Latest Flood Headlines

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

4 Months of Mississippi Delta Flooding Taking a Toll on Farmers, Residents

May 31 2019 // Larry Walls should have been out working in his fields last week. Instead, his John Deere tractor is parked on high ground, just beyond the reach of the ever-encroaching floodwaters in the southern Mississippi Delta. Four...

Congress Renews Flood Insurance Program Until June 14

May 30 2019 // Having failed several times to pass a $19 billion disaster aid bill with a federal flood insurance reauthorization provision by unanimous consent, the House of Representatives managed on Thursday to pass a separate...

IBHS Chief Wright Urges Congress to Consider Tax Credits for Climate Resilience

May 30 2019 // Roy E. Wright, CEO and president of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, wants Congress to consider financing resilience. The IBHS chief testified during a recent appearance before the House Ways and...

Flooding Persists as River Nears Crest in West Arkansas

May 30 2019 // The Arkansas River neared a historic crest on May 29 in Arkansas’ second-largest city, but officials said the levee system was “performing admirably” from the rush of water coming downstream from...

Arkansas Imposes 60-Day Insurance Cancellation Moratorium for Flood Victims

May 30 2019 // The Arkansas Insurance Department announced a 60-day moratorium on the cancellation/non-renewal of policies for the non-payment of premiums by Arkansans affected by the flooding of the Arkansas River under Gov. Asa...

Viewpoint: Ground Will Shake and Snakes Will Flee as the Mississippi Drains

May 29 2019 // I was on site in 2011 when the Army freed the Mississippi from a man-made barrier and unleashed it into a large swath of rural Louisiana — a harrowing trade off that flooded homes and farms to avoid catastrophe in New...

Major Flooding on Rivers Increases 63% Over Last Five Days

May 29 2019 // The United States Geological Service and NOAA are reporting that 415 river gauges in the U.S. show flood conditions as of 9:26 AM New York time on May 29. 346 flood locations were in flood status on May 24 Major flooding...

AAA Survey: Floridians Concerned for Upcoming Hurricane Season

May 29 2019 // Floridians are becoming more concerned about hurricane season, after enduring four major storms in the past three years, including a category five last year, according to a survey from AAA. The AAA survey, conducted online...

Texas Would Lose Billions if Another Major Storm Hits Coast, Report Says

May 28 2019 // Housing sales in Texas would drop, gasoline prices would increase and the state would lose hundreds of billions of dollars in economic output if another major storm struck an unprotected coastline, according to a new...

Mississippi Floodgate Reopened as High Water Stands in Delta

May 28 2019 // A floodgate in the Mississippi Delta has been reopened as large stretches of rural land remain underwater. The Mississippi Levee Board says the Steele Bayou floodgate was opened Thursday. The structure north of Vicksburg...

West Virginia to Get $106M in Federal Disaster Funds for 2016 Floods

May 28 2019 // West Virginia is set to get $106 million in federal disaster relief money. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin on Thursday said the state would be getting the funds as part of a federal grant. The West Virginia Democrat says the money...

GOP Lawmaker Sidetracks Disaster Bill Including Flood Insurance Extension

May 27 2019 // A single Republican House member temporarily blocked fast-track passage Friday of a $19 billion disaster-aid plan, likely meaning lawmakers will vote when they return in early June from a week-long recess. Freshman...

Forecasters Say Hawaii May Have Busy Hurricane Season

May 24 2019 // Hawaii and the Central Pacific could experience more storms than normal during this year’s hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted Wednesday there will be five to eight named...

Cost of Flood-Prone Home Buyouts in Missouri, Elsewhere: $5B and Rising

May 23 2019 // The residents of the small riverside town of Mosby, Missouri, have become accustomed to watching floods swamp their streets, transform their homes into islands and ruin their floors and furniture. Elmer Sullivan has...

Mississippi River’s Morganza Floodway May Be Opened for Third Time Ever

May 23 2019 // A major barrier that keeps the Mississippi River in its current path may be opened for just the third time in its history, potentially flooding a large part of rural Louisiana. Concern is growing that heavy rains will...

Congress Agrees on $19 Billion Disaster Aid Bill with Flood Insurance Brief Extension

May 23 2019 // Lawmakers said that they agreed to a $19.1 billion disaster-aid bill after months of disagreement and that President Donald Trump said he will sign it. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby called the agreement a...

Sand-Bag Barrier in Mississippi Overwhelmed by River Flooding

May 23 2019 // Floodwaters overwhelmed a miles-long sandbag barrier over the weekend, drenching another community in the southern end of the Mississippi Delta. Volunteers, prisoners and others had stacked 100,000 sandbags and more than...

Testimony Ends in Texas Suit over Harvey-Related Overflow Dams, Floods

May 22 2019 // Testimony has ended in the lawsuit by some Texas residents seeking U.S. government compensation after their land flooded when two federally owned reservoirs overflowed during Hurricane Harvey. Testimony wrapped up Friday...

Texas House OKs Bill to Spend More Than $3B for Flood Control Projects

May 22 2019 // Nearly two years after Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Texas coast, the Texas House approved legislation that would pull more than $3 billion from the state’s rainy day fund to help pay for flood control projects...

Tennessee Governor Appeals Federal Denials of Individual Flood Aid

May 21 2019 // Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has filed an appeal after the federal government denied his request for individual aid for residents in five counties battered by flooding and severe storms. A news release from the Tennessee...