Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Likelihood of Major Flooding on Midwest’s Red River Rises
Jan 20 2011 // The likelihood of significant Red River flooding has risen in North Dakota and Minnesota, the National Weather Service said in its latest outlook for the river that has overflowed the past two springs and sent officials...
At Least 207 Missing in Brazil Floods; 741 Dead
Jan 20 2011 // At least 207 people are still missing after Brazil’s worst landslides in decades, authorities said Wednesday, as the death toll from the disaster in a scenic mountain region reached 741. The list of missing people...
Barclays Warns Reinsurers at Risk from $6 Billion Australia Flood Insured Losses
Jan 19 2011 // Insured losses from the recent flooding in Australia could top $6 billion, and earnings estimates for Bermudan reinsurers are at risk as a result, Barclays Capital said Tuesday. Barclays analyst Jay Gelb cited early...
Australia Floods Could be Costliest Natural Disaster Ever
Jan 18 2011 // Floods that ravaged Australia’s northeast and swamped a major city could be the country’s most expensive natural disaster ever, the government said Monday. Flooding inundated new areas in the south Monday,...
Mississippi Counties Oppose New Flood Insurance Maps
Jan 18 2011 // Two counties in the northeastern part of Mississippi are fighting flood zone designations on new maps that are part of a modernization program spearheaded by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Officials in...
Report: California’s ‘Other Big One’ Could Cause $300B in Damages
Jan 14 2011 // California could be subject to a powerful series of storms, capable of costing $300 billion in damages — three times as much as a severe earthquake in the southern part of the state, according to a new report by the...
Poor Forecasting of Tennessee Flood Blamed on Bad Data
Jan 14 2011 // River forecasters for the National Weather Service underestimated the flood level that a major river would reach during Nashville’s fatal May floods because they relied on inaccurate data from the U.S. Army Corps of...
Brazil Flood Death Toll Rising; Roads, Houses Destroyed
Jan 14 2011 // Rescue workers dug for survivors Thursday and struggled to reach areas cut off by floods and landslides that have killed at least 482 people in one of Brazil’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. Torrents of mud...
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...
