United States Edition

Welcome to ClaimsLife

Every claim looks different depending on where you stand.

Whether you are managing risk, responding to a loss, restoring property, or trying to understand what happens next — this is for you.

ClaimsLife exists to share knowledge, experiences, products, and practical perspectives that bring all parties together to better understand the role they play in the claims ecosystem. We publish practical guidance, product education, prevention resources, and real-world perspectives across the life of a claim.

Water — flood, sewer backup, rain Fire — wildfire, structure fire, smoke Wind — storm, tornado, hurricane Earth — landslide, washout, ground movement

Who are you?

Start where you stand. Every door leads to the same event — seen from a different seat.

I Experienced a Loss

Something happened. What now?

Plain-language guidance on what to do after a flood, fire, storm, slip-and-fall, product failure, or property damage event — what to document, what to protect, who to call, and in what order. Start with the first 48 hours.

Start here

Insurer / Agent / Broker

I manage or place coverage.

Resources for risk control, documentation, claim prevention, product compliance, mitigation, and loss reduction.

Explore insurer resources

Restoration Contractor

I repair and restore property.

Field-focused guidance for water, fire, smoke, mold, weather events, safety, equipment, documentation, and restoration products.

Explore contractor resources

Property / Facility Manager

I'm responsible for a building and the people in it.

Prevention and response guidance for slip-and-fall exposure, weather events, maintenance documentation, inspection records, safety products, and incident response.

Explore prevention resources

 Coming soon

Lawyer / Claims Professional

I work the claim after it's contested.

Perspectives on documentation, evidence preservation, product liability, standard of care, causation, prevention, and claim response.

In development

 Coming soon

Supplier / Manufacturer

I make or distribute the product.

Information on product compliance, instructions, warnings, certifications, SDS documentation, safe use, and supply-chain responsibility.

In development

Active Event

Missouri flooding.

Catastrophic flash flooding across central, south-central and southeastern Missouri. Here is what is confirmed — and, just as importantly, what is not.

Declaration status · verify before you rely on it

Recovery phase: federal damage assessments begin Tuesday. Federal aid for this flood not yet.

The emergency phase has given way to recovery. Governor Mike Kehoe's state of emergency (Executive Order 26-16, signed July 10) remains in force through August 10, 2026, and the big development is procedural but important: joint FEMA/SEMA preliminary damage assessments begin Tuesday, July 21 in nine counties — Bollinger, Crawford, Iron, Madison, Morgan, Reynolds, Ripley, Washington and Wayne, with more possible. Six teams will verify damage to roads, bridges and infrastructure to support a federal declaration request. Assessments don't visit every home — report your damage to your county emergency management agency; those reports build the totals that unlock federal help. A Multi-Agency Resource Center is open in Reynolds County, and the Red Cross and Salvation Army remain on the ground. The event itself: up to 12.25 inches of rain overnight July 9–10 — a 1-in-1,000-year event — drove the Black River to a record crest near 28.73 feet at Annapolis.

More than 350 people were rescued across three counties, including roughly 200 children and staff airlifted from Camp Taum Sauk by National Guard helicopters — all safely reunited with family. Campers sheltering on the roof of a collapsed building at Bearcat Getaway were rescued without serious injury. One death is confirmed: Faith Gregory, 23, found Saturday roughly two miles downstream from her home on Huzzah Creek in Crawford County.

A federal FEMA major disaster declaration for this flood has still not been issued (re-checked Monday, July 20). This week's assessments support a request for FEMA Public Assistance — infrastructure and response costs; help for individual households (Individual Assistance) is a separate determination that may follow. Do not assume FEMA Individual Assistance is available for this event yet — confirm at the source below. Note the state's separate request covering the June 4–18 storms (34 counties) is already before the President, and Missouri's existing federal declaration (DR-4924-MO) covers the April 23–28 storms — three different events, three different files. If you see assistance guidance that doesn't make those distinctions, treat it with caution.

