Claims

As water from the swollen Mississippi River poured over a century-old levee Thursday, officials downstream with the Port of New Orleans said the Coast Guard could close the river to ships as early as Monday, halting traffic on one of the world's busiest commercial waterways.

Allstate Corp. says it expects $1.4 billion in losses for the month of April after severe weather battered much of the South, generating more than 100,000 claims.

MBIA narrowed its first-quarter net loss by more than $340 million as the company saw a steady decline in loss severity in its structured-finance obligations.

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake has struck Spain about 218 miles south-southeast of Madrid, causing several deaths and toppling buildings, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

PropertyCasualty360.com’s Claims Channel Editor Christina Bramlet is twittering every day about breaking news and timely topics. Check out the latest claim-related tweets.

FEMA is asking thousands of Americans who were victims of natural disasters to return more than $22 million in government aid, acknowledging it mistakenly made payments to many people who were ineligible.

A property and casualty industry official says he hopes the recent heavy Mississippi River flooding will reinforce the need for prompt congressional action for a long-term National Flood Insurance Program extension.

State Farm calls dog bites a “serious public health problem” and says it paid $90 million on about 3,500 dog-bite claims last year.