Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Failure to Act on Climate Change Could Make Weather Risks Uninsurable: Swiss Re
Apr 8 2020 // Global warming will lead to growing intensity and frequency of severe weather events, rising losses, as well as greater uncertainty in the assessment of these events by the insurance industry, which could make some weather...
Initial Insured Losses for UK’s February Floods Estimated at £297M (US$367.8M): PERILS
Apr 2 2020 // Initial insured losses for the floods that hit the UK in February are estimated at £297 million (US$367.8 milion), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe...
Corps Says Some Midwest Levees Damaged in 2019 Still Vulnerable
Apr 2 2020 // With flood concerns already high in the Midwest, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is warning that many levees on the Missouri and Kansas rivers that were damaged during devastating floods last spring remain vulnerable to...
Mississippi Residents Affected by February Floods Eligible for Disaster Aid
Mar 30 2020 // Mississippi businesses and residents who were hurt by Pearl River flooding in February are now eligible to receive disaster assistance. Gov. Tate Reeves, in a news release Thursday, said the U.S. Small Business...
Severe Weather Spawns Tornadoes, ‘100-Year Flood’ in Midwest
Mar 30 2020 // A severe weather system tore through the Midwest over the weekend, bringing damaging high winds, tornadoes and flooding. Authorities say severe weather in Ohio spawned what forecasters are calling a “100-year...
Insured Losses from Europe’s Storm Victoria (aka Dennis) Estimated at €286M: PERILS
Mar 30 2020 // The initial insured property loss estimate for Europe’s extratropical cyclone “Victoria,” also known as “Dennis,” is an estimated €286 million (US$318.4 million), according to PERILS, the...
Favorable Flood Forecast Offers Relief to Parts of Minnesota
Mar 26 2020 // While leaders in Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota, have been taking steps to limit the coronavirus, it appears they won’t have to deal with a significant flood on top of the pandemic. Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney tells KFGO...
Louisiana Flood Victims Sue State for More Than $300M
Mar 25 2020 // A group of Louisiana flood victims who have been owed over $300 million for the past decade have filed a lawsuit against the state for failure to pay. The Advocate reports that Tangipahoa Parish home and small business...
Online Flood Insurer, Neptune, Offering Coverage in Arkansas, Illinois
Mar 23 2020 // Neptune Flood Inc., an all-digital, online flood insurance company, has opened for business in Arkansas and Illinois. Households in these states now have access to Neptune’s simple flood insurance solution. Neptune...
Spring Floods in U.S. Should Be Moderate Compared to Last Year: NOAA
Mar 23 2020 // Too often disasters come in threes. But the year of global pandemic and record wildfires in Australia will not also be a year of historic floods in the U.S., forecasters predict. Last year saw record floods in several...
FEMA Tackles COVID-19 While Also Facing Past Disasters, Spring Flood Season
Mar 23 2020 // It wasn’t until Wednesday, five days after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it was “leading the federal coordination” to the...
Report: Climate Change Requires a ‘Rethink’ of How Catastrophic Events are Funded
Mar 19 2020 // Severe weather events and demographic challenges will continue to strain government finances, a trend that will require “a rethink of how catastrophic events are funded” and push the need for greater use of...
After Australia’s 2019 Floods, Insurers Begin to Bail, Banks Keep Lending
Mar 16 2020 // Only a year after losing their homes to floods in parts of Australia’s north eastern coast of Queensland, people are moving into new houses built on or near the same plots. But while banks have been only too willing...
Wisconsin Governor Proposes Flood Bills Hoping to Bring Lawmakers Back
Mar 12 2020 // Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has proposed a multimillion-dollar package of legislation designed to control spring flooding, hoping to convince Republicans to reconvene the state Assembly to pass them. Assembly...
Wisconsin’s Rural Mutual Insurance Unveils New Water Damage Endorsement
Mar 10 2020 // Madison, Wisconsin-based Rural Mutual Insurance Co. is now offering water damage protection, through its limited water endorsement. The company said this new endorsement will be added to new and renewal homeowner policies,...
High Rivers, Saturated Soil in South Dakota: A Recipe for Spring Flooding
Mar 10 2020 // Southeastern South Dakota is only one heavy rain or snow storm away from major flooding this spring. While Sioux Falls got a fraction of snow during February, there’s still an elevated risk of flooding. City, county...
UK Insurance Claims from Storms Ciara and Dennis Estimated at US$473.7M
Mar 9 2020 // Insurers expect to make payments to customers hit by the recent Storms Ciara and Dennis of over £363 million (US$ 473.7 million), according to initial estimates from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). Initial ABI...
A&M Study: Texas’ Future Depends on Climate Preparedness
Mar 6 2020 // Texans should expect warmer weather, more wildfires and urban flooding, and increased impact from hurricanes through 2036 thanks to climate change, according to a new study from the Office of the Texas State Climatologist...
Canada Government Must Move Quickly to Map Flood Risks, Insurers Warn
Mar 5 2020 // Canada plans to focus its next budget on tackling climate change and its effects but the insurance industry, amid skyrocketing costs, is concerned the government will move too slowly on the key first step of mapping flood...
Homes in Flood Plains May Be Overvalued by $34 Billion
Mar 3 2020 // At least 3.8 million U.S. homes lie in flood plains. Together, they may be overvalued by $34 billion. New research published Monday in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper shows that markets fail to...
