Latest Flood Headlines

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

Floods, Mudslides Alter Busy Routines in D.C.-Maryland Area

Jun 28 2006 // In Washington, D.C., a city that always seems to be in a hurry, this week’s soggy weather forced almost everyone to slow down. Water and mudslides blocked highways. Commuter rail lines sputtered. Some federal office...

Fidelity National P/C Acquires Southern Family Flood Fla. Policies

Jun 28 2006 // Fidelity National Property and Casualty Insurance Co. has received approval from the Circuit Court of Florida to purchase all of the existing flood insurance policies of Southern Family Insurance Co. through the Florida...

Fla. Insurance Commissioner Promotes National CAT Plan to House Committee

Jun 28 2006 // Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has testified to a congressional committee in Washington, D.C. on the need for a national plan to respond to catastrophic events, and posed the question: “Is...

Insurer Group Sets Policy on Natural Disaster Issues

Jun 26 2006 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) has adopted a statement on natural disasters that asserts a flexible regulatory environment in which insurers are free to price coverage based on risk will...

Texas Gov. Deploys National Guard to Houston Area for Flood Response

Jun 20 2006 // In response to June 19 flood conditions in the Houston area, Texas Governor Rick Perry deployed national guard crews and other state resources to support local officials. State assets that were activated include: –50...

Declarations

Jun 19 2006 // N.J. pays premium Flood insurance is a particularly salient issue for my home state of New Jersey. Surrounded by the Delaware River to the west and the Hudson River and Atlantic Ocean to the east, New Jersey is especially...

Lloyd’s forecast for Northeast: Storms, global warming threats are real

Jun 19 2006 // The prospect of another nasty hurricane season has everyone in the insurance industry braced for a white-knuckle ride. The spectre of a hurricane hitting a major Northeast population center is hardly the stuff of Hollywood...

Editor’s Note: Commercial property appeal

Jun 19 2006 // According to Fitch, increases are running between 25 percent and 400 percent for windstorm and flood insurance premiums since the June 1 start of this year’s hurricane season. Six hurricanes in 2005 caused $57.3...

A tale of two New Orleans hotels

Jun 19 2006 // If there’s anything to be learned from last year’s hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, it’s that the value of relationships before, during and after a claim is immeasurable, according to Mel Bangs,...

High-hazard tsunami states could lose precious funding, GAO finds

Jun 19 2006 // The Pacific coast states of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, face the greatest tsunami hazard, but West Coast states could see the...

Conn. Estimates June Flood Damages in Bid for Federal Funds

Jun 15 2006 // Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Waterbury Mayor Michael J. Jarjura said that preliminary damage estimates of the June 2-3 flash flooding in the city totaled $4.4 million. Other towns in Greater Waterbury have estimated...

Insurance Limbo Delays Gulf Coast Rebuilding

Jun 13 2006 // The owners of the sagging, flood-stained home in New Orleans aren’t in. Above the front door, a banner explains their absence, and the lack of progress: “Allstate paid $10,113.34 on this house for storm...

Davis Makes Proposals to Fix Florida’s Property Insurance Problems

Jun 12 2006 // Windstorm insurance companies would have to cover water damage caused by hurricanes under a proposal Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis released June 9, part of a multi-pronged proposal to solve the problems...

Most R.I. Homeowners Go Without Flood Coverage

Jun 12 2006 // There were big gains this year in the number of Rhode Island homeowners with flood insurance, but the state still has one of the lowest rates in the country of participation in a federal flood insurance program, according...

Windstorm Insurance May Be Problem as Hurricane Season Begins

Jun 12 2006 // U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) values in coastal areas, and in particular smaller multifamily properties, may suffer as insurance companies reduce loss exposure to hurricane-prone areas by increasing premiums, raising...

FEMA Publishes New Flood Risk Maps for Texas Counties

Jun 9 2006 // The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is presenting draft flood risk maps to communities in Travis and Burnet counties in Texas – areas that flood frequently. The...

State Settles Bias Lawsuit by Former Ill. Park Supervisor

Jun 8 2006 // A former Illinois Department of Natural Resources park supervisor who accused the agency of discrimination in denying him a promotion has settled the federal lawsuit for $65,000, a newspaper says a copy of the settlement...

Fireman’s Fund Announces Surface Water and Flood Coverage

Jun 8 2006 // With the risk of damage from surface water and flood becoming more prevalent in even low to moderate flood zones, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., Novato, Calif., has launched a surface water and flood endorsement to...

N.H. Governor Signs Measure Helping October Flood Victims

Jun 8 2006 // New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch has signed into law a bill that will help people who lost their homes, and in some cases the land where their homes sat, in the October flooding. “It’s been a long road for many of...

New England’s flood recovery

Jun 5 2006 // Residents, business owners and public officials in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southern Maine faced the daunting task of cleaning up after the worst flooding since the 1930s. The floods came after nearly a week of...