Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hanna Pounds South Texas Coast Already Dealing With COVID Surge
Jul 26 2020 // Hurricane Hanna pummeled the south Texas coast on Saturday night with howling winds and a surging sea that threatened a broad area already contending with an intense spike in coronavirus deaths. Hanna is the first...
Excessive Floods Endanger Aging Chinese Dams and Could Cause ‘Black Swan’ Disaster
Jul 22 2020 // The dam at a small reservoir in China’s Guangxi region gave way last month after days of heavy rain in a collapse that could be a harbinger of sterner tests for many of the country’s 94,000 aging dams as the...
China to Offer Additional Insurance, Financial Support for Flood-Hit Regions
Jul 20 2020 // China’s banking and insurance regulator on Saturday announced measures to further increase credit and lending support and insurance protection for areas that suffered from recent floods. The China Banking and...
High-Tide ‘Nuisance’ Flooding to Continue to Grow and Plague U.S. Communities: NOAA
Jul 16 2020 // Coastal communities in the U.S. continued to see record-setting high-tide flooding last year, forcing their residents and visitors to deal with flooded shorelines, streets and basements — a trend that is expected to...
UK Plans to Spend $6.6 Billion on Building Flood Defenses Through 2027
Jul 14 2020 // Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed 5.2 billion pounds ($6.6 billion) of spending on flood defenses through 2027 as his government seeks to protect hundreds of thousands of British homes. Under the plan, billed as...
Midwest States to Get Federal Help After Disaster Declarations Approved
Jul 13 2020 // At least three Midwest states – Michigan, Missouri and North Dakota will receive federal help after President Donald Trump approved their requests for federal disaster declarations. Missouri requested a federal disaster...
China Braces for Continuing Floods in One of Worst Rainfall Seasons on Record
Jul 13 2020 // China is preparing for flooding in its northern regions that could potentially hurt crop output amid torrential rain that’s lasted over a month and caused billions of yuan in economic damage. The floods have killed...
Heavy Rains Batter China, Raising Flood Alert Levels for Cities on Yangtze River
Jul 6 2020 // SHANGHAI — The central Chinese city of Wuhan, epicenter of the new coronavirus pandemic, raised its flood alert level on Monday as torrential rain and thunderstorms battered swathes of the country, including the...
Torrential Rains Cause Floods in SW Japan, with Nearly 40 Feared Dead
Jul 6 2020 // Nearly 40 people were feared dead as torrential rains continued to hit Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu, with river banks at risk of bursting on Monday morning and new evacuation orders put in place. Flooding...
Understanding Risk in a Decade of Natural Catastrophes
Jul 6 2020 // In the past 10 years, the U.S. has seen 121 events produce damage in excess of $1 billion. Globally, this escalates with many more events around the world. From major hurricanes and floods, to annual severe weather,...
Whether Public or Private, Flood Insurance Is a Must, Experts Say
Jul 6 2020 // Tropical Storm Imelda hit the Texas Gulf Coast on Sept. 17, 2019, as a fairly low-level tropical storm but that doesn’t mean it was an inexpensive one in terms of property damage, especially with regard to...
Congressional Action Plan on Climate Change Applauded by Zurich, IBHS
Jul 2 2020 // A Congressional action plan for a clean energy economy is garnering a bit of praise from a few important names in the insurance industry. The House of Representatives in 2019 established the House Select Committee on the...
Flooding in Western Wisconsin Causes Evacuations, Rescues
Jul 1 2020 // Some residents of a western Wisconsin village hit hard by hours of torrential rain were evacuated from their homes as floodwater lapped at their doors and motorists had to be rescued from the roofs of their partially...
Government-Produced Flood Maps May Have Underestimated Properties at Risk
Jun 29 2020 // First Street Foundation, a nonprofit agency, is making accurate climate change-adjusted flood scores available for every property in the U.S. today. There are government-produced maps showing 8.7 million homes and...
U.S. Economic Losses from Severe Weather During May Topped $4 Billion: Aon
Jun 24 2020 // Severe weather outbreaks across the United States, with a lot of hailstorm damage, resulted in another costly month for insurers as a significant proportion of the US$4 billion economic cost was covered by insurance,...
West Virginia Mayor Accused of Taking Flood Relief Money
Jun 23 2020 // A mayor in West Virginia is accused of taking federal flood relief funds intended for her city and paying herself extra money for working with a flood recovery team. Richwood Mayor Chris Drennen was indicted on federal...
Flash Flooding Hits Parts of North Carolina, Prompts Rescues
Jun 19 2020 // Heavy rains caused flash flooding in parts of North Carolina, leading to washed-out roads and bridges and prompting multiple water rescues. Reports indicated that 5 inches of rainfall fell in parts of the state east of...
Emergency Declared as Southern West Virginia County Hit Hard by Floods
Jun 17 2020 // Gov. Jim Justice has declared an emergency in a southern West Virginia county from severe flooding. Thunderstorms caused floodwaters to rise in Fayette County on Sunday night, prompting Justice to issue the emergency...
Lexington Insurance Wins Texas Battle of Hurricane Harvey Deductibles
Jun 15 2020 // In a case of competing deductibles, a federal appeals court has sided with an insurer and against the owner of two Houston office buildings, holding that a larger windstorm deductible applied to flood damage caused by...
6-in-10 Homes in High-Risk Flood Zones Lack Flood Insurance
Jun 15 2020 // As the Atlantic hurricane season gets underway, a new report analyzing 100 of the largest U.S. cities shows where homeowners face the greatest financial risk and exposure to flooding. According to the personal financial...