The flash-flood threat has lingered in Texas — the Hill Country has taken catastrophic repeated rounds, with over 27 inches of rain in the worst-hit areas across three days and fringe impacts reaching metro Houston and San Antonio. And the tropics have woken up: Tropical Depression Two formed in the Gulf on Sunday and is forecast to become Tropical Storm Bertha — a Tropical Storm Watch covers the Florida Panhandle from the Ochlockonee River to the Alabama line, 2–4 inches of rain (isolated 8") is expected from Florida to Louisiana with 1–3 feet of possible surge in the Big Bend, and the forecast cone reaches the Texas coast by Friday. Not forecast as a major wind event — but a slow tropical rain event over saturated ground is exactly the setup Missouri just lived through. Track and intensity remain uncertain, and impacts occur well outside the cone; check the live board below for your state and the NHC for advisories.

Verified Mon Jul 20, 2026 · Verify live ↗

Every State · Live

What's active right now.

This board is not written by us and not updated by hand — it pulls active watches, warnings and advisories straight from the National Weather Service the moment you load the page. That means it is never out of date, and it is never our opinion. Tap any state to see exactly what is in force there right now.

Extreme Severe Moderate Minor No active alerts
The live alert feed could not be reached from your browser right now. That does not mean there are no alerts. Go directly to the source: weather.gov/alerts.

Alert counts reflect active NWS products for each state, including marine and inland zones, and the colour shows the most serious alert in force. A state showing no alerts can still be recovering from an earlier event — an alert is a forecast of danger, not a record of damage. For declared-disaster and recovery status by state, use FEMA's state locations directory and the declarations list above.

Loading live data… · Source: NWS ↗

The Life of a Claim

Prepare. Detect. Respond. Recover.

Most claims coverage starts at the moment of loss. That's the most expensive place to start. The two phases before it — preparation and detection — are where a claim is prevented, or caught small enough to stay small. The two after it are where it's proven. Here is the whole arc.

Phase 01

Prepare

Before anything happens

  • Know if you're covered — before you need to be. Standard homeowners policies do not cover flood. NFIP flood coverage typically takes 30 days to take effect, so it cannot be bought once the rain starts.
  • Find your flood map. FEMA's Flood Map Service Center shows your official flood zone. Most people who flood were never told they were at risk.
  • Document the building while it's intact. Photograph every room, the roof, the mechanicals, the serial plates. A pre-loss record is the single most valuable thing in a disputed claim — and it takes twenty minutes.
  • Build the kit and the plan. Water, food, meds, power, cash, documents, exit route. Ready.gov walks it through — and our Grab Bag Guide is the complete summer and winter packing list, starting with the two things evacuees most often leave behind: medications and chargers.

Phase 02

Detect

The phase almost everyone skips

  • Smoke alarms expire. Replace them 10 years from the manufacture date — not the install date. Check the date stamped on the back. An alarm past its date is decoration.
  • CO alarms are a separate device. Carbon monoxide is odourless and kills during exactly the events that knock out power — storms, floods, outages — when generators come out.
  • Water sensors are the cheapest claim prevention that exists. A leak detector under the tank, behind the washer, at the sump. Water damage is the claim you can actually catch early — a $20 sensor against a $20,000 loss.
  • Get the alert before the water does. NOAA Weather Radio keeps broadcasting when power and cell service fail. Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone. Both are free.
  • Air quality is a detectable hazard too. AirNow's Fire and Smoke Map pulls PM2.5 from more than 1,700 monitors, so you can see smoke coming before you smell it.

Phase 03

Respond

During the event — safety first, always

  • Turn around, don't drown. Six inches of fast-moving water can knock over an adult; one to two feet can carry away most vehicles. The most common flood deaths happen when someone drives into floodwater.
  • Never run a generator indoors. Not in a garage, crawlspace, shed, or near an open window or vent. CO builds fast and lingers for hours. This kills people after the storm passes.
  • Mitigate — but don't become the next casualty. Most policies require you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage. None of them require you to enter an unsafe building.
  • Photograph before you touch anything. Then stop the water, cover the roof, move what's savable. Document as you go.

Phase 04

Recover

After — where claims are won or lost

  • Report promptly, in writing. Notice obligations are real. Get the claim number, the adjuster's name, and the date.
  • Keep every receipt. Emergency lodging, fuel, drying equipment, tarps, board-up. These are frequently recoverable and almost as frequently thrown away.
  • Don't discard damaged property until it's documented. Photograph it, log it, keep samples where you can. Once it's at the curb, it's gone as evidence.
  • Check what's actually been declared. A state emergency is not a federal declaration. Federal assistance only opens once FEMA declares. Verify before you count on it.
  • Dry it fast. Mold begins in a saturated building within days. Drying speed is the difference between a cleanup and a reconstruction.

