Latest Flood Headlines
All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Houston-Area Residents: Toxic Chemicals Found in Soil, Water After Plant Fire
Oct 4 2017 // Tests detected toxic substances in soil, water and ash samples taken miles from a chemical plant that flooded during Hurricane Harvey, caught fire and partially exploded, nearly 20 Houston-area residents said. The findings...
Houston Considers Flood Control Projects While Recovering from Harvey
Oct 3 2017 // Houston officials say they’re already thinking about how to build and fund projects that will lessen the blow of the next storm, even as the nation’s fourth-largest city continues to recover from Harvey’s...
Hurricane Claim Insurance Checks Drive New Car Sales
Oct 2 2017 // As Hurricane Harvey poured on Houston, Frank Rodriguez feared for his 2014 GMC Sierra. Once he saw the pickup’s soaking-wet interior and center console full of water, he knew it was a lost cause. He just hoped his...
Florida Hurricane Irma Losses Keep Rising
Oct 2 2017 // With two Florida landfalls in the same day, Hurricane Irma’s destructive wind and flood damage could cost up to $65 billion for both insured and uninsured losses, according to a recent estimate by...
Independent Texas MGAs Join Forces for Targeted Harvey Relief
Oct 2 2017 // A group of independently owned Texas managing general agents (MGAs) have come together to provide targeted, direct, local relief to communities affected by Hurricane Harvey. Texas MGAs for Disaster Relief is working with...
With Hurricane Losses Insurers Downgrade Anticipated Profit Goals
Oct 2 2017 // Allstate expects insurance losses of about $593 million for August mainly due to Hurricane Harvey, which left a path of destruction along the Gulf Coast. The initial accounting follows warnings from other insurers that are...
Senate Democrats Delete House-Backed Private Flood Insurance Policy Measure
Sep 29 2017 // Not long after the House passed legislation that included a provision to allow private flood insurance policies to satisfy flood coverage requirements, the Senate sidetracked the flood policy measure. The flood insurance...
Texas A&M Professor Thinks Web Tool Can Help Coastal Texans Assess Flood Risk
Sep 29 2017 // When Sam Brody and his wife were shopping for a new home in Houston six months ago, they had very different priorities. Brody, a researcher who analyzes ways to minimize the impact of natural disasters, was focused on the...
Houston Mayor, Texas Governor Battle Over Harvey Costs
Sep 29 2017 // A clash over Houston’s mounting expenses from Hurricane Harvey escalated on Sept. 25 when Gov. Greg Abbott accused the mayor of holding the state “hostage” by pushing a local tax increase unless an...
House Passes Bill to Assure Private Policies Satisfy Flood Insurance Requirement
Sep 28 2017 // The House of Representatives voted 264-155 today to pass bipartisan legislation that encourages the sale of private flood insurance in place of policies from the federal government in high risk areas where flood insurance...
Texas Homeowners Say They Weren’t Warned about Flooding Risks
Sep 28 2017 // More than 20 years before Hurricane Harvey, officials in suburban Houston were aware that a heavy storm could cause a reservoir to overflow and inundate nearby homes with water. So they issued a warning to potential home...
Nearly 17K Flood Claims Filed So Far in Florida From Irma
Sep 27 2017 // Nearly 17,000 flood insurance claims connected with Hurricane Irma have been filed, and more are expected in the coming weeks. The Sun-Sentinel reports that of 16,786 flood claims filed through Thursday, 3,969 were filed...
FEMA Statement on Texas Toxic Sites Clarified by EPA
Sep 26 2017 // The Environmental Protection Agency said on Sept. 24 it has recovered 517 containers filled with unidentified, potentially hazardous material found floating in or washed up along Texas waterways after the devastating...
Insured Losses in Caribbean from Hurricane Maria Estimated at $40B-$85B: AIR
Sep 26 2017 // Industry insured losses for Hurricane Maria in the Caribbean will be between US$40 billion and US$85 billion, according to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. Puerto Rico alone accounts for more than 85 percent of the...
RMS Names Dailey to Lead U.S. Inland Flood Model in California
Sep 25 2017 // RMS has named Pete Dailey vice president to lead flood model development in its California headquarters. Dailey will oversee the upcoming release of the RMS U.S. Inland Flood Mode, and he will lead the development of...
Note to Texas, Florida: Insurance Fights Over Sandy Rage On
Sep 25 2017 // The destructive floodwaters of Superstorm Sandy receded quickly, but some storm victims are still neck-deep in a battle over insurance payouts. And many victims of this year’s storms in Texas, Florida and elsewhere...
EPA Won’t Say Which Texas Sites Toxic Waste Has Been Removed From After Harvey
Sep 24 2017 // The Environmental Protection Agency says it has recovered 517 containers of “unidentified, potentially hazardous material” from highly contaminated toxic waste sites in Texas that flooded last month during...
How Home Values Track with High, Low Risk of Natural Hazards: ATTOM Data
Sep 22 2017 // Americans are still buying homes in areas with high risk of natural hazards and the homes in those cities continue to appreciate in value far faster than homes in low natural hazard locales. However, the effect on home...
Researchers: FEMA’s Houston Flood Maps Outdated Long Before Harvey
Sep 22 2017 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood plain maps for parts of southeastern Houston were woefully out-of-date long before Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Texas coast, a new study suggests. Researchers at Rice...
Insurance Industry Tallies Irma’s Mounting Losses in Florida
Sep 22 2017 // With two Florida landfalls in the same day, Hurricane Irma‘s destructive wind and flood damage could cost up to $65 billion for both insured and uninsured losses, according to a recent estimate by...
