Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
England Floods, U.S. Freezes so Blame Indonesia: Bloomberg’s Marc Champion
Feb 17 2014 // The U.S. is freezing and the U.K. is flooded. Clearly, Indonesia is at fault. That, in any case, is my layman’s interpretation of a report this week from the U.K.’s meteorological agency, the Met Office. It...
Saving Southern California Drivers From Flooding Aim of Signs
Feb 14 2014 // Southern California may be in a drought, but San Bernardino County is thinking about the safety of motorists who use roads prone to flash flooding. Signs warning drivers to “Turn Around, Don’t Drown”...
House Leader Promises Vote on Flood Insurance Rate Delay
Feb 14 2014 // The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is promising to take up legislation to delay certain flood insurance premium increases during the week of Feb. 24. The details of any House bill remain a mystery...
Louisiana Congressman Says Leadership Post Lost after Flood Insurance Vote
Feb 13 2014 // U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he’s been booted from a Republican leadership position because he broke with GOP leaders in his efforts to stop higher flood insurance premiums from hitting...
Frustrated Sandy Victims Blast N.J. Officials at Public Hearing
Feb 13 2014 // Frustration with the slow pace of recovery from Superstorm Sandy boiled over Tuesday at a public hearing on the rebuilding process. Residents affected by the Oct. 29, 2012, storm blasted state officials over what they...
Global 2013 Cat Losses at $40 Billion Were ‘Below Average’ – Guy Carpenter
Feb 13 2014 // Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, the leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and member of Marsh & McLennan Companies, 2013 Catastrophe Review concludes that “natural catastrophes and man-made disasters...
Disaster Aid For Colorado Flooding Surpasses $267M
Feb 12 2014 // Since heavy rains brought flooding in September 2013, Colorado survivors have received more than $267 million in federal/state recovery assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. More than $219...
Cities Lobby for Halt to Flood Insurance Increases; House Vote Blocked
Feb 12 2014 // Yesterday the National League of Cities joined the Florida League of Cities, Florida Association of Counties and others in meetings with White House officials and members of Congress to urge a halt to flood insurance...
UK Battered by Relentless Winter Storms, Floods: AIR Analysis
Feb 12 2014 // A report from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide notes that “since October 2013, the United Kingdom has been experiencing a seemingly endless succession of severe winter storms that have produced multiple...
Feds Approve $26.3M to Buy Out Flood-Prone Homes in N.J.
Feb 11 2014 // The federal government has awarded New Jersey $26.3 million to enable it to buy 89 homes in flood-prone sections of Woodbridge. The state is in the process of buying homes from willing sellers affected by Superstorm Sandy...
Lawyers to Appeal Verdict in Flooding Lawsuit Against Louisiana Parish
Feb 11 2014 // Attorneys who brought a class-action lawsuit against Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish say they will appeal a 9-3 jury verdict that found the parish was negligent in its emergency response planning but that the negligence...
Insured Property Losses for Central Texas Halloween Floods Top $30M
Feb 11 2014 // Final figures released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) show that insured losses to residential and commercial property from flood waters which swamped Central Texas on Halloween night 2013 totaled...
U.K. Towns Face More Floods as Insurer Losses Estimated at $1.6 Billion
Feb 11 2014 // Waterlogged towns on the River Thames west of London braced for more floods as rains persisted across southern England and Deloitte LLP said the storms may cost insurers £1 billion ($1.6 billion) by April. The Environment...
Private Flood Insurance Agency Now Selling in 15 States
Feb 10 2014 // A Florida agency selling private flood insurance said it is now selling the coverage in 15 states and making it available to commercial risks and apartment buildings. According to Evan Hecht, CEO of The Flood Insurance...
Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Found Negligent in Hurricane Katrina Flood Case
Feb 10 2014 // A jury has found Jefferson Parish government negligent in the way it drafted and enacted a plan that evacuated drainage pump operators on the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana but ruled the parish was...
Flood Insurance Premium Hikes from New Maps Could Be Delayed Until 2015
Feb 10 2014 // Some flood insurance premiums required under a 2012 law now won’t be raised until the fall of 2015 at the earliest. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said the $1 trillion bipartisan funding bill passed...
Severe Weather Cuts Rail Links to Southwest England
Feb 10 2014 // Severe flooding and landslips cut off rail links to large parts of southwest England for more than 24 hours at the weekend as the government came under pressure for its handling of storms battering Britain. Some areas have...
How to Encourage Private Sector Flood Insurance
Feb 10 2014 // New technologies and a better understanding of flood risk may have increased private insurers’ interest in providing flood insurance but real obstacles remain to the private sector getting involved. The obstacles...
Flooded N.Y. Homeowners Regret Dropping Insurance
Feb 10 2014 // Some western New York residents whose homes were damaged by a snow-swollen river in January had only recently cancelled their federal flood insurance policies because of rate increases. About 70 houses in West Seneca, just...
22 Charged in Florida Staged Flood, Fire Fraud Ring
Feb 6 2014 // A major fraud ring that staged fires and floods at South Florida homes to collect millions of dollars in claims from insurance companies has been broken up with charges against 22 people, authorities said Tuesday. The...
