The $2 Trillion Housing Market Nightmare Is Getting Even Worse
Parts of the country most susceptible to natural disasters are slowly waking up to an underinsurance crisis stoked by climate change.
Fighting a wildfire with a garden hose is an apt climate change metaphor.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images
On top of the human tragedy they’re still inflicting, the Los Angeles wildfires are exposing a gap between what people thought their homes were worth and what they’ll actually get from insurance companies when those houses have been reduced to ash. Potentially thousands of homeowners are learning it won’t be nearly enough.
But this isn’t just a Los Angeles problem. From California to Texas, Florida and beyond, parts of the US most susceptible to natural disasters are slowly waking up to an underinsurance nightmare. It’s still ballooning in scope as home values keep rising, people keep crowding onto the front lines of climate change and a heating planet keeps intensifying those disasters.