Latest Flood Headlines

All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Louisiana’s Vitter Wants to Stop Flood Map Updates While Levees Fixed

Mar 3 2010 // U.S. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana wants to stop the Federal Emergency Management Agency from updating flood maps around communities working to fix levees found to be deficient. Vitter said many areas in Louisiana could...

National Flood Insurance Program Temporarily Restored

Mar 3 2010 // The U.S. Senate last night passed legislation that includes an extension of the federal flood insurance program until March 28. President Obama has signed the measure. The extension means that the National Flood Insurance...

Flood Insurance Program Closed; No Policies Until Senate Votes

Mar 1 2010 // The Senate last week failed to vote on bills to extend several federal programs including jobless benefits, COBRA subsidies, transportation project funding and flood insurance before these programs expired Feb. 28. A...

U.S. Senator Presses Agencies for Information About Illinois Levees

Mar 1 2010 // U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin wants a meeting with two federal agencies to seek information about efforts to certify five levee systems in three southwestern Illinois counties. Durbin and other overseers of the levees in Madison,...

Agents Urged to Tell Insureds of Flood Program Lapse

Mar 1 2010 // Insurance agents with customers waiting to be covered in the federal flood insurance program should tell those customers about the program’s suspension, an insurance expert is advising. As reported by Insurance...

CCRIF, CIMH to Launch Excess Rainfall Model for New Insurance Policy

Feb 25 2010 // The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) and the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) are launching their Regional Rainfall Model today, February 25, at CIMH headquarters in Husbands,...

Montana 100-Year Flood Plain Expanded

Feb 23 2010 // The mayor of Miles City, Mont., said a new federal map nearly doubles the size of the city’s 100-year flood plain and could result in hundreds of residents paying for increased flood insurance. Joe R. Whalen said the...

Odds of Flooding Increase in Fargo

Feb 23 2010 // North Dakota has an “incredible risk” of record spring flooding in Fargo, while major floods near Minot and Bismarck are possible from the winter’s heavy snowfall, National Weather Service analysts...

At Least 40 Die, as Floods, Mudslides Strike Island of Madeira

Feb 22 2010 // Rescue workers dug frantically Sunday to free cars and homes buried under heaps of mud in Madeira, after torrential flash floods and mudslides killed at least 40 people on the popular Portuguese island. More than 120...

Washington Regulator Wants Emergency Flood Insurance

Feb 21 2010 // Washington is one step closer to allowing the creation of a flood insurance joint underwriting association (JUA), a publicly sponsored, temporary, not-for-profit insurer of last resort to provide flood insurance when the...

A Recurrence of Recalls; ‘PIGS’ in a Poke; Lloyd’s Powers on; Haiti Now Faces Floods and Hurricanes

Feb 21 2010 // First Toyota, then Honda – who’s next? 2010 is not starting out as a good year for car companies. Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. was already in the process of recalling approximately 8 million vehicles, due...

Agents Encouraged to Review Flood Risk in Minnesota

Feb 18 2010 // With the potential for serious flooding in the Red River, Minnesota and possibly Mississippi river valleys this spring, Governor Pawlenty is reminding insurance agents to talk with their homeowners customers about optional...

Washington Flood JUA Legislation Passes in House

Feb 18 2010 // Washington House passed legislation allowing for the creation of a flood insurance joint underwriting association (JUA) as an insurer of last resort for businesses in the Green River Valley. House Bill 2560, which passed...

Washington Closer To Creating Emergency Insurance for Flooding

Feb 10 2010 // Washington is one step closer to allowing the creation of a flood insurance joint underwriting association (JUA), a publicly sponsored, temporary, not-for-profit insurer of last resort to provide insurance when certain...

Meteorology: It’s Not ‘Rocket Science;’ It’s a Lot More Complicated

Feb 8 2010 // Everyone’s heard the shibboleth “It’s not rocket science.” This implies that whatever “it” may be it’s easier than flying a rocket. In fact Robert Goddard fired off the first real...

It Figures

Feb 7 2010 // $12 Billion Hurricane Ike, which struck Galveston on Sept. 13, 2008, is so far the costliest weather catastrophe in Texas history, racking up nearly $12 billion in windstorm and flood insurance claims. Windstorm claims in...

Report: Economic Benefits of Levees Outweigh Flooding Costs

Feb 4 2010 // Despite the massive flooding resulting from levee breaches and storm surge during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the economic benefits provided by flood control measures in Southeast Louisiana far outweigh the costs of...

More Upstate New York Properties at Risk in Floods

Feb 1 2010 // Federal officials say that about 6,500 more properties in Broome Count, New York than originally believed are vulnerable to floods like one that devastated parts of the region in 2006. Updated flood maps released Thursday...

Hurricane Ike Claims Total Nearly $12B in Texas

Jan 29 2010 // Hurricane Ike, which struck Galveston on Sept. 13, 2008, has proved to be the costliest weather catastrophe in Texas history by a large margin. The storm racked up nearly $12 billion in windstorm and flood insurance claims...

ABI Estimates November UK Flood Losses Exceed $322 Million

Jan 26 2010 // A report from the Association of British Insurers estimates that the floods in Cumbria in the northwestern part of England and parts of Southern Scotland in November have exceeded £200 million ($322 million) [See IJ...