Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Residents Call for Changes to Prevent Flooding North Chicago Suburbs
Sep 24 2018 // Residents are pushing for Illinois officials to change how they run a dam to prevent flooding in several lakes that flow into the Fox River in Chicago’s northern suburbs. Property owners are petitioning the U.S. Army...
1 Dead as Record Rain Swamps Texas and Oklahoma
Sep 24 2018 // A storm system dumped record amounts of rain in parts of Oklahoma and caused flooding in Texas, including in the Dallas area, where floodwaters swept a man from a bridge to his death near the University of Texas’...
Dam Breach at N.C. Power Plant Causes Coal Ash Spill into Cape Fear River
Sep 24 2018 // Gray muck is flowing into the Cape Fear River from the site of a dam breach at a Wilmington power plant where an old coal ash dump had been covered over by Florence’s floodwaters. Forecasters predicted the water...
Manhattan, Kansas, Labor Day Flood Caused $17.2M in Damage
Sep 21 2018 // Manhattan City Manager Ron Fehr says a flood over the Labor Day holiday weekend caused $17.2 million in structural damages in the city. Fehr told the Manhattan City Commission on Sept. 18 that four commercial and eight...
North Carolina Power Plant Inundated by Flood Waters
Sep 21 2018 // Duke Energy activated a high-level emergency alert at a retired coal-fired power plant in North Carolina as floodwaters from the nearby Cape Fear River overtopped an earthen dike at the facility and inundated a large...
The Longest Week: Carolinas Worn Out by Florence
Sep 21 2018 // Hurricane Florence is still wearing out the Carolinas, where residents have endured an agonizing week of violent winds, torrential rain, widespread flooding, power outages and death. Frustration and sheer exhaustion are...
Florence Death Toll Climbs to 37; Trump Visits Stricken Area
Sep 20 2018 // The death toll from Hurricane Florence climbed to at least 37, including two mental health patients who drowned when a sheriff’s van was swept away by floodwaters, and North Carolina’s governor pleaded with...
Home Price Appreciation in Highest-Risk Areas Outpaces Overall Rate
Sep 20 2018 // Natural hazards are good at grabbing headlines, but they aren’t as good as dissuading people from buying homes in high-risk areas, a new report shows. Median home prices in areas that are in the top 80 percentile for...
West Virginia Spared Worst of Florence Rains, Floods
Sep 20 2018 // Worried West Virginians got a reprieve when forecasts of potential devastating floods didn’t come to fruition from the remnants of Hurricane Florence. The storm brought 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters) of rain in...
Florence Floods: Hurricane Rating System Fails to Account for Deadly Rain
Sep 19 2018 // When meteorologists downgraded Hurricane Florence from a powerful Category 4 storm to a Category 2 and then a Category 1, Wayne Mills figured he could stick it out. He regrets it. The Neuse River, normally 150 feet away,...
After Florence Floods, Uninsured Awaken to Painful Reality
Sep 19 2018 // Flood insurance was far from Stephanie Walker’s mind in 2015 when she moved her family into a home in Fayetteville in central North Carolina, nearly 200 miles (320 km) from the coast. The next year, a creek at the...
Duke Restores Power to 1.2 Million in Carolinas as Florence Heads North
Sep 18 2018 // Duke Energy Corp., the biggest utility in the Carolinas, has faced a three-front war as it battles back against the wet and dangerously wild effects of Hurricane Florence. The company restored power to almost 80 percent of...
Hydroelectric Dams Operating at Peak to Manage Florence’s Floods
Sep 18 2018 // Florence’s driving rains are forcing hydroelectric dam operators to run generators at full tilt and open flood gates that haven’t been used in more than 20 years. The Tennessee Valley Authority — which...
Hurricane Florence’s Surge Is Expected to Hit Homes That Already Cost the Government Millions: ProPublica
Sep 18 2018 // Though the flooding from Hurricane Florence is predicted to be unprecedented, residents of the coastal North Carolina towns threatened by the storm surge know what it’s like to take on water. Some homes in these...
Hurricane Florence Likely to Expose Gaps in Flood Insurance
Sep 17 2018 // The number of Americans with flood insurance is on the rise, yet Hurricane Florence is likely to make it painfully clear that too many homeowners in the Carolinas and other vulnerable regions remain unprotected. . An...
Virginia Museum Workers Act Fast to Protect Valuable Collection in Hurricane Florence
Sep 17 2018 // The Durand-Ruel sisters didn’t dress for hurricane season. The eldest had on a wide-brimmed hat, the kind one would take to a high-society garden party. Both wore white gowns that looked as though their sheerness...
A.M. Best Sees Recent Floods Having Limited Effect on India’s Insurers’ Ratings
Sep 17 2018 // A.M. Best said it does not expect flooding in the Indian state of Kerala to have a significant impact on the balance sheet strength of rated Indian non-life insurers; however, the losses may add to the unfavorable...
Carolinians Must Wait for Flood Waters to Recede to Assess Florence’s Damage
Sep 17 2018 // Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, 9:55 am — Record-setting, still-rising floods covering much of eastern North Carolina are preventing companies, regulators and environmental groups from making a comprehensive assessment of damage...
Congress Should Amend Definition of Private Flood
Sep 17 2018 // Historically, the surplus lines market has served as a supplement to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and standard market, but the passage of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 caused some...
Florence Floods Cause Sewage, Coal Ash Spills
Sep 16 2018 // A Duke Energy Corp. landfill near Wilmington, North Carolina, failed under the assault of Tropical Storm Florence, spilling about 2,000 cubic yards of coal ash that can carry toxic mercury, arsenic and lead. Authorities...
