Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Australia Begins Flood Cleanup; Insurer Compassion Urged
Jan 14 2011 // Australia’s third-largest city started cleaning up stinking mud and debris on Friday after some of the country’s worst floods on record, but in a sign of the task ahead, it could take six months to pump flood...
Lawsuit Seeks to Halt New Orleans Levee Work
Jan 13 2011 // A lawsuit is threatening to slow down or even halt work to strengthen a New Orleans canal that broke catastrophically during Hurricane Katrina. Homeowners with backyards along the 17th Street Canal filed a civil suit in...
Australia Floods Inundate Brisbane; 16 Dead
Jan 12 2011 // Massive floods shut down the centre of Australia’s third-largest city, sent thousands fleeing from their homes and sparked panic buying of food on Wednesday as rescuers searched for 43 people missing in...
Australian Floods to Cost Insurers, Reinsurers $1 Billion
Jan 12 2011 // The devastating floods in Queensland state that forced evacuation in Brisbane, Australia’s third-largest city, are expected to be a near $1 billion event for insurers, though reinsurance is seen covering more than...
Insurer Pays Tennessee for May Flood Damage
Jan 11 2011 // State officials say Tennessee has received reimbursement for last May’s flooding that damaged state buildings and other state-owned property. Treasurer David Lillard says the state received a $7.5 million check this...
Insurers, Industries Affected by Australia’s Floods
Jan 11 2011 // Australia’s mining industry has borne the brunt of the economic impact from massive floods in Queensland state, but agriculture, construction, transport, tourism and retail have also been hit. Following is a list of...
Floods Head for Australia’s Brisbane, Many Evacuate
Jan 11 2011 // Authorities urged thousands of residents to leave the outskirts of Australia’s third largest city on Tuesday as others sandbagged homes and stockpiled food in anticipation of rising floodwaters and further heavy...
Brisbane Faces Flash Flood Threat
Jan 10 2011 // Residents in Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane, sandbagged their homes against rising waters on Monday as torrential rain worsened floods that have paralyzed the coal industry in the northeast and now threaten...
Australia Flood Damage Seen as Long-term; Rail, Road Links Destroyed
Jan 7 2011 // Australia’s flood-stricken coal industry may be disrupted for months after key rail and road links were washed away, while some infrastructure could take years to repair, authorities said on Friday. The floods have...
Omega Raises NZ Quake Estimates to $16.8 Million; Australia Floods
Jan 7 2011 // Bermuda-based Omega Insurance Holdings Limited, which is also a leading LLoyd’s insurer, has issued a revised estimate of the losses it expects to incur from claims related to the earthquake, which struck New Zealand...
Australia Floods Cause ‘Catastrophic Damage’
Jan 5 2011 // Australia’s record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its coal mines, which fuel Asia’s steel mills, to grind to a halt,...
Relief Flights Reach Flood Stricken Australian City as Waters Rise
Jan 4 2011 // Military flights rushed Monday to restock an Australian city before it is cut off by floodwaters that have turned a huge swath of the Outback into a lake, while police confirmed two more deaths in the crisis. Drenching...
Oahu Property Owners Urged to Buy Flood Insurance
Dec 31 2010 // Emergency management officials are urging Oahu property owners to buy flood insurance at current rates before new flood maps — and resulting higher prices — kick in next month. The Federal Emergency Management...
How to Fix Nation’s Flood Insurance Program
Dec 31 2010 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is seeking a top-to-bottom review of the efforts to reform the nation’s flood insurance program. The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) has...
How to Fix Nation’s Flood Insurance Program
Dec 30 2010 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is seeking a top-to-bottom review of the efforts to reform the nation’s flood insurance program. The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) has...
Rising Rivers Prompt Evacuations of Australian Towns
Dec 30 2010 // The military flew out a town’s entire population of 300 people by helicopter Wednesday in eastern Australia where waters continued to rise after days of drenching rain. A total of 1,000 people were evacuated from the...
Heavy Rains, Floods Disrupt Australia Coal Mining, Port, Freight Operations
Dec 29 2010 // Heavy rains and flooding in Australia’s key coal-producing Queensland state have impacted mining operations and brought parts of the coal infrastructure, including rail and ports, to a standstill, operators said on...
2010’s Top Insurance Stories in the West
Dec 23 2010 // In 2009, independent insurance agents and brokers faced a “perfect storm” with the economic downturn, premiums at a fraction of what they used to be, and unemployment and home foreclosure rates up, said Kevin...
Hundreds Victim to California Rainstorms
Dec 22 2010 // Following a series of powerful storms that brought heavy, record-setting rain, snow and high winds to California, insurers report their employees are on-hand to help victims. Meanwhile, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has...
California Rain Shatters Records; More Coming
Dec 21 2010 // A storm walloped parts of California with up to 7 inchesof rain and spawned minor flooding, mudslides and road closures Dec. 20, but forecasters warn the bad weather’s real impact may be yet to come. More than 3...