Prevention & response guidance — general, not event-specific · Ready.gov ↗

By Peril

Different water. Different fire.

Every peril has its own prevention step, its own detection device, and its own coverage trap. Knowing which one you're facing is most of the work.

Flood & Water

Prevent
Grade away from the foundation, clear gutters and drains, backflow valve on the sewer line, sump pump with a battery backup — the power fails in exactly the storm that needs the pump.
Detect
Leak sensors at the sump, water heater, washer and dishwasher. A sump alarm that tells you the pump stopped.
The coverage trap
Homeowners does not cover flood. Sewer backup is usually a separate endorsement too. Two different gaps, two different fixes.

Fire & Smoke

Prevent
Clean the dryer vent, don't daisy-chain extension cords, service the heating system, keep an extinguisher where the fire starts — the kitchen.
Detect
Smoke alarms on every level and outside every sleeping area, replaced 10 years from the manufacture date. Interconnected if you can — one alarms, they all alarm.
The coverage trap
Smoke damage without flame is still a claim. So is the water the fire service used to put it out.

Wind, Hail & Tornado

Prevent
Secure the roof edge, trim overhanging limbs, bring in or tie down anything that becomes a projectile. Know your safe room before you need it.
Detect
NOAA Weather Radio and Wireless Emergency Alerts. Tornado warning lead times are measured in minutes — the alert has to reach you while you're asleep.
The coverage trap
Many policies carry a separate, percentage-based wind or hail deductible — often far higher than the standard one. Check yours now, not after.

Wildfire & Smoke

Prevent
Defensible space around the structure, ember-resistant vents, clear the gutters and the roof of needles and leaf litter. Most homes ignite from embers, not the flame front.
Detect
AirNow's Fire and Smoke Map for PM2.5 and smoke plumes. Set up a clean-air room with a properly sized portable air cleaner — not an ozone generator.
The coverage trap
Smoke and ash damage can affect a building that never burned. Document it; it is not always volunteered.

Winter & Freeze

Prevent
Insulate pipes in unheated space, seal the drafts that reach them, keep heat on when away, know where the main shutoff is. A frozen pipe is a flood on a timer.
Detect
Low-temperature sensors in the basement, crawlspace and vacant units. Freeze losses happen in empty buildings — the ones no one is standing in.
The coverage trap
Some policies limit or exclude freeze damage in a vacant or unheated building. Vacancy clauses catch property owners constantly.

Slip, Trip & Fall

Prevent
Anti-slip surfaces at every transition, matting at every entrance, ice melt applied before the freeze, lighting that works, signage where the hazard is temporary.
Detect
The inspection log is the detection system. Scheduled walkthroughs, dated, photographed, retained.
The coverage trap
Liability turns on what you knew and what you did. Without a dated maintenance and inspection record, you cannot show either.

Hurricane Season · June 1 – November 30

A quiet season is not a safe season.

NOAA's 2026 outlook calls for a below-normal Atlantic season — 8 to 14 named storms, 3 to 6 hurricanes. On July 8, Colorado State cut its forecast further, to nine named storms and one major hurricane, as El Niño strengthens. So far the Atlantic has produced a single named storm: Arthur, which brushed the Texas coast in mid-June.

Read that again — then ignore it.

A seasonal outlook is not a landfall forecast. It says nothing about where a storm goes or whether it hits you. It only takes one.

In 1992 the Atlantic season was well below average — six named storms. One of them was Andrew. A quiet year with your name on it is not a quiet year.

And the season hasn't started yet, in the way that matters. The climatological peak is September 10, and roughly two-thirds of all activity falls between mid-August and mid-October. Everything below should be done in July, not August.

The storm can now outrun your preparation.

Rapid intensification is the defining modern hurricane threat — a storm gaining at least 35 mph of wind speed in 24 hours. Between 1980 and 2025, 190 Atlantic storms did it, and nearly a quarter of those gained 58 mph or more in a single day. In 2025, four hurricanes rapidly intensified, and all four hit the extreme threshold.

