Author: completebodyneeds

Storage tanks at a massive US fuel depot caught fire after being struck by lightning, threatening supplies across one of the nation’s largest refined products pipeline systems. Explorer Pipeline’s Glenpool tank farm outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was struck by lightning early Monday, igniting three tanks of natural gasoline, according to the company. Images posted on social media by the Tulsa Fire Department show flames sending large black clouds of smoke into the sky that were visible from inbound flights to Tulsa International Airport. Glenpool Fire is working a fire at the Explorer Pipeline tank farm. Three tanks are reportedly involved.…

Days of storms and flooding in Indiana left at least seven people dead as floodwaters receded in Indianapolis’ White River and rains eased in other parts of the state Sunday. Frank Gounder was among the Indianapolis residents assessing the damage Sunday, which also happened to be his 37th birthday. The furniture maker, who lives on the city’s hard-hit northside, less than a mile from the White River, had been at home as floodwaters crept up his driveway until they were about 2 feet deep (0.61 meters) in the house and his workshop. Now Gounder is left to pick through waterlogged…

Connecticut is investing $20 million to establish a 100,000-square-foot campus for the Hartford Innovation Center at State House Square in downtown Hartford. Governor Ned Lamont said the new urban workforce campus will feature collaborative labs, classrooms, and project spaces where residents, youth, startups, corporate partners, and higher-education researchers can develop real-world solutions and accelerate AI adoption across Connecticut industries. Lamont said the center will help serve the insurance and healthcare sectors of Greater Hartford during a time of rapid technological change. “Today’s investment signals our commitment to accelerating economic growth in Hartford while ensuring workers and employers alike benefit from…

Commercial property insurer FM said it has acquired FortressFire, a provider of wildfire intelligence solutions for homes, businesses and communities. FortressFire will operate as an independent, wholly owned division of Johnston, Rhode Island-based FM and will continue its work to quantify ignition risk through fire physics, leading to verifiable mitigation recommendations and monitoring. San Mateo, California-based FortressFire enables insurers and property owners to better understand and manage wildfire risk down to an individual property level. Its wildfire intelligence solutions include aerial wildfire reports, monitoring, analytics, ground inspections and mitigation assessments to provide actionable, structure-specific insights and mitigation recommendations. “FortressFire shares…

One person has died as storm Lala continues to batter parts of Hawaii including the Big Island and Oahu, potentially bringing nearly three feet of rain and damaging winds to parts of the state Sunday after narrowly missing landfall. The storm got closest to the South Point area on the southern tip of the Big Island where one person died in a car accident on Saturday, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said in a post on X. Lala weakened from hurricane strength to a tropical storm, but it’s still expected to produce additional rainfall of 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to…

New Hampshire-based Davis & Towle Insurance Group reported its recent acquisition of Allied Insurance Agency in Bow, New Hampshire and the merger of Allied with Davis & Towle. As a result of the merger, the Allied Insurance will assume the Davis & Towle name and move to Davis & Towle’s Concord location at 115 Airport Rd. The deal comes just three months after Davis & Towle acquired Turner Liberty Insurance in Farmington. Davis & Towle is a third generation, family-owned, independent insurance agency founded in 1954 that has expanded to i14 affiliated agencies throughout the state. . Topics Mergers &…

Medical equipment maker Steris said it will invest $600 million to build a manufacturing and distribution hub in North Carolina for chemicals used by healthcare and pharmaceutical customers. The company plans to move its existing chemicals operations from St. Louis, Missouri and Plymouth, Minnesota to the new facility after the project is completed. The new 600,000-square-foot facility will be built near North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle region and produce chemicals used in infection prevention and contamination control. Steris expects the site to become operational in two to three years, with distribution activities set to kick off before manufacturing operations. CEO…

For more than a century, cafes in the Italian city of Padua have welcomed customers for an early evening drink, or aperitivo, encouraging them to sit outside and socialize before dinner. As Europe bakes under its fifth heatwave of the year, the traditional 6-7 p.m. slot has all but disappeared as people seek air-conditioning indoors, cutting sales for many hospitality businesses. Adding to the pressure, extreme heat often falls outside traditional business interruption insurance, exposing a growing protection gap for companies across Europe. Moody’s has published estimates that last summer’s European heatwaves cost €43 billion ($50 billion) in lost economic…

This year marks the 22nd annual publication of Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Independent Agencies special report. Many of the firms in the Top 100 saw notable increases in total property/casualty revenue year-over-year, but the total P/C revenue combined of all 100 firms declined by more than $2 billion from 2024 to 2025, possibly due to M&A activity and changing commercial insurance market conditions. (See the full report on page 30.) The Top 10 saw the addition of four firms, including EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants; Alera Group; World Insurance Associations LLC; and IMA. This year’s Top 100 also welcomes 10…

France is mobilizing more than €100 million ($116 million) in aid to rebuild homes and issue tax relief to businesses devastated by this summer’s wildfires. The government has allocated €12 million for the Gironde and Landes departments in the southwest, which were impacted most, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told reporters on Monday. It’s also waiving social security contributions and property tax for businesses in the region for three months. Wildfires ravaged forests and vegetation in parts of France and other European countries as the continent suffered successive heat waves this year. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated, many lost…