have Exaggerated Flood Risk
Nov 16 2015 // New Jersey’s Congressional delegation members sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), expressing “significant concerns with the methodology” of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps...
Commercial Insurance Rates, Except Auto and Flood, Still Falling
Nov 16 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...
Wildfires, and Now El Niño, May Boost Californians’ Appetites for Surplus Lines
Nov 16 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 what appears to be a strong El Niño on the horizon...
Central Texas to Get Souped-Up Flood Forecasting System
Nov 15 2015 // Come May 2016, turbocharged forecasts capable of faster updates as conditions change will be used to predict flooding on Central Texas rivers, an innovation expected to give emergency managers more lead time to prepare for...
Illinois Budget Mess Leaves Families’ Flood Buyouts in Limbo
Nov 15 2015 // After the Mississippi River flooded four years ago, more than 100 Illinois families agreed — some reluctantly — to sell their homes to the government for demolition so they could move to higher ground. With the...
South Carolina Puts Dam Owners on Notice for Big Bills
Nov 13 2015 // South Carolina’s environmental agency is warning dozens of property owners they could face substantial bills for not submitting plans as ordered for repairing dams damaged or destroyed in last month’s historic...
Weather-Related Property Claims Mount in Texas
Nov 12 2015 // Severe weather in all regions of the state this year has resulted in high numbers of insurance claims from property and auto losses in Texas, according to an insurance company trade group. The Insurance Council of Texas...
Insurers Face Claims of $600 Million from Brazilian Mine Disaster: Sources
Nov 11 2015 // Insurers covering risks for a Brazilian mine where two dams burst last week, killing at least six people, could pay up to $600 million in claims, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday. A property...
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...