The practical meaning is simple: the tropical storm you went to bed with can be a major hurricane when you wake up. Preparation windows are compressing. Plan on the storm being worse than the forecast when you make your decisions, not better.

48h

Hurricane Watch

Hurricane conditions are possible within about 48 hours. This is when you act — not when you start thinking about it. Supplies are still on the shelves and the roads are still open.

36h

Hurricane Warning

Hurricane conditions are expected within about 36 hours. Preparation should already be finished. If you're told to evacuate, go — surge, not wind, is what kills the most people.

The insurance window closes before the storm arrives.

This is the single most expensive thing people learn too late. NFIP flood coverage typically takes 30 days to take effect. And once a storm is named and in the box, insurers routinely impose binding moratoriums — you cannot buy new coverage or increase what you have until the threat passes.

By the time you can see it coming, it is too late to insure against it. The time to read your declarations page, find your wind/hail deductible, and confirm whether you actually carry flood — is a calm week in July.

The countdown

Season outlook: NOAA, May 21, 2026 · CSU revision, Jul 8, 2026 — outlooks are not landfall forecasts · Live tropical outlook: NHC ↗

Pacific note: the same El Niño that suppresses the Atlantic boosts the eastern Pacific — NOAA forecasts an above-average season there, with 15 to 22 named storms. That raises the tropical risk for Hawaii and increases the odds of indirect impacts, including heavy rain, across the southwestern United States.

Resilience

Build it in before the storm.

Resilience is not a mood. It is a set of construction decisions with a measurable return — and the research is unusually clear about the size of it. The National Institute of Building Sciences ran the most exhaustive benefit-cost analysis of hazard mitigation ever done. These are its national averages.

$11

saved for every $1 spent adopting up-to-date building codes — which add roughly 1% to construction cost.

$6

saved for every $1 of federal mitigation grant funding invested.

$4

saved for every $1 spent building beyond code requirements.

$5

saved for every $1 invested in a stronger roof and wind-resistant building standards.

The roof is where it starts. IBHS built FORTIFIED — the national beyond-code standard — after decades of testing full-scale buildings against real storm conditions. It runs in three progressive levels, so you can buy the level you can afford rather than nothing at all. More than 100,000 properties across 31 states now carry a designation.

FORTIFIED Roof

The entry point and the most financially accessible. Sealed roof deck, tighter nailing pattern, vents tested against wind-driven rain. Most storm damage starts when the roof opens.

FORTIFIED Silver

Adds protection for windows, doors and attached structures — the garage door, the porch, the carport. The next set of openings a storm exploits.

FORTIFIED Gold

Ties the whole structure together with a continuous load path — roof to walls to foundation — so the building resists uplift as one system.

Two things people miss. First, several states now fund this directly — Alabama, Louisiana and North Carolina run established grant programs, with more underway. Second, resilience work can lower what you pay: ask your agent or broker what a FORTIFIED designation does to your premium before you re-roof, not after. And if you're rebuilding on an SBA disaster loan, you can rebuild to the standard rather than back to what failed.

Home Resilience

A working checklist — start at the top

Roof & envelope

  • Seal the roof deck at the next re-roof. It is the single highest-value upgrade and costs little when the shingles are already off.
  • Brace the garage door. It's the largest opening in most homes and the most common wind failure point.
  • Impact-rated windows or shutters where wind or hail is a real exposure.
  • Ember-resistant vents and clean gutters if you're anywhere near wildfire. Most homes ignite from embers, not the flame front.

Water

  • Sump pump with battery backup. The power fails in exactly the storm that needs the pump.
  • Backflow valve on the sewer line.
  • Grade soil away from the foundation; extend downspouts well clear of the wall.
  • Elevate the mechanicals — furnace, panel, water heater — out of the flood-prone level where you can.

Detection & paper

  • Leak sensors at the sump, water heater, washer, dishwasher.
  • Smoke alarms replaced 10 years from the manufacture date; CO alarms as a separate device.
  • Photograph the whole house now, including serial plates, and store it off-site or in the cloud.
  • Read your declarations page. Find the wind/hail deductible, and find out whether you have flood and sewer backup at all.

