Latest Flood Headlines

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

Houston City Council Approves Plan to Increase Federal Flood Insurance Discounts

Jul 25 2024 // Houston residents could see a greater discount on their federal flood insurance premiums as soon as next spring after the Houston City Council on Tuesday approved a watershed master plan expected to improve the...

Hurricanes Get the Headlines But Inland Flooding Tops the Disaster List

Jul 25 2024 // Floyd County keeps flooding and the federal government keeps coming to the rescue.In July 2022, at least 40 people died and 300 homes were damaged when the eastern Kentucky county flooded. It was the 13th time in 12 years...

Deadly Typhoon Gaemi Floods Philippines, Shuts Taiwan

Jul 24 2024 // Typhoon Gaemi claimed the lives of at least four people and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands in the Philippines, where parts of Manila are flooded even as the storm moves towards Taiwan.Packing sustained...

Vermont Farmers Take Stock After Losing Crops to Flooding Two Years in a Row

Jul 24 2024 // Exactly one year to the date of last year’s severe flooding in Vermont, Joe’s Brook Farm was flooded again by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl.This time it was worse. Workers were able to harvest some of the...

‘Surface Waters’ on Roof Are Not ‘Flood’ Waters, Massachusetts High Court Rules

Jul 23 2024 // The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that rainwater accumulation on roofs of buildings does not constitute “surface waters” within the meaning of “flood” in property insurance policies.The...

FEMA Gives SW Florida a Few More Months on Flood Insurance Discounts

Jul 23 2024 // Communities in southwest Florida will continue to enjoy discounts on National Flood Insurance, at least for now, after federal authorities granted a temporary reprieve to punitive actions taken over inappropriate...

Vermonters Urged to Report Flood Damage From Beryl to State for FEMA Determination

Jul 19 2024 // Vermont’s governor on Tuesday urged residents to report any damage from last week’s flooding to the state, even if they plan to do repairs themselves, so that counties can meet the threshold for individual...

Insured Losses for Floods in Southern Germany Estimated at €1.6B: PERILS

Jul 18 2024 // The recent floods in southern Germany will cost insurers an estimated €1.568 billion (US$1.7 billion), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance...

Record Flooding and Tornadoes This Spring In Iowa Caused $130M in Damage

Jul 17 2024 // DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Record flooding and powerful tornadoes ravaged parts of Iowa for weeks this spring, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, closing roads and bridges and costing over $130 million in...

Viewpoint: FEMA Flood Rule Will Lead to Safer Rebuilding Post-Disaster

Jul 16 2024 // FEMA issued a new rule that will increase the nation’s resilience to future flood disasters. The rule is amongst the first adopted by a federal agency that will require federally funded projects to be sited and...

Michigan AG Reminds Residents to Avoid Scams After Flooding

Jul 15 2024 // Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is urging residents to be vigilant against scammers targeting those affected by the heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. The storm flooded communities, damaged homes, and...

Vermonters Assess Beryl Damage, Begin Cleanup One Year After Major Flooding

Jul 14 2024 // PLAINFIELD, Vt. — Volunteers, some with heavy equipment, shoveled river silt and mud from roads, homes, yards and driveways and removed flood-ravaged items from homes Friday in one of the Vermont communities hardest hit...

CBO Says Mortgage Subsidy Cost from Flood Damage to Hit $395M by 2053

Jul 12 2024 // Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of floods in the U.S., posing greater risks to homeowners and mortgage lenders—and since flood damage tends to lower the market value of affected homes,...

Biden Administration Raises FEMA Bar for Flood Resilience

Jul 11 2024 // The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has finalized a rule mandating that projects built using its funds not only take into account previous and current levels of local flood risk, but for the first time...

Vermont Under Flood Watch on Anniversary of Last Year’s Severe Inundations

Jul 11 2024 // A flood watch was declared for much of Vermont on Wednesday — the anniversary of last summer’s severe flooding — and also Thursday, with heavy rains in the forecast.As Gov. Phil Scott and other officials...

Pennsylvania Task Force Urges Tax Breaks for Flood Damage, Mitigation and Insurance

Jul 8 2024 // Pennsylvania lawmakers should consider granting homeowners tax breaks for water damage expenses, mitigation and repair costs, and flood insurance premiums, according to a new state report.Those are several of the...

Worsening Floods Pose Threat to US Dam Safety

Jul 5 2024 // ST. LOUIS (AP) — Early last week, floodwater in rural Minnesota pushed debris against a more than century-old dam and then carved a path around it, eroding so much of the riverbank that most of a house fell into the...

North Carolina, Florida Home Sellers Facing New Flood Disclosure Requirements

Jul 2 2024 // As of this week, home sellers in North Carolina must now disclose previous flood damage to properties. And come Oct. 1, Floridians must make similar disclosures, potentially boosting the demand for flood insurance.The...

Study: Hurricanes Harvey, Irma Triggered Uptick in Flood Insurance

Jul 1 2024 // Short but severe flooding that followed hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017 triggered a nationwide increase in flood insurance take-up driven by a county’s social network proximity to flooded areas, says a new...

House Collapses Into Flood-Swollen River Near Minnesota Dam Amid Storms

Jun 28 2024 // DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A house that was teetering on the edge of an eroding riverbank near a Minnesota dam collapsed into the river in the latest jarring example of extreme weather gripping the upper Midwest.Video shows...