Flood insurance premiums and deductibles are increasing for thousands of homeowners across South Carolina. The Post and Courier of Charleston reports that the National Flood Insurance Program is raising monthly premiums about 8 percent beginning Oct. 1.

The federal government is proposing to forgive disaster loans to coastal communities that have faced budget problems in the years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

It’s not in bad shape, and city leaders says there’s no danger of it failing but Augusta is preparing to spend big dollars to hire an engineering firm to inspect 11 miles of levee,  to have it certified. The federal government has taken a far greater interest in levees following Hurricane Katrina, and is pushing the city to have the work done. WJBF News Channel 6’s George Eskola has the details.

President Barack Obama plans to name Florida’s state emergency director Craig Fugate to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That’s from an official close to the announcement who spoke on condition of anonymity because the nomination hasn’t been made public. The official said Obama’s decision would be announced later Wednesday.

A timeline of important events in the salmonella outbreak linked to tainted peanuts at a Blakely, Ga., plant.

Kentucky officials say they’ve stopped distributing FEMA emergency meals for winter storm survivors that may contain recalled peanut butter.