Business Resilience

Property, people, and the ability to keep trading

The building

  • Same roof logic, bigger stakes. FORTIFIED Commercial and Multifamily standards exist for exactly this.
  • Protect the openings — overhead doors, loading bays, storefront glazing.
  • Get critical equipment off the floor. Servers, electrical, stock. Inches decide claims.
  • Know where every shutoff is — water, gas, power — and make sure more than one person does.

Continuity — the part that's usually missing

  • Where do you operate from if the building is unusable? Decide now, not during.
  • Back up your data off-site and test the restore. An untested backup is a hope, not a plan.
  • Map your single points of failure — one supplier, one vehicle, one person who knows the system.
  • Check whether you carry business interruption cover, what triggers it, and how long it runs. This is the coverage that decides whether the business reopens.

People & record

  • Written emergency plan, a contact tree, and a way to reach staff when the power is out.
  • Dated, photographed inspection and maintenance logs. For a property or facility manager this is both prevention and defence.
  • Keep an equipment and inventory schedule current, with values. Reconstructing it after a fire is nearly impossible.
  • Vacancy clauses catch people. If a unit or site sits empty, check what your policy still covers.

Benefit-cost figures: National Institute of Building Sciences, Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves — national averages, vary by location · Source ↗

Detection

Know first. Lose less.

Every loss has a moment where it was still small. Detection is buying yourself that moment. These are the tools, from free to fitted — and the free ones are the ones most people never turn on.

On your phone

Free · do this today

  • Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) No app. No signup. No cost. Broadcast from cell towers to any capable phone in the targeted area — they work even if you're roaming or visiting, and they don't count against your texting plan. Unique tone and vibration, twice. Just make sure they aren't switched off in your settings.
  • Your county's own alert system The one everyone misses Most counties run an opt-in notification service — evacuation orders, boil-water notices, road closures. It is not automatic. You have to sign up, and almost nobody does.
  • The FEMA app Free Real-time NWS alerts for multiple saved locations — useful for a second property, a job site, or an elderly parent's address.
  • NHC and NWS directly Free During a tropical threat, the forecast cone and advisories come from the source, not a re-shared screenshot.

In the building

Tens to hundreds of dollars

  • NOAA Weather Radio ~$30–50 Programmable to your county. It keeps broadcasting when the power and the cell network are both gone — which is exactly when you need it. It wakes you up.
  • Smoke and CO alarms Replace at 10 years Interconnected if possible. CO is a separate device — and it is the one that matters after a storm, when the generator comes out.
  • Water leak sensors ~$20 each Under the water heater, behind the washer, at the dishwasher, in the sump pit. The highest return per dollar in this entire guide.
  • Automatic water shutoff valve Several hundred, installed Detects an abnormal flow and closes the main by itself. This is the device that turns a catastrophic escape-of-water claim into a mop. Ask your insurer — some credit it.
  • Sump alarm and low-temperature sensors ~$20–60 An alarm that tells you the pump stopped. A sensor that tells you the basement is heading toward freezing. Both prevent the loss that happens while nobody's there.

On site & commercial

For contractors, facilities & multi-site

  • Networked leak and flow monitoring Monitored, alarmed Tied into the building management system, with alarms that reach a person at 3 a.m. In a multi-unit or commercial building, an unnoticed leak runs for hours.
  • Moisture meters and thermal imaging Restoration standard Pin and pinless meters, thermal cameras, thermo-hygrometers. Detection and evidence — documented drying logs are what get a restoration invoice paid.
  • Personal weather station Site-specific truth The nearest official station may be miles away. On a job site or a large property, on-site wind and rain data is the record you'll want later.
  • The inspection log Free. Ignored. Decisive. For a property or facility manager this is the detection system — dated, photographed, retained. It is also your entire defence when someone falls.

Who Helps

Federal. State. Local.

Disaster assistance is a ladder, and most people only know the top rung. The help that arrives first is almost always local — and the help that decides your claim is at the state level. Here's the whole ladder, and how to find your own state's rung.

Level 01

Federal

FEMA Declarations ↗

Check first whether a federal declaration exists for your event and county. Without one, federal individual assistance isn't open.

DisasterAssistance.gov ↗

The single application for federal aid, once declared. Registers you across multiple agencies at once.

