Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
FEMA to Give Partial Credit for Substandard Levees in Drawing Flood Zones
Dec 27 2011 // A levee isn’t perfect, but it exists and that should count for something when deciding if a property is at risk for flooding. That’s the position of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a new proposal...
Everest Re Estimates Thai Flood Losses at $100 to $125 Million
Dec 27 2011 // The Bermuda-based Everest Re Group announced that it expects to incur net losses of between $100 million and $125 million, after reinstatement premiums and taxes, for claims arising from floods in Thailand. The bulletin...
Federal Flood Insurance Reauthorized Until May 2012
Dec 26 2011 // The federal flood insurance program has been extended until May 31, 2012 under another short-term consolidated appropriations bill (H.R. 2055) passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Obama on Dec....
Dry Northern Plains Helps Spring Runoff Prep
Dec 21 2011 // Thanks to a dry fall across the northern Plains, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is months ahead of schedule in releasing water from reservoirs on the upper Missouri River to guard against another spring of record-setting...
Study: Private Insurers Can Complement National Flood Insurance
Dec 20 2011 // There is a new study out that examines the U.S. flood insurance program. And it says that according to its calculations, there are some regions in the country where National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premiums are too...
AIR Analyzes Tropical Storm Washi’s Impact on Philippine’s Mindanao
Dec 20 2011 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Tropical Storm Washi pummeled the northern part of the Philippine island of Mindanao late Thursday night. Heavy rainfall from Washi (locally called Sendong) lasted for...
Cat Assessment Firm PERILS Expands Coverage to Include UK Flood Risks
Dec 19 2011 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, announced that it has extended its market coverage to include the peril of inland flooding in the UK. The bulletin...
Flash Floods Kill More Than 530 in Philippines
Dec 19 2011 // As a storm that killed more than 530 in the southern Philippines raged outside the store where she works, Amor Limbago worriedly called home to check on her parents, but their cell phones just kept ringing and later went...
SCOR Estimates Thai Flood Losses at $185 Million
Dec 16 2011 // French reinsurer SCOR Group has estimated its losses from the floods in Thailand at €140 million [$185 million] net of retrocession and before tax. SCOR described the floods as a “major natural catastrophe, which...
Fact or Fiction? Insurance Tidbits of Known and Little-Known Information
Dec 16 2011 // Have you ever wondered how modern-day fire departments began? Or why agents buy E&O coverage? What about when the first business owners policy launched? These are just a few questions that Insurance Journal and Claims...
FEMA: Texas Wildfire Survivors Should Consider Flood Insurance
Dec 15 2011 // Flood protection might be the last concern of Texas wildfire survivors these days. Yet Texans — even those who live in areas not rated at high risk of flooding — should consider purchasing a flood insurance policy now,...
Crop Insurance Rates Skyrocket After Summer Floods
Dec 15 2011 // Midwestern farmers who saw their land swamped by summer flooding may be socked again with steep increases in their crop insurance premiums, the expensive result of the failure to fix broken levees before the winter snow...
Corps Says It’s not to Blame for Katrina Flooding
Dec 14 2011 // Justice Department lawyers argued at trial on Dec. 12 that there is little evidence a shipping channel dug decades ago by the Army Corps of Engineers contributed significantly to the castastrophic flooding after Hurricane...
FEMA, N.Y. Officials Settle Dispute Over Flood Insurance Regulation
Dec 12 2011 // Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a new bulletin telling insurers that they should cooperate with state regulators on questions regarding federal flood insurance. There has been an ongoing turf battle...
Post-Irene Rebuilding Could Take Several More Months, N.Y. Group Says
Dec 9 2011 // This year’s hurricane season was an unusually costly and damaging one for New York State residents. And as the winter sets in, it will take several more months for people in areas ranging from Adirondack Mountains to...
Despite Consensus, Politics Stymies Federal Flood Reform
Dec 8 2011 // In this era of sharp political differences, the need for a national flood insurance program is one area where just about everyone agrees. Even so, the program is a victim of Washington partisanship, actuaries were told at...
Missouri Levee Owners to Get Repair Help from Feds
Dec 8 2011 // A northwest Missouri levee that was dropped from a federal repair program shortly before record flooding caused $4 million in damage has been reinstated to the program, landowners who oversee the levee said. Paul Markt,...
Deadline Nears for Fed Aid for New York Flood Victims
Dec 8 2011 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency says there are only eight days left for New Yorkers affected by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee to register for possible federal disaster assistance. Dec. 15 is the...
Munich Re Estimates Thai Flood Claims around $670 Million
Dec 8 2011 // The widespread floods in Thailand, which reached their highest point in October and November, “are the costliest natural catastrophe in the country’s history,” according to a bulletin from Munich Re....
Senate Approves Flood Insurance Extension to May 2012
Dec 7 2011 // The U.S. Senate passed an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through May 31, 2012. The legislation, introduced by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., passed the Senate by unanimous consent and must now be taken...
