Economics - TX

Manuel Sanchez takes in the view of his flooded home and property on September 14, 2013 in La Salle, Colorado. Photographer: Marc Piscotty/Getty Images

businessweek.com- by James Rowley - March 4, 2014

The U.S. House passed legislation trimming premiums for government-sponsored flood insurance

The measure would limit premium increases to 18 percent per policy or 15 percent of an average of premiums in a particular flood zone.

The House bill, H.R. 3370, must be reconciled with legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate that House Republican leaders said would roll back too many of the 2012 law’s changes. The Senate bill is S. 1926.

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A man walks through flooded streets in Hoboken, New Jersey, after Superstorm Sandy | Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As subsidized rates of federal flood insurance rise, property owners along the coasts get angry. But we need insurance that reflects the risks of a changing planet

time.com - by Bryan Walsh - October 1, 2013

Thousands of homeowners in flood-prone parts of the country are going to be in for a rude awakening.  On Oct. 1, new changes to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which offers government-subsidized policies for households and businesses threatened by floods, mean that businesses in flood zones and homes that have been severely or repeatedly flooded will start going up 25% a year until rates reach levels that would reflect the actual risk from flooding. (Higher rates for second or vacation homes went into effect at the start of 2013.) That means that property owners in flood-prone areas who might have once been paying around $500 a year—rates that were well below what the market would charge, given the threat from flooding—will go up by thousands of dollars over the next decade.

Firefighters and trucks gathered in a staging area recently in West before a procession to Waco's Ferrell Center for a memorial honoring victims of the deadly fertilizer explosion.  Michael Ainsworth/Staff Photographer

CLICK HERE - E-Plan - Delivering Vital Hazmat Information to First Responders

dallasnews.com - by Randy Lee Loftis - August 10, 2013

As federal agencies scramble to meet President Barack Obama’s Aug. 1 order to fix a broken chemical emergency system after the West Fertilizer Co. disaster, a small program with the potential to save the lives of firefighters and the public is struggling to survive.

For more than a decade, workers in a controlled-access office at the University of Texas at Dallas have run the nation’s farthest-reaching network offering first responders facility-specific information on chemical risks when they arrive at an industrial fire or leak.