SBA Disaster Loans ↗

Homeowners, renters and businesses. Frequently the largest pot of federal money available — and you can rebuild to a stronger standard with it.

NFIP Flood Insurance ↗

Claims, coverage, and the 30-day waiting period that catches everyone.

Level 02

State

Your State Emergency Management Agency ↗

Every state runs one. It declares state emergencies, coordinates response, and requests the federal declaration on your behalf. Find yours through FEMA's state directory.

Your State Department of Insurance ↗

The rung nobody uses. Insurance is regulated at the state level. If your claim is denied, delayed or underpaid, your state's insurance department takes complaints and can intervene. Free. Find yours through the NAIC.

Your State VOAD ↗

Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster — 55 state and territory VOADs coordinate the charities, faith groups and volunteer teams doing muck-out, repair and rebuild. Formed after Hurricane Camille precisely so help wouldn't arrive haphazardly.

Level 03

Local & City

Dial 2-1-1 ↗

The most useful number almost nobody knows. Free, confidential, 24/7. Connects you to local resources — shelter, food, utility help, rent assistance, mental health — in your own community. Just dial 211.

Crisis Cleanup ↗

After major events, a hotline opens connecting survivors who need muck-out, debris and tarping help with volunteer teams who can do it — free. Activated per event, so check whether it's live for yours.

American Red Cross ↗

Shelter, food, emergency supplies and casework during and immediately after an event.

Your County Emergency Management ↗

Evacuation zones, local shelters, road closures and the opt-in alert system. Emergencies are local — this office makes the call that affects your street.

If you want to help: don't self-deploy. National VOAD's standing guidance is that until a need has been identified and the affected community has asked for support, volunteers should stay away — unrequested arrivals consume the food, fuel and shelter that survivors need. Register with a member organization and wait to be called.

After the Loss

The part nobody puts in the guide.

It is normal to not be okay

Losing a home, a business, or a sense of safety is a real loss, and distress afterward is an ordinary human response to an extraordinary event — not a weakness and not a diagnosis. It often shows up weeks later, once the adrenaline and the paperwork subside. Help exists specifically for this, it is free, and you do not have to be in crisis to use it.

1-800-985-5990

Disaster Distress Helpline

Call or text, 24/7, 365. Free and confidential — you don't have to give any identifying information. Counsellors trained specifically in disaster distress. Spanish: press 2. Over 100 languages available. ASL via videophone.

988

Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Call or text 988 anytime for immediate crisis support, whether or not it relates to the disaster.

2-1-1

Local Help of Every Kind

Free and confidential. Housing, food, utilities, rent, counselling, and the local programs you'd never find on your own.

Watch for the second disaster. Storm-chasing contractors, unsolicited door-knockers demanding cash up front, and "public adjusters" who appear before the water has drained follow major events reliably. Verify licensing with your state, never pay in full up front, never sign anything you haven't read, and be wary of anyone pressuring you to sign on the spot. If it feels like pressure, it is.

Document your loss

The most common reason a legitimate claim is reduced is not bad faith. It's missing proof. Do these in order — most of it is done with the phone already in your hand.

  1. Make sure the building is safe to enter. Nothing on this list is worth an injury. If there's structural damage, gas, or live electricity in water — stay out and call it in.
  2. Photograph and video everything before you move it. Wide shots of each room first, then close-ups. Get the water line on the wall. Get the serial plates on the appliances and mechanicals.
  3. Report the claim in writing. Record the claim number, the date, the adjuster's name and contact.
  4. Take reasonable steps to prevent further damage. Stop the water, tarp the roof, run the drying equipment. Keep doing it — mitigation is usually a policy obligation.
  5. Keep every receipt. Tarps, fans, dehumidifiers, hotel, meals, fuel, a plumber at 2 a.m. Photograph receipts as you get them; thermal paper fades.
  6. Log your own hours. Emergency cleanup you performed yourself is often recoverable. It's almost never claimed, because nobody wrote it down.
  7. Don't throw damaged property away until it's recorded. Photograph it, itemize it, keep a sample of the flooring or the drywall if you can.
  8. Keep a running log of every call. Date, time, who you spoke to, what was said. A dated contemporaneous record outweighs anyone's memory later.

Official Sources

Go to the primary source.

