Flood Insurance News

Coastal flooding disasters have occurred periodically through history often followed by construction of flood defenses to help ensure it does not happen again. One of the most well known was the 1953 North Sea Flood in the Netherlands when a storm surge occurred on top of astronomical high tides causing thousands of deaths, property and economic damages. The Dutch and UK reacted and increased construction of sea defenses including storm surge barriers, such as the Delta Works and River Thames barriers.

Early in the morning on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Golf Coast of the United States. Hurricane Katrina was the worst insured loss event in the history of insurance anywhere in the world. It was bigger than 9/11. It was bigger than the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were displaced from their homes. Barges were picked up by the waves and slammed onto shore, while some were moved so far inland that they ended up on top of freeways.

Eleven individuals and organizations have been named as winners of the 2014 Walter B. Jones Memorial Awards for Excellence in Coastal Ocean Resource Management, an award given by NOAA’sOffice for Coastal Management for exemplary leadership and a commitment to balancing the human use of coastal and ocean resources with the needs of the environment. These national awards, given every two years, honor individuals and organizations that have dedicated countless hours to conserve, protect, and improve the U.S. coasts. They recognize the application of innovative approaches, tools, or technology to advance the field. “This year’s award winners represent a wide range of uniquely driven people and activities in the pursuit of wise coastal resource management,” said Jeffrey L.

Many rivers in the upper Midwest and northern Plains remain above flood stage, and the threat for more flooding will continue through the summer, forecasters at NOAA’s National Weather Service said today. With rivers running high and soils completely saturated, just a small amount of rain could trigger more flooding, including areas that have already seen major to record flooding. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above-normal rain in most of these vulnerable areas in the next two weeks, and above-normal rainfall in much of the region in the one- and three-month outlooks. Adding to the flood threat will be the rising temperatures over the Rockies, which will release the water from the remaining snowpack.

Rising sea levels and changes in water chemistry in New York Harbor and beyond should trigger a comprehensive planning effort to protect waterfront development from the threat of potential inundation, according to Malcolm G. McLaren of McLaren Engineering Group. “People know about global warming but very little discussion has centered on how to plan for it,” said McLaren, founder, president and CEO of the West Nyack, N.Y.-based firm. “If sea levels continue to rise at their current rate, large stretches of shoreline development will be jeopardized. Due in part to glacial melting, tide levels around New York Harbor have risen more than a foot since the original mean sea-level readings were established in Sandy Hook, N.J., some 80 years ago.

In a bipartisan vote, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee amended the Homeland Security Agency proposal to protect the Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency from being absorbed into the proposed new agency. The bipartisan amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (H.R. 5005) was approved by a voice vote. - U.S. Rep. - U.S. Rep. “There is no doubt that after the events of September 11, the President must be given the resources to protect this country from all attacks, whether terrorist or otherwise,” Young said during the markup. “I want to make it clear that I do not object to the creation of a Department of Homeland Security. However, the bill as introduced raises many concerns which this Congress has a responsibility to address.

Employment statistics, sales tax collections, large construction projects and other key economic indicators point to an accelerating recovery in many Gulf Coast communities damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Economic growth driven by construction and manufacturing in Pascagoula, Miss., and Lake Charles, La., parallels the aggressive recovery patterns that most regions encounter following a major natural disaster. Yet despite these improvements, the economic impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita continued to negatively affect key cities in the Gulf Coast region through the second quarter of 2006. Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina…