"Sandy's flood wave hit New York with full force, " said Peter Hoeppe, who heads Munich Re's Geo Risks Research.

WSJ: Sandy's Insurance Bill Estimated at $25 Billion for Industry

In what might be irrationally described as a wave, rash, flood, or deluge, two separate cases of utter and complete phone theft have cropped up this week.

ENGADGET: iPhone, Sidekick make popular heist targets

John Kennedy's death unleashed a wave of public emotion and a predictable flood of media coverage around the world.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | To Our Readers: A Legacy of Public Service

On a September night in 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, I remarked to a colleague that the tidal wave of news that was then beginning to flood Washington would not likely recede until the next summer.

FORBES: Memo From Washington: Turning A Corner

Since this term is totally without meaning, she can then claim that the latest forest fire, the latest hurricane, the latest drought, flood, snow, cold snap, heat wave, or tornado were cause by man, and that scientist X said so.

FORBES: Truthmarket Challenge Demonstrates Everything That Is Wrong With the Global Warming Debate

Science as we know it was consciously created in the 19th century, and in many ways the current wave of data techniques feels like an echo of that first flood of innovations.

FORBES: What the Victorian Age Can Teach Us About Data