A guide is only as good as where it sends you. Weather reports and social posts go stale fast — an old flood photo recirculates every time it rains. Everything below is the agency that issues the actual warning, forecast, or determination. Check it yourself; don't take anyone's word for it, including ours.

Live Conditions

NOAA · National Weather Service

Active Alerts

weather.gov/alerts

Every current watch, warning and advisory nationwide. The authoritative feed.

Rivers & Flooding

water.noaa.gov

National Water Prediction Service — live river gauges, flood stages and crest forecasts. The source for record-crest calls.

Excessive Rainfall Outlook

wpc.ncep.noaa.gov

Weather Prediction Center — the origin of the Level 1–4 flood-risk ratings news outlets quote.

Severe Storms

spc.noaa.gov

Storm Prediction Center — severe thunderstorm and tornado watches and convective outlooks.

National Hurricane Center

nhc.noaa.gov

The official tropical source — 2-day and 7-day outlooks, forecast cones, and every watch and warning in force. For 2026 the cone also shows inland watches and warnings.

Storm Surge Risk Maps

nhc.noaa.gov/nationalsurge

Surge is what kills the most people in a hurricane. Check your address before the season, not during it.

Fire & Smoke Map

fire.airnow.gov

EPA and Forest Service — live PM2.5 from more than 1,700 monitors, plus satellite smoke plumes and fire locations.

Ready.gov

ready.gov

The federal preparedness standard — build a kit, make a plan, know your hazards. Start here before anything happens.

NOAA Weather Radio

weather.gov/nwr

Broadcast alerts that keep working when power and cell service fail. Find your station.

Recovery & Assistance

Federal programs & insurance

FEMA Declarations

fema.gov/disaster/declarations

Confirms whether an event has an active federal declaration — and which counties and assistance types are approved. Check this before you assume aid exists.

Apply for Assistance

disasterassistance.gov

The single federal application for FEMA Individual Assistance — live only once a federal declaration is issued.

Flood Insurance (NFIP)

floodsmart.gov

Standard homeowners policies do not cover flood. This is the coverage that does — and a new policy typically takes 30 days to take effect, so it can't be bought once the rain starts.

FEMA Flood Map Service Center

msc.fema.gov

Find your official flood map and know your exposure before the next event — the single best prevention step a property owner can take.

SBA Disaster Loans

sba.gov/disaster

Low-interest loans for homeowners, renters and businesses — often the largest source of federal recovery funding available.

IBHS · FORTIFIED

ibhs.org · fortifiedhome.org

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety — the science behind resilient construction, and the beyond-code standard insurers recognize.

Ready Business

ready.gov/business

Federal business continuity planning — keep trading when the building can't.

Shelter & Immediate Needs

redcross.org

Open shelter locations, emergency lodging and immediate relief during an active event.

Health & Prevention

The damage doesn't stop when the water drops.

Floodwater is not just water. It carries sewage, animal waste, chemicals and debris — and it can make you sick long after the headline moves on. The standing water it leaves behind breeds mosquitoes. Wells that were submerged stay contaminated until they're tested. Prevention is the cheaper half of every claim.

Floodwater & Infection

cdc.gov · floodwater safety

Floodwater can carry sewage — contact or ingestion can cause E. coli or Salmonella infection. Cover open wounds with a waterproof bandage; if a wound turns red, swollen or oozing, get medical attention. Don't bathe or swim in rivers or lakes contaminated by floodwater.

Wells & Drinking Water

epa.gov · flooding

Do not turn on a flooded well pump — electric shock risk. Do not drink or wash with water from a flooded well until it's tested and confirmed safe. If boiling, bring water to a rolling boil for one full minute (three minutes above 5,280 ft).

Mosquitoes After a Flood

cdc.gov · mosquito response

Nuisance floodwater mosquitoes surge first and bite aggressively but generally don't spread disease. The virus-carrying types can rise about two weeks later. Once a week, empty and scrub anything that holds water — tires, buckets, tarps, toys, gutters, flowerpot saucers.

Re-entering a Flooded Building

cdc.gov · floods

A building that's been wet and closed up may be contaminated with mold or sewage. Wear the right protection before you go back in, dry the structure fast, and throw out any food that touched floodwater.

Prevention guidance — general, not event-specific · More at CDC